Ranth and I were both against walls. “Hey, the house is a no-swear zone.”
“What, is it going to bite me?” She growled, getting up.
“Something like that.” My lips curled with the silent gloat.
Fabra looked up the ceiling and said, “Fuck.” The floor shuddered and wavered, but this time she rode it like a snowboard. Her eyes were wide. “Earthquake?”
“The house’s swear-meter is sensitive, so you’d better watch your mouth.”
She darted behind the chair and held on to it. “What the hell are you? Warlock? Wizard? A Scinlace?”
“What’s a Scinlace?”
Someone pounded on the door. My head turned toward it as the pounding grew louder. Even at full power, the wards only protected from magical attacks.
“Now see who’s in trouble.” Fabra laughed as I darted to the edge of the window. The back door splintered and booted feet thudded through the kitchen.
“Get down!” I shouted at Ranth as I dropped to a crouch. Ranth shot me a confused look and then knelt. I had no energy for a spell, but connecting with the house should allow some reserve. Two armored men burst in, and I screamed. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.”
The house shuddered and rocked back and forth as something hit the floor with aclang. I fell sideways as a cloud of smoke exploded and choked me. Everything went gray. I heard a voice distantly saying, “Put this on,” and then a tussle.
I struggled to remain aware and clawed at the curtains to get myself off the floor. There was a blue flash, then a scream and more scraping. I silently chanted, hoping to activate the glowing thing with the power from the house, but the world tilted. I couldn’t get any focus. My lungs ached for clear air. I had two seconds of floating in clouds before the gray closed around me like a shroud.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Iwoke up with a head full of cotton, and my mouth dry as December seedpods. The air crackled, tinged with sulfur, as if a thousand matches were lit at once. I crawled to a sitting position and rubbed at my eyes, the images and sounds flooding my memory, along with crunching.
“Juice?”
The voice seemed disembodied, but the recognition seeped in. Fabra sat with a glass of my pomegranate juice and a bag of rice cakes beside her. That explained the crunching.
“You’re still here?” I asked, rubbing my face to clear my head.
“Your hex, remember?” Fabra said through a mouthful of rice cake.
“Ranth?” I asked, scanning the room, but the sinking hollow in my chest told me he was already gone. Since the curse split, his proximity was wider but now, how far away was he?
“The gang took him. Can I leave now too?”
“Sure, you can take me to your leader.” I used the wall to haul myself up.
She laughed. I was even more furious. I pulled out my phone. I’d only been out for ten minutes. A gas mask lay on the floor beside her, and the metal canister of the smoke bomb had rolled against the wall. Fabra had opened a couple of windows, and I sucked in sulfur-tinged fresh air, longing to run outside into the singed garden and soak up the green energy. My pocket vibrated. It was Ori.
“That file you sent, where did you get it?” Her voice was shaky.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s… I’ll tell you when I get there. I’m on my way. Those other emails, I have Juke working on. Trying to get us a source.”
“Hang on. Don’t come here. They took Ranth, and they might still be watching the house. I’ll meet you—I’ll text you where.”
“Took Ranth? Who? The Marahk? Is that who had the file?”
“Yes, and I’ve got company at the moment.”
“You okay? Should I call Rose?”
“Hmm. That’s a good idea. Meet me in twenty? Get me a chai with a couple hits of protein.”
