The flood had apparently dropped multiple large objects on the school when the wave passed over, punching massive holes in the gymnasium’s steel roof, the source of the light Julius had seen earlier. Between this and the three story elevation at the roof’s peak, Julius would have expected a lookout up here for sure, maybe even a sniper. But Bixby must really have been putting his eggs in one basket, because the roof was just as empty as everything else. Julius was starting to worry this whole thing was even more of a set up than he’d anticipated when his brother gave a soft whistle and motioned for Julius to join him at the edge of one of the larger holes near the roof’s center.
“Gotta hand it to your human,” he said as Julius crept over. “She sure knows how to stir up the hornet’s nest.”
Julius could only nod, staring down in horror at the massive crowd of humans standing in the dusty basketball court below.
“I don’t believe it,” he whispered. “I mean, I knew he’d have a bigger force than the one he sent to the house, but that’s just ridiculous. There must be a hundred guys down there!”
“Eighty-one,” Justin corrected, breathing deep through his nose. “No mages, and no heavy ordinance.” He sniffed again. “Mostly smells like assault weapons and semi-automatic side arms—Glocks, Desert Eagles, Beretta Twenty-Fifties—that sort of thing. Someone down there definitely has a taser, though, so watch out for that. Getting electrocuted sucks.”
By the time he finished, Julius was staring at his brother with his mouth hanging open. “How is your nose that good?”
Justin gave him a haughty look. “If it’s important, I’m good at it.”
“So if you’re not good at it, it’s not important?”
“Exactly,” Justin said, leaning down. “You see Katya?”
Julius didn’t, and that was a problem. He could smell her—a sharp, ancient, icy scent that rose over the haze of gunmetal, human sweat, and cheap cologne—so he knew she was here, but even though he could see the whole of the dust-covered basketball court and most of the fold out wooden bleachers beside it, he didn’t see a single person in the crowd of heavily augmented muscle who could possibly be their dragoness. He did, however, see Bixby.
Marci had never actually described him, but there was no one else the man standing under the portable floodlights clipped to the remains of the home basketball goal could be. If the flashy suit and slicked-back mobster hair hadn’t been a big enough tip-off, the way he was ordering the battalion of hired guns around, despite being the only non-augmented person in the building, was a dead giveaway.
“There’s one at least,” he whispered, inching closer to the torn, rusted edge of the hole. “But we have to find Katya. If we can’t get a read on her, this won’t work.”
Justin shrugged. “Fine with me. If your overly complicated scheme falls through, we’ll just go back to my original plan of ‘beat up humans, take dragon.’”
“I don’t think even you can beat up that many humans.”
“Then you clearly haven’t seen me fight in a while,” Justin said, shifting his weight as he scowled up at the dark. Something he’d been doing a lot since they’d gotten up here, Julius realized with a start.
“What are you looking at?”
“I don’t know,” Justin said. “That’s the problem. I’m normally great in the dark, but I can’t see a thing.” He shifted his weight again. “I don’t like it.”
That was the closest Julius had ever heard his brother come to admitting he was nervous. Then again, this place would make anyone uneasy. The creepy, depressing magic wasn’t actually as bad up here on the roof, but thanks to the light coming up from below them, the rest of the Pit was darker than ever. Even trying to see across the street to where Bob had parked felt uncomfortably like staring into the abyss, and Julius grimaced, returning his gaze to the gym full of hired murderers, which suddenly seemed like a much safer thing to look at.
“I wish Bob would stop being so cryptic and just help us for real,” he grumbled. “He’s older than all of us put together and multiplied by ten. He could take that whole room without breaking a sweat.”
“Then it’s better that he’s waiting in the car. He’s got enough glory already, we don’t need him here hogging ours. Besides, we still don’t know why Estella’s actually doing all of this. It could be this whole setup is just a ploy to lure Bob out and assassinate him.”
Julius froze. He hadn’t even thought of that angle, and he was even more surprised that his brother had. Of course, Justinwasa knight of the Heartstriker. It was a knight’s job to think about things like assassinations. When he turned to ask what else his brother thought might be important, though, Justin was no longer beside him. He was standing several feet away, glaring up into the dark like he was trying to clear the air with the force of his disapproval.
“Justin!”he hissed. “Stop that! It’s almost—”
His phone buzzed in his pocket, and Julius ground his teeth. “There’s the signal,” he whispered, waving his hand. “Get over here, we’re about to start!”
Justin ignored him entirely, holding up his hand for silence before cupping it to his ear like he was listening.
Julius was about to get up and drag the stupid dragon back into position when a crash echoed through the Pit’s eerie silence. Forgetting about his brother, he whirled back to the hole, almost falling in as he leaned down to see the gym’s double doors slam open, and then Marci strode into the room.
Even though they’d planned her entrance together, actually seeing it happen sent a surge of pride all the way to Julius’s toes. She marched out into the gym like she owned it, stopping at the old basketball court’s free throw line to stare down the wall of guns that had immediately locked onto her with all the self-possession of a queen. Not a flicker of fear showed on her face as she eyed the army that had been hired to trap her, and when she spoke, her voice was so calm and confident, Julius didn’t even catch the illusion she’d woven to hide her nervousness until he realized Marci sounded almost nothing like herself.
“I’m here,” she announced. “Alone, as requested.”
Not wanting to be outdone, Bixby pushed out of his circle of guards and stepped forward. Unlike Marci, though, he had no magic to hide behind, and he couldn’t keep the telltale quiver out of his voice. “Allalone?”
“As you see,” she said, gesturing back through the doors at the empty dark behind her.
Bixby didn’t look convinced. “And the Kosmolabe?”
