“Yeah. Thank the Goddess. I didn't bring them on our last date.”
Taroc grabbed my hand. “We fight together. I don't know how long it will take for the team to arrive. So do not leave my side.”
“All right.”
Hand-in-hand, we ran down the street, Taroc barreling his way through fleeing citizens and cutting a path for us. Without his strong grip on my hand, I might have been lost to the throng and dragged away. But Taroc didn't let go, pulling me along at several points, and we finally made it through.
Suddenly, we stood in an empty swath of road and sidewalk, devoid of carriages and people. Before us was the dead, and I knew there would be more of them at the other end of the road. That was how these attacks worked—the teams corralled people and then picked them off.
“Shit,” I muttered. “Maybe we should have gone with the crowd.”
Taroc looked at me in shock.
“There will be another group of corpses waiting for them back there.”
“We will clear the way for their retreat.” Taroc let go of my hand and opened his pouch of counterspells.
I went for mine as well. If they worked, we wouldn't need magic. “How good is your aim?”
Taroc smirked at me, held a small glowing ball aloft, and flicked it at the corpses. It hit one of them right in the center of its forehead. The spell burst over the corpse, the glow spreading over it from head to feet, and the dead man went truly dead.
“Nice one!” I flung one of my balls and hit one in the chest.
“Faster!” Taroc growled as he flung counterspells in rapid succession.
He didn't miss, but that may have been more to do with their proximity than his aim. We backpedaled in a jog to put more space between us and took out the rest of the group.
“Now, we go to the other end of the road,” Taroc said as he turned around.
“What the fuck are you two doing here?” someone called from above us.
I looked up, confirmed my suspicions, and cursed.
“We're on a date,” Taroc said to Jathalion.
“Well, you can go back to it,” Jathalion said. “We'll handle this.” With that, he flew off.
“Fucking moron,” Taroc said. “He expects us to finish our dinner when people are in danger and we can help? How did he ever become a Wraith Lord?”
“I don't think he was always like this,” I said as I tugged on Taroc's hand. “Come on. He'll take care of the group down there. I think I hear screams coming from this direction.”
Taroc grunted, grinned at me, and then we ran toward danger together. What a marvelous date. We had even got our dinner for free.
Chapter Nineteen
“How did your date go?” Rath asked as I came into the suite's front room. Then he saw that Taroc was with me. “That well, huh?”
“I smell smoke,” Xae growled as he stood up and left the table.
A game of cards was in progress, Kel there as well. But all the men got up at Xae's words.
“We're fine. The Corrupter hit the city while we were eating,” I said. I waved at the sideboard and said to Taroc, “Help yourself.”
Taroc grunted and went to pour a drink.
“Living or dead?” Xae asked.
“Xaedren!” Rath snapped.
