“The window,” Dimri said, moving toward it.
Roque looked at it.“I’m not going to fit.”
“You’ll fit.”Dimri was already climbing through.“Trust me.”He didn’t have a choice.Either he fit, or he stayed behind and got killed by the demons rushing up the stairs.
Dimri didn’t think Roque actually trusted him, but he didn’t argue.He squeezed through the window frame, his horns scraping against the wood, just as the first demon reached the room.The demon they’d barged in on was still screaming, but they’d curled up in a corner, so they were probably safe.
Dimri steadied his feet on the tavern’s roof.The tiles moved under him, but he did his best to ignore it and keep his balance.He could hear angry voices coming from behind them, and he wasn’t willing to find out what would happen if those demons caught them.
“Follow me,” he said, moving across the rooftops with a confidence he didn’t feel.He really hoped they’d be able to lose the demons coming after them.
Roque followed him, and they moved from roof to roof, careful but fast.Roque was bigger than Dimri, which made him stumble a few times; his size made him less graceful, but his strength allowed him to clear gaps that gave Dimri trouble.Dimri could still hear the demons behind them.
“There.”He pointed down to a narrow alley between two buildings.
They ran across three more rooftops.A winged demon was swooping down toward them, the sound of his wings too loud.
“Duck!”Dimri shouted.
Roque dropped just as the flying demon’s claws swept through the air where his head had been.Dimri threw his knife, nailing the demon in the wing and sending them tumbling onto a roof behind them.They wouldn’t be flying after Dimri and Roque anymore, but it was only one demon.There were plenty more behind them.
They reached the edge of the final building.The alley below was narrow and dark, and Dimri hoped it meant they’d be able to disappear.
“Jump on three,” he said, pulling a small, round object from his coat.“One, two...”
“What’s that?”Roque asked.
“A distraction.”Dimri sucked in a breath.“Three!”
They leaped into the alley just as Dimri threw his bomb back toward the tavern.It exploded in a flash of light and smoke, not large enough to cause serious damage but enough to make a good show that would give Roque and Dimri the time to vanish.
They landed in the alley.Dimri could hear the demons still on the roof yelling, but no one was following them down.
“That was your plan?”Roque panted, wiping blood from the claw marks on his face.“Jumping off a fucking roof?They know we’re going back to the palace.They’ll follow us.”
“That wasn’t the plan,” Dimri replied harshly.“That was your improvisation going as badly as I predicted it would.You’re lucky I had a plan B.”
Roque glared at him.“We got information.”
Dimri snorted.“We got attacked by the entire tavern.That’s not information, that’s attempted murder, and they nearly succeeded.”Maybe now Roque would listen to Dimri.
Dimri wasn’t holding his breath.
“She knew something.”
“She was taunting you, you idiot.She wanted you to attack her so she’d have an excuse to kill you in front of witnesses.”Roque might be a great bodyguard, but his position isolated him from most demons.He didn’t know them the way Dimri did.
“Come on,” he said, reaching over and pulling Roque along.“We need to get to the safe house before they find us.”
“We’re not going back to the palace?”
“Like you said, they know that’s where we’ll go, and I don’t plan on allowing them to catch us.We can spend the night in the safe house and go home tomorrow.”Which meant that Dimri wouldn’t be getting a delicious dinner from the palace’s kitchen.Maybe he should throw Roque back to the demons.
Roque was quiet as they moved, which wasn’t like him but was welcome.Dimri kept glancing at him and at the wounds on his cheek.They weren’t bleeding anymore, but they didn’t look good.
“Your explosive thingie saved us,” Roque said.
“One of many plans you found so unnecessary,” Dimri replied.“Are you hurt anywhere else?”
