My magic sputters off him instead of snagging his ankle. He’s got some kind of protection imbued in his clothes too.
The two of us are still charging toward him. He swipes his knife at me, making me dodge toward the steel railing.
It was only a feint. Salvatore leaps in to shield me, but Kenneth must have expected that. He’s already whipping around out of range of Salvatore’s weapon, aiming a more powerful jab at the other guy’s side.
A cry breaks from my throat, too late to warn Salvatore. Kenneth’s blade slices through his jacket and tee as easily as it did my shirt, carving a gouge across his ribs.
Salvatore yanks himself away, gritted teeth bared. He spares the briefest glance toward his ruined clothes: the leather split, blood seeping into the paler fabric of his shirt beneath.
He brandishes his switchblade. “Fuck you. This is my favorite jacket. Let me fucking kill him, Elodie. I’ll carve him up until he’s dog kibble.”
I grimace, easing to the side to try to help him take Kenneth down. “Can we stick to knocking him out for now? Give him a concussion if you want, as long as he can still talk.”
If we come at him from opposite sides, will that give us the advantage we need? The bridge is several feet wide, which gives us some room to maneuver.
I don’t like how prepared Kenneth seems to be, though.
Salvatore doesn’t wait for me to circle my attacker. Without confirmation of my request, he lunges at Kenneth with the full force of his massive frame.
I jump in anyway, swinging my weighted bag at Kenneth’s head. At the same moment, he fishes a small object from his pocket and throws it toward Salvatore.
What looks like a mere pebble rattles onto the bridge’s surface—and explodes with another whomp of magical force.
I stumble backward against the railing. The blast hits Salvatore worse, tossing him right off his feet and flinging him against the steel bars.
His head collides with the corner of the railing with a bang. I wince, clamping my lips against a gasp.
Salvatore staggers, reeling, and Kenneth doesn’t hesitate. With a more focused warble of magic, he heaves the bigger guy up and flips him right over the railing.
“Tore!” I cry out, and dart forward without thinking.
Salvatore plummets toward the river, but he flings out one arm and manages to snag a bar near the bottom of the railing. He sways, dangling from one hand.
Kenneth lifts his foot to stomp on Salvatore’s fingers. Before he can finish the motion, I shove him away.
My would-be murderer spins toward me, panting hard. He hurls a smack of ephemera at me, but I deflect it in time with one of my own.
He tackles me with his body instead, his knife arcing through the air. His snatching fingers wrench my hair loose from its bun and send pain lancing through my scalp.
“Why won’t you justdie?” he grates out, the first words he’s spoken.
Frustration reverberates through his voice, so thick and caustic it sears away my doubts.
No, this isn’t his first attempt at offing me. He’s had it in for Elodie long before our conversation in the library.
I aim another knee at Kenneth’s stomach and twist to the side as well as I can. A wallop of hurled energy propels me back to the opposite railing.
I slip off my feet, my shoulder jarring against the steel bar. As my mind races, I make myself slump on the floor of the bridge.
Just a poor little billy goat. Nothing to be wary of here.
All I need is one moment with his guard down…
Salvatore’s breaths are becoming shakier where he’s still clutching the railing. How much longer can he hold on?
Kenneth stalks toward me. I tense as surreptitiously as I can.
He slashes down, and I shove up with a hasty swipe.
