“What was that?” whispers the girl beside me.
A scream echoes through one of the arches, followed closely by a handful of warriors bursting through the arch to the left, spreading out with nets.
Across the room, the clash of steel ricochets through yet another archway. And the man who crawled inside the room suddenly strikes, grabbing a buxom blonde and hauling her back into his arms as she shrieks.
Chaos ensues as the brides all flee, or find themselves backed into a corner. We’re seemingly surrounded, as though Kasaros’s presence was keeping the hounds at bay and now they’ve been set free.
“No!” the redhead beside me cries, her hands shielding her face as one of the enormous warriors turns toward her.
I shove past her, launching myself off the bier and spinning into a high kick that slams into the marauder’s jaw. Pain reverberates through my foot, thanks to the fucking soft-soled slippers the Knights of Malus dressed me in.
I would kill for my boots right now.
“Bitch!” the marauder yells, spitting blood across the floor, then turning his maddened eyes upon me. Tangled strands of brown hair swing around his face as he casts his net toward me. “You’re mine!”
I sweep below it, slashing up with my knife. It cuts through the strands and the remnants of the net fall around me as I launch under his guard.
A quick kiss of the knife and he staggers back, clutching at his ruined throat.
“Thanks,” I growl, breathing hard as I drop into a defensive stance, “but no thanks.”
“Blessed Goddess,” the redhead whispers, staring at him in shock as his body hits the floor. Wide eyes turn toward my knife. “You killed him. You… youkilledhim.”
I think she’s going to faint.
“What’s your name?” I need her to start thinking.
“Kari.”
“We need to get out of here, Kari. Do you understand me?”
A frantic nod.
“This way,” I yell, grabbing her hand. “This entire chamber is a trap.” She resists for a second. “Unless you’d care to stay?”
A swift shake of her head.
Four of the girls stream toward the left arch, the one well-lit by moonlight. There’s a hint of movement lurking in the shadows of the stairwell.
“No! Wait!” I snatch at Kari’s hand, yanking her back even as a net flies high, dropping over all four girls.
They go down with a scream, and my teeth grind together as a trio of enormous warriors stride out of the darkness, scooping them up still wrapped in the net. The men are armored in leather braiding, but the pair of swords at their hips give me pause. I have a knife, I have the skills, I have surprise on my side?—
I can’t save them all.
Squeezing the hilt of my knife, frustration curling through me with iron fingers, I force myself to back toward another archway with Kari in tow. They’re capturing us like fucking butterflies in a net.
And three armed warriors… three is too difficult, even for me without the element of surprise.
No, the only way out is stealth.
“This way,” I whisper, dragging the redhead toward the arch to my right and into the deep shadows.
I can’t save them all.
But maybe I can save this one.
We run for what feels like hours, slipping down curved staircases that seem to go nowhere, backtracking into empty tunnels, then miraculously finding an exit. At every step the walls shift, stone grinding deep underground as if powered by some sort of hidden mechanics. The sound of fighting follows us, but we seem to be staying one step ahead of it.
