I put one hand on Breck’s elbow and prod Colin’s shirt collar with the other. “C’mon, let’s get out of here.”
The tipsy soldier’s expression dissolves into hatred. He lifts that finger he keeps pointing and thrusts it at the official and his companions. “You’re only a doubter because you send the rest of us to do your dirty work. But when Draewulf’s monsters come for your throat?” He moves his finger to his neck and with a slow gesture makes as if he’s slicing it open.
I tug on Breck’s and Colin’s frozen forms, pressing them toward the door. “We have to leave now,” I whisper with a mouth that tastes like fear and smoke and the bone dust they’ll all become if my curse gets free. I catch the hooded official’s gaze on me. He smirks as his companions rise, as if challenging me to stay for the entertainment about to erupt.
My stomach performs a somersault as his blond friend tosses a slur at the soldier.
“Oh hulls, not again,” the bartender says.
CHAPTER 13
FIIIIIIIGHT!” SHOUTS THE DWARF, AND I ’M instantly shoving my friends in the direction of the door as the room explodes. Someone throws a pint glass at the dwarf, and it barely misses Colin’s head as it sails for its target.
The dwarf catches the glass and throws it back so fast, the female recipient crashes into Breck, and the two of them end up taking us down with her. The lady sits up dazed while I scramble away amid a forest of legs all suddenly in motion, only to realize Breck’s foot is trapped beneath the woman’s wide girth.
I clamber back to her to push, then tug, while Colin regains his feet and just stands there glancing back and forth between us and everyone else in the chaotic place. His body bounces, caught up in the excitement of the brawl.
“Help us!” I snap at him.
He focuses on me and blinks with eyes as wide as hen’s eggs, then bends over to assist. We extricate Breck just as the lady grunts and grows lucid. After a head shake and knuckle crack, the woman grabs the nearest man to use for hoisting herself up and tramples him as she charges back into the mix.
Colin ducks, then clamps his hands onto Breck’s shoulders and drags her between the sweaty bodies and flying stools as I etch a clear path in front of them. I think Colin’s yelling, but it’s hard to tell above the clamor of breaking wood and bones.
Something smashes into my back and suddenly I’m pitching forward. My eyes blur as my knees slam onto the floor. But then I’m up and my aching body is crawling for the door as terror wraps its talons around my veins. If I don’t get out soon, none of us will. I can feel the curse itching, like a crossbow trigger begging to be pulled. All it needs is the right fist hitting at the wrong moment.
Just as I reach the entrance, I look up to discover Colin and Breck have made it. He turns to search for me when an enormous object flails through the air and hits him flat across the chest. The impact sends him through the doorway and skidding along the outside stones for a good three yards.
I lunge the last few feet between the legs of two men. And then I’m outside and feebly stumbling to where Colin’s sprawled out with what looks like a body on top of him. Please be breathing, please be breathing. I start to tug the thing off of him with my good hand when I realize it’s wiggling and yelling things. I pull back and squint at it.
The dwarf?
The little man shakes free, stands, and dusts himself off over Colin’s gaping mouth that’s clearly seeking the air knocked from him.
The dwarf glares at me, straightens his shirt, then turns to the broken door and cups his hands around his mouth. “Hey, boys! The fight’s out ’ere!”
Not that he needed to announce it. When I turn around they’re already spilling out—with the common-house owner leading the charge. I don’t see Breck, so I reach for Colin’s hand and yank him to his feet. But as soon as he’s standing, someone grabs my arm and flips me around.
My fist is in the guy’s stomach before I even recognize his face. He folds over, then lifts his head, eyes flashing, and slowly rises to his full height. It’s the blond-haired wretch of an official.
Colin shoves me so hard, the next thing I know I’m picking myself up and he’s ten feet away, bent low to the ground. And the earth is starting to rumble.
“Colin, no!”
The blond man lunges for Colin, and it’s as if the blur of bodies surrounding them speeds up, blocking my view. The stone street beneath us is groaning harder now, and as angry as I am that Colin’s using his Terrene abilities, I’m also holding on to those growing vibrations as consolation that he’s still okay.
Suddenly the crowd’s yells change tune, from riotous to confused. The fighting slows. Or maybe it’s just my imagination, as the whole common house and nearby buildings begin swaying.