Cutlass (27 page)

He charged, swinging the ball and chain over his head. He brought it down upon her. Larkin ducked to the left and twisted, aiming her sword at the guard’s side, but Cas was too fast and stopped the blow with the chain.

She jumped back quickly, her back hitting the cells. They stood for a moment, staring at each other, attempting to gauge the other’s next move. Cas’s weapon dangled at his side, and the sound of the chains running against one another made Larkin shiver. A smile broke across the guard’s face, and he swung his weapon at her. Larkin ducked again, and the ball and chain crashed into the stone wall, causing pieces of rock to break loose.

As if the ball and chain were feather light, he reared back and swung it again, bringing the weapon down where Larkin landed. She rolled away from him, and the chain hit the ground. She got to her feet in time to counter a blow to her body with her sword; the force was so great, it ripped the blade from her hands.

Cas laughed deeply, and he stood there for a moment, taking in the length of her.

“Such passion when you fight. Let’s see if I can break you.”

Cas began to swing the ball and chain. Larkin spotted the dagger Cas had cast aside—it lay in the corner, bloodied. She reached for it, having no other weapon handy. The ball and chain flew from his hands and barreled toward her. She moved just in time and it crashed into the wall behind her. It wasn’t until Cas was upon her that she realized it had only been a distraction. His impact sent her stumbling into the wall, but the contact was enough for her to push the dagger into his tough skin. It lodged in his stomach, and Cas just stood still for a moment, staring at the hilt of her blade. He growled.

“You were lucky before. I was going to go easy on you,” he said. “But now I think you deserve a punishment fitting of your nature.” He cracked his knuckles into his bloody hand. “Perhaps we will brand you with the stigma of the Estrellas fugitives. We can break your fingers, or cut an ear off…or burn your skin and peel it off ever so slowly. Whatever punishment might break you of your
unruly
behavior. Would it not be grand for the daughter of Christopher Lee to favor those prisoners he ensnared?”

She shook, and she knew she had to end this now. She caught a glimpse of her blade. If she was fast, she could grab it. She made her move, lunging for her sword, but just as her fingers grasped the hilt and she managed to point it at Cas, he clasped the blade. It was as if he felt no pain as he inched his way toward her hands. He laughed at her shock.

“What do you take me for? A weakling? I did terrible things to get here. See my face?” he yelled.

Maybe it was the thought of what Cas would do to her if she was captured, or the knowledge that she was the only one who could free Barren and Leaf, or blatant fear, but something gave her strength. She pushed against the sword with all her might. The blade slipped through Cas’s hands and through his stomach. He fell to his knees and then onto his side, taking in haggard breaths. Larkin hurried to him, kicking him onto his back. She took the hilt of her sword and drove the blade into him over and over again.

When she was sure he was dead, she reached for his keys and rushed to the cell where Barren and Leaf remained, watching the entire spectacle. Her hands shook so badly, she had a hard time fitting each key into the lock to test it, and the longer it took her to find the right key, the more frustrated she became.

Barren took the keys from Larkin’s shaking hands and she collapsed against the wall before the cell. With a click, Barren found the right key and the door groaned as it opened. She wasn’t paying attention anymore—her eyes were focused on Cas’s body.

Barren’s rough hand clasped her face, and she met his gaze. Of all the times she’d looked into his eyes, they had never been as dark as they were now. “Are you okay?”

She nodded, but Barren set his teeth, and she knew he didn’t believe her.

 “Why are you here? Did I not beg you to stay?”

“I…I thought I could help and I had to know,” was all she could say.

Barren seemed disappointed, but his hands left her face, and when they did, she felt even more exhausted.

“Leaf, help me.”

They moved Cas’s body into the cell. “We have to hurry and find Devon. Leaf, do you know where he might be?”

The Elf was busy as he pulled Cas’s cloak from his body and folded it over his arm. He straightened, shaking his head. “I’m not sure. We can check the chambers.”

“
Check
? We don’t have time to just check the chambers!”

“Remember this was your stupid idea,” said Leaf. “So don’t get angry with me when it doesn’t go like you planned.”

“I didn’t have a plan.”

“Maybe that was your first mistake.”

Larkin didn’t understand how they could be bickering at a time like this. A guard was dead. And not just any guard—Cas was someone the others would look for.

Leaf moved past her and Barren and headed down the dark hall. She wasn’t sure she could move right now. Her body was shaking, and she couldn’t take her eyes off the man in the cell. He was lifeless, but somehow, she felt as if he just might rise up and slay her.

“Hey,” she heard Barren say gently. “We have to go.”

Larkin looked at him. His face was close to hers, and now she could see a gash at the top of his brow. “You’re hurt.”

Barren laughed a little. “Odd time to be concerned about me.”

Barren helped her to her feet and they moved down the hall, following Leaf.

Leaf was dragging a body through the door.

“Leaf! What are you doing?” Barren scowled. “The more of them you kill, the worse off we’ll be.”

“Should have thought about that before you decided to come here.”

“Are you trying to teach me a lesson?”

“No,” Leaf handed Barren a mask and a cloak he had pulled from one of the dead guards. “I’m teaching you survival.”

Barren understood what the Elf was doing—disguises, and while they weren’t the best, they would at least not be recognized immediately.

Leaf disappeared again and came back through the door dragging another body. From it, he seized another cloak and a mask and handed them to Larkin.

“Put these on.”

She didn’t question him, but she turned from the dead men on the floor as she pulled on the mask. Barren did the same, shuddering as he thought about the face that had once worn it.

Leaf picked up one of the guard’s swords and examined the blade in the dim light. They would all need one—their weapons had been taken. “These aren’t meant for killing,” he said. “They’re meant to make their victim suffer…to bleed out.”

Chills ran to Barren’s core. He knew Leaf was trying to make a point—Barren understood, this was both stupid and dangerous, but what else were they supposed to do? They needed Devon. How else were they going to find the bloodstone?

After they were dressed, and each of them had a weapon, they left the holding cell, making sure to secure the door behind them. The longer everyone went without knowing Cas and two other guards were dead, the better.

They stood in the shadows for a moment while Leaf found his bearings. Either the Elf was having a hard time telling where they were, or he was listening for things, because he kept peering down the hall, left and right. The Leaf who stood before Barren at this moment was different in some way. He was tense, and his features were harder—his eyes had darkened, snuffing out the mischievous glean that always made them inviting. It was unsettling.

Barren knew it came from whatever had befallen him while he stayed in this tower. Places like these were horrible to experience for anyone, but in particular, for Elves because their senses were so heightened—the guards took great pleasure in that. Barren was only half-Elf, yet had already noticed an increased awareness after passing into this tower. His eyes caught creatures scurrying in the shadows—rats with plump bellies, strange worm-like things with thousands of legs crawling the walls, even dried blood on the floor. The smells were a mixture of death and mold, and of course there were screams, begging, and harsh laughter, all rising together from somewhere in the tower. All these things, Barren could hear, which meant Leaf experienced them at an even greater level.

Finally, the Elf led them left—whatever he’d heard down the hall to his right must have driven him away. They moved with a certain amount of tension, sticking to the shadows. Barren kept his hand on the wall. It was gritty and wet in places, as if water were leaking through the cracks. It made him wonder how far below sea level they were, and where the drainage tunnels were located. Larkin might know—she’d obviously used them to gain entrance to the tower, as her hair was wet and her clothes—
his
clothes, the clothes he’d unknowingly given her for this very event—held the stench of the water. If they could locate those drains, maybe they would provide the best escape. It wasn’t like they were going to be able to walk out the front doors, and the jagged rocks he’d seen upon entering made a barrier around the tower. So windows were also off-limits.

He considered their escape routes as he watched Larkin. She hugged herself, and her head darted around at every tiny noise. Watching her fight Cas was both amazing and terrifying and she should never have had to do it. This day, Larkin had fought for her life, she had fought for her innocence, and she’d fought to hold onto the morals she cherished. And she’d lost. She had just killed a man—brutally. What bothered Barren most was the fact that she’d fought for his life, too. While he was grateful, he had questions for her—most pressing: why did she risk her life for him?

Pain registered with Barren—it was slight, but stinging. He looked down at his hand and released his fist—crescent shapes were indented into his palm, some bled. As the blood pooled, he felt weak. What was he becoming? He was noticing things about Larkin, worrying about her—it wasn’t long ago that he’d wanted to throw her overboard.

Shouts rang out in the hallway. “Get them!”

“Run!” Leaf commanded.

Behind them, heavy footfalls sounded, and before them, growls erupted angrily—they were surrounded. They stopped in their tracks and backed into a circle as more and more guards encircled them. They were clearly human—for their flesh was like Barren’s, but what they’d experienced had taken them far beyond human comprehension, so that as they moved around them, Barren felt he was being watched by wild animals.

“You have few options. You fight here and die sooner, or you surrender and die later,” a guard’s voice rose above the cries of the crowd.

“Then I suppose it makes no difference whether or not we start now,” said Leaf.

And the fight began. Barren knew there were too many of them, and Larkin was weak from her earlier encounter with Cas. The only advantage they had was that it was hard for all of them to fight at once, and even then, the crowd did not allow for much movement.

Barren and Leaf fought, taking down guards as best they could, but Larkin struggled, and the more Barren became distracted with her distress, the less focus he had on himself. Pain shot up his arm, and he noticed his hand had been hit by a blade. He ground his teeth and looked up, thrusting his blade through the guard’s gut. Pulling it out, he went after another, cutting him down where he stood with a blow to the shoulder and head, but it seemed the guards thickened. They’d drawn every man in Estrellas to their spot. Their biggest mistake had been coming here, the second biggest had been killing Cas.

From the darkness above, a figure fell. For a moment, Barren thought it was a guard, and that they were done for, but when the figure landed—perfectly on its feet, clad in a hooded cloak—it twisted and cut down guards as if they put up no fight. There was grace and skill in each movement, and fast and deadly precision. That fighting style could only come from one kind of person, an assassin—a woman assassin if Barren had to guess by her stature and slight build.

Soon, more guards riddled the floor than stood, and they fell back, calling for reinforcements.

“Follow me!” the hooded figure demanded.

And they did.

They followed, running as quickly as they could. The figure rounded a hall in the darkness and then crouched before a grate in the wall. Working it free, their savior slid into the opening without a word. Leaf followed, and Barren turned to Larkin.

“I’ll help you down once I’m inside.”

She nodded in agreement. Barren squeezed through the opening and then reached for Larkin, catching her long legs, and guiding her safely to the floor beside him. Leaf reached up and moved the grate over the opening.

The group held their breath as feet shuffled past. Curses were whispered and weapons clanked. Soon there was silence again.

“You can let go of me now,” Larkin said quietly.

He looked down at her, surprised. Barren hadn’t realized he was still holding her. One arm was on her waist, the other positioned on her back protectively. Both of her hands were pressed to his chest, as if this closeness bothered her. He continued to stare at her. He’d forgotten how small she was, and having only held her once before, he found himself amazed that someone so delicate could kill someone as massive as Cas.