I can hear Garro struggling out of sight with the assassin. They’re hidden from view, wrestling behind the balusters of the balcony, shadows flitting on the white wall behind them.
I push off with a frustrated growl. The world goes weightless as I soar through the air, arms pinwheeling, stomach dropping to my boots.
Landing hard on the rail, I pitch onto the balcony on all fours and lunge like a wolf at the nearest body. Garroway rolls off the vampire just in time and I take his place on top of the assassin, using the only weapons at my immediate disposal: my teeth.
I rip into the vampire’s neck, gushing warm, coppery blood in my mouth. His skin is a rubbery texture, and though it’s disgusting it doesn’t stop me from biting into him again.
The assassin bellows and kicks up with both legs—
I launch at least ten feet into the sky from the sheer strength of the supernatural predator. When I land, many bones will break on the hard concrete. My arms and legs flail—
As I collide with Vallan’s sturdy arms during my descent. He managed to time his jump across the balcony at the perfectmoment to redirect my free-fall and catch me. He sets me down without a glance, grabbing his axe.
I’m quicker, drawing my blades as the Mortis assassin leaps from his knees at Garroway.
Garro parries the first blurring strike then grunts as the next one finds his gut and blood spills. He stumbles back, an arrow also protruding from his arm.
I stab into the assassin’s backside, catching his lower spine.
Flopping forward on now-useless legs, the assassin twirls the upper half of his torso so violently the rest of his spine cracks. His boots face one direction, his upper half and head face the opposite direction toward me and Vall.
My eyes widen at the grotesque sight, the assassin willing to wreck his body beyond repair for the sake of inflicting more violence and finishing his job.
A black dagger streams out from his person, launching through the air right at me.
Vallan is close—
Not close enough this time. All I can do is leap to the side and take the dagger in my thigh rather than my chest.
Searing pain lances through my leg. I grit my teeth as I land hard on my shoulder.
“Silverblood!” Vallan roars, breaking all hope of a quiet execution of our counter-assassination mission.
His axe swings in an impossibly wide arc—
And the assassin’s head catapults over the balcony. The rest of the assassin’s body drops, spewing blood on the cobbles and through the balusters.
Garro limps over, holding his bleeding belly. “Are you all right?, Seph”
Grunting, I yank the dagger out of my thigh and fight back the pain. Bile rises in my throat but I force it away. Garro helpsme to my feet, Vallan next to him, both of their gazes trained on me, fearful.
“Knew there was a reason for these thick thighs,” I quip, chuckling darkly. “Glad I’m not a skinny waif, eh? Would’ve been a lot worse.”
Garroway, of all people, can’t believe I’m joking at a time like this. It’s all I can do to fend off the agony spreading through my lower half. He opens his mouth—
“I’m fine. I can still fight,” I say. “What about you? That dagger landed straight in your gut.”
Garroway shrugs. “Eating will be a pain for a while, but a gut-shot isn’t a deathwish like it is for a human.” He slips a smile on his tar-covered face.
We move to the balcony, all three of us injured in some way. Trained vampires arebeastlyin battle—even a solitary one.
Below, battle flickers through the shadows and murky yellow globes of the lampposts. Arrows fly, thudding home and killing without prejudice.
Four of our eighteen are trained archers and came equipped with bows and quivers. I can only hope the damage being done is being done by us and not Alacine Mortis’ specters.
More movement catches our eyes to the east, a street away, where vampires fight in a blurry, bloody conflict across the cobblestone road.
I catch sight of a flash, moving diabolically fast in a deadly dance that’s utterly familiar to me with its elegance and gracefulness. My breath catches in my throat as a wild auburn mane frames the wielder of the muted blade.
