A hard downward swing forced Miranda to a knee. Her sword tip sank into the wooden planks of the floor. A simple tug wouldn’t free it.
On her left was the outer wall of the building and on the other side, a railing, and past the railing were parallel catwalks. The wall was bare, just a flat sheet of metal, but over the edge of the railing were ropes and pulleys for heavier cargo. Below was too far to jump, though in a pinch they’d survive it if necessary.
Miranda side-stepped an incoming blow, kicking at the enforcer’s arm so their swing overcorrected and their weapon went spinning over the railing. Miranda took out a knife and threw it, the blade sinking into the enforcer’s chest. It seemed there were endless reinforcements and she was running out of blades.
While Miranda struggled to keep the enemy from reaching them, their position was gradually losing ground. The enforcers kept advancing and Miranda kept retreating. They were nearing the set of stairs her mother had filled with shipping crates. Her mother.
Miranda searched while navigating attacks and keeping forward momentum, tugging her sister this way and that to keep her from harm.
Her mother was fighting her own battle on the ground floor. They locked eyes for a moment as Miranda looked to Cordelia and back, her mother followed the motions and signaled herunderstanding with a nod. If she could get Cordelia to her mother, they could escape easier from the ground floor.
Miranda took Cordelia’s hand and put some distance between them and the enforcers, running instead of fighting.
Clear of their forces for a moment, Miranda kicked at the railing. Once. Twice.
The enforcers were gaining. Sweat started to bead on her forehead. She kicked again, the railing gave. The final blow and the railing broke with a screeching metallic groan. She pried the metal tube of the railing free just in time to swipe at an enforcer’s face. Still, it had been too close, and she lost her footing as she desperately tried to keep herself poised between them and Cordelia.
Strategically, she realized there were too many variables limiting her. She was alone, guarding her sister, no resources, and little room for movement or cover.
Miranda might not win.
Her mind spun, ticking through options that now wouldn’t include her own survival, all that mattered was Cordelia’s survival. She considered pushing her sister over the newly exposed ledge and hope her mother caught her in time, because they were about to be pinned down and her metal bar was already starting to bend and dent and wouldn’t hold much longer.
“Looks like you could use a hand, love.”
Miranda’s head whirled around, and there was Devin on a parallel walkway, in just his shirt and vest once again and how did he still look immaculate when she was covered in sweat and gore?
Or, maybe he only seemed perfect, because she had not expected him to return and yet she was not at all surprised that he had. The fact that he was here did things to her heart she couldn’t explore right then.
He had somehow wrangled the thick ropes and he used the heavy, metal pulley mechanism to swing one over.
She took it, grabbed Cordelia, and jumped.
Devin caught her on the upper swing and held the rope steady with one hand, pulling her up with the other. The enforcers had already changed course, sprinting for the connecting path.
“We need to get Cordelia to my mother,” Miranda said, panicked.
“Understood.” Devin heaved the rope further onto the walkway, then started to force the thick, resistant cord into some kind of knot.
He was panting when he finished, but there was a loop in the rope now, and he tested it with his foot, pushing against it with his boot to see if it would unravel. When it held, he turned to her sister.
“Pleasure to finally meet you, Miss Wilde. May I?”
Cordelia looked to Miranda.
“You can trust him,” Miranda said, earning a quick look from Devin. His brow raised incredulously. “With getting you to safety. Beyond that, who can say.”
He smiled as he continued adjusting the rope. “Hate to be predictable.”
Assured, Cordelia gave him a single nod and took his offered hand.
Devin lifted Cordelia with ease, hefting her to sit on the railing as he kept her steady. He aligned her foot into the loop and pushed the rope into her hands.
“Put your weight on your right foot, and do not let go. Can you do that, Cordelia?”
Cordelia looked stricken for the first time since this whole mess started. Her sister nodded, unspeaking.
“I heard you in Graves’s office. There’s not many who would speak to Graves like that. You’re as strong as your sister.Which is why I know you can handle this.” He winked, like an incorrigible scoundrel and Miranda was torn between throttling him for it and kissing him for putting her sister at ease.
