The Commander’s brows drew together. He wasn’t buying our story. He sensed something was off.
He paced in front of us, blocking us with his huge, armored body. “Where did you get the girl?” He shot me a critical look. “And what is it that she’s wanted for?” He took a closer look at me. “She seems familiar.”
“She should look familiar since her face is gracing wanted posters from New York to Los Angeles,” Calli countered.
Folding her hands together behind her back, Bella dropped a tiny device on the floor. As Calli continued to argue with the Commander, stealing his attention, the device discreetly rolled across the floor, climbed up the wall, and plugged itself into a power outlet.
A man came down a spiral staircase and walked up to the Commander. He was wearing an expensive suit, the sort you often found on the bankers and businessmen of New York. It was a suit that screamed you had something to prove. No one who was comfortable in his position would feel the need to wear a suit like that all the way out here. He wasn’t just showing off that he could survive out here beyond the veil of civilization; he was demonstrating that his expensive wardrobe could survive the wilderness too.
I assessed him. He was somewhere in his early forties. His head was shaved completely bald, a style he’d chosen to hide his receding hairline. Dark, intelligent eyes shone out brightly, assessing me and my family. From the looks of him, he wasn’t a fighter. He didn’t even carry a knife. Not that he needed to. The big Commander beside him was a human weapon.
“What’s going on here?” the man asked.
“These bounty hunters brought in this girl, Hardwicke,” the Commander explained.
So this was the infamous slave trader Hardwicke. I’d expected more hair grease—and more hair.
“I don’t like the look of her,” the Commander added, still glaring at me.
His eyes critical, Hardwicke stopped in front of me and flipped down my hood to reveal my face. Recognition flashed in his eyes. The game was up. He knew who I was. Honestly, I was surprised this charade had lasted as long as it did.
“That is a Legion soldier,” Hardwicke told the commander of his guards. “You’ve allowed a Legion soldier inside my castle. And not just any Legion soldier. Pandora, the bringer of chaos, who leaves devastation in her wake wherever she goes.”
I smiled. “Aww, you’ve heard of me.”
I twisted my wrists, snapping out of the handcuffs. I went straight for the big Commander. Calli headed off the group of guards who’d turned and run at us following Hardwicke’s declaration. Bella hit a button on her phone. A series of booms went off throughout the castle, set off by the devices she’d placed. The castle’s power went out, including the Magitech barrier that surrounded the whole place. That would give Jace’s team one fewer obstacle to worry about.
The Commander swung his sword at me. Daylight streamed in through the majestic windows high above, sparkling off the massive blade. I dodged and rolled, grabbing two swords from a pair of guards on the ground who’d fallen victim to Bella’s sleeping potion. I brought the swords up to meet the Commander’s next attack. He blinked in surprise when my arms didn’t collapse under the weight of the impact. I guess it had never happened to him before.
“Don’t feel bad. Everyone underestimates me,” I said, disarming him.
His sword clanked against the stone floor. His hazel eyes flickered to his fallen weapon.
“I wouldn’t. You’ll never make it. I’m faster than you,” I warned him.
He made a run for it anyway. Shaking my head, I went to cut him off from his sword. Even as I stood in front of it, he kept running full-speed at me. The crazy bastard was going to ram me. He’d obviously never fought a member of the Legion before. We got punched, kicked, and rammed each and every day of our lives. He couldn’t phase me.
When we were just inches away from an imminent collision, he surprised me by pivoting to the side and launching an enormous fireball at my head. There wasn’t enough space for me to dodge, so I hastily cast a shield of ice in front of me. It went up just in time. If I’d been a moment slower, he’d have set my hair on fire.
Muscles and elemental magic didn’t generally come hand in hand. I was still coming to terms with the unexpected realization that the huge tank of a man was also a fire elemental, when he hurled an even bigger fireball at me. I countered fire with ice, freezing his flames around him like a steel cage.
He punched through his prison, his fists shattering the ice. His hands locked around my arms, and he threw me at the nearest wall. My body pounding from the impact, I rose to my feet and faced him once more.
“Where are you keeping the prisoners?” I demanded.
“You will find out when you join them.” He’d recovered his sword from the ground and set the blade on fire.
“You’re not very cooperative,” I muttered, dodging the burning streaks of his sword as he swung it continuously at me.
“How many Legion soldiers are with you?”
“Oh, at least a thousand.”
“You’re lying.”
The Commander grinned savagely, withstanding my punch. He grabbed hold of my ponytail and tried to set my hair on fire. The flames didn’t take, thanks to the elemental immunity I’d worked so hard to build up. Shock flashed across his face and he paused. I took advantage of his surprise and slammed my fist hard against the side of his head. He went down.
I looked for my next target. Across the room, Bella was fighting a witch in a duel of powders and potions. Why were all these different supernaturals working together like they were part of a team, as though they were fighting for a common cause? I’d had more than my share of firsthand experience with bickering supernaturals. They didn’t even get along with their own kind, let alone with other supernatural groups. What had brought all these people here together?
Bella knocked out the other witch with some sparkling purple dream powder. But as she caught her breath, a guard snuck up on her from behind. I ran forward, tackling him to the ground before he could grab her. The guard kicked me off. Magic exploded, fur burying flesh, and he transformed into a giant tiger. A shifter.
A snarl curling back his lips, he lowered into his haunches and prepared to pounce. Then, suddenly, he froze. A low whine broke his mouth, and he toppled over. Bella looked down at the sleeping beast, a sparkly blue powder glistening on her fingertips.
“Bad kitty,” she reprimanded him.
I burst into laughter.
“What?” Bella demanded.
“You’ve turned into such a badass,” I told her.
She frowned at me.
“It’s not a bad thing, you know. Even prim and proper witches are allowed to kick ass now and again. I bet Harker thinks it’s sexy.”
She sighed. “You’re incorrigible, Leda. You know that, right?”
I blew my sister a kiss. “I love you too.”
The soft clink of metal drew my attention. I turned to see Hardwicke surrounded by a dozen armored guards. They shielded him from all sides as they fled.
“They are going to secure the prisoners,” I said to Bella. “Or kill them on their way out.”
I had to get to Hardwicke before that happened. The only problem was the horde of armored guards standing between us and him.
17
The Pioneers
A flicker of movement caught my eye. I glanced up at the ceiling. Davenport the deserter ran up the vertical wall like it was nothing. Balancing on a stone ledge, he shot me a wink, then he slipped through the window. Damn it. He was getting away.
I couldn’t afford to worry about the deserter right now. I couldn’t have gotten to him if I’d tried. But if I hurried, I could get to the prisoners.