Happy screams and catcalls filled the air from the pool beyond the bushes; the heavy beat of the music inside pulsed through the air and shook the ground. Ryland’s graduation from high school should have been a happy occasion, not the site for a rescue mission.
I could feel the tension; the pulsing, magical energy flowing from each of us as we sat ready, waiting to pounce. The magic seemed to beat in time with the music that surrounded us; the longer we waited, the louder it grew. Ryland’s necklace sat hot on my skin under my lime green shirt, the intense heat warning me that danger was nearby. I pulsed my magic reflexively, hoping that being this close to Ryland, to Edmund, would provide me with additional control. Nothing happened; Edmund’s restrictive blanket remained a suffocating force over my ability. I swallowed hard, hoping that when the blanket slipped off me, I could control the pent-up energy it would surely release.
The four of us looked up in unison as a large, red blast lit up the sky above the manor. The excited squeals from the pool echoed the deep boom of the explosion. Tace and Zilla bolted out in front of us, their bodies breaking through the bushes to the open parking lot. I screamed out in surprise as Ilyan grabbed me and flung me onto his back before he followed their lead.
The door to the kitchen flung open in a burst of wind that carried all of us into the hustle and bustle of the elaborate space. The wind pushed over trays of food and plates, and sent napkins flying through the air. The resulting mess sent the kitchen staff into a panicked frenzy. We took advantage of the disarray as we sped through the kitchen without having to worry about the Zmiz?t being ineffective. Even without the diversion and the cloaking spell, our speed would have made us invisible. I just caught a glance of Mette’s frazzled face before we took off down the staff hallway that led from the kitchen.
Tace and Zilla continued in front of us, our pace quick and fleeting. We moved through two corridors before Zilla’s pace reduced to a casual saunter. Ilyan and Tace followed suit, Ilyan moving us right up against the wall.
Only a moment after the change in pace, two small men I had never seen before came around the corner to face us. At first, it was obvious they couldn’t see us, but realization dawned on them as the Zmiz?t seemed to fall away from our bodies.
Tace and Zilla did not wait; they moved so fast their bodies blurred. One moment they stood in front of us, and the next, they were directly before and behind the two Trpaslíks. Two dim flashes of light lit up the hallway before their bodies fell to the ground.
Ilyan rushed to their side, his face falling in alarm and frustration.
“Well, so much for stealth,” he sighed. He turned to Tace and Zilla and spoke to them in Czech before the two went into action, moving and hiding the bodies in the many servants’ quarters surrounding us.
“I need you to stay right beside me, Joclyn.” He didn’t look at me; he remained looking straight forward as he spoke.
Tace emerged from the rooms first, followed by Zilla who shook her long, blonde hair as she spoke to Ilyan. He didn’t wait to translate; he simply grabbed my hand and towed me behind him as we ran from hallway to hallway.
The music continued to increase in volume as we moved through the estate. By this time, we had abandoned any attempts at stealth, although it probably wouldn’t have mattered since the music became so loud that any noise we made was drowned out.
We almost made it to the connecting servants’ hall when Tace and Zilla plastered themselves into the alcoves of the doorways; Ilyan towed me after him into another doorway. He kept me hidden safely behind him, his hand holding me against the door as he looked at what was going on in the hall. I heard a small yelp, shuffling feet, and two dull thuds before Ilyan released me from the small space behind him. By the time I made it to the hall, the two Sk?íteks were already hiding the bodies in a storage closet.
Ilyan held me back as we reached the door that would open up into the hallway that connected to the main hall before turning and speaking to the others. His lips moved as he spoke, but I could barely hear him, the overwhelming music drowning him out. Before he even finished speaking, Tace and Zilla exited from our hallway into another. My body tensed; I felt strangely unprotected without them.
“They are going in first,” Ilyan yelled into my ear. “They will be watching you in the hall. Are you ready?”
I couldn’t respond, my body tense.