Although the motion only takes seconds, time seems to slow to a crawl as the soldier lowers his arm and sets loose the small throwing dagger. The blade spins through the air before embedding itself in Prescott’s back. I shiver.
The headmaster crumples to the ground, dead. Harper’s soft weeping echoes across the clearing. I’m not exactly broken up over the guy’s death, but that was a crap kill. There’s a reason calling someone a backstabber is an insult.
Lincoln clearly agrees with me. “Where’s your honor?” he snarls. “The man wasn’t a warrior.”
Blaze shrugs. “He deserved to die. This is my patrol territory. Here I am judge, jury, and executioner.”
“You’re also a coward,” says Lincoln. “If you’re man enough to take someone’s life, then you can look them in the eye while you do it.”
“Please. I gave the man a chance, which is what you wanted. Should I coddle him all day?” Blaze strolls over to Prescott’s prone body and kicks the corpse over. You’d think the guy would have a little more sense of urgency, considering who we are.
Oh, that’s right. Blaze doesn’t know who we are yet.
Blaze leans over Prescott’s body. Lucifer’s coin still sits in the dead headmaster’s hand. Blaze scoops up the coin and sighs. “At last, we have succeeded in our mission.” He slips the coin into a pocket on his body armor. “My Lord Aldred will be pleased.”
I stare at the pocket that currently holds Lucifer’s coin. His “Lord Aldred” is never getting his hands on that thing. I make a silent vow: Lincoln and I are not leaving this clearing without that coin.
One of the Acca soldiers gestures toward Harper. “What do you want to be done with her?”
“That depends.” Blaze returns his attention to Lincoln and me. “We need to finish our negotiations first. Have you considered my offer? You must see that there is no other choice. Aldred already has the incantation to activate Lucifer’s coin. Our elders secured it ages ago. Once Aldred has the actual item in his possession, Acca will take the throne of Antrum.”
“That’s your offer?” Lincoln’s features are still as stone. My guy’s pissed, all right.
“I’ll sweeten the deal. You seem to know this human girl. If you swear fealty to Acca right now, I might let her live.”
My brows lift. Wow, is that ever a crap deal. Ally with a psychopath and you maybe—just maybe—won’t kill someone? This dude is delusional.
Lincoln turns to me and sets his hand at his throat. “What do you say, Mysteria?” My guy doesn’t have to say another word. I know exactly what he’s thinking here. He wants us to take off our amulets and reveal our true identities.
Man, I am ever down with that concept.
“Yup.” I twiddle my fingers by my neck. “I’m with you.”
Lincoln and I turn back to face Blaze. Moving in unison, we grip the silver chains around our necks and yank the amulets off. Both charms fall onto the wooden step beneath us with a clunk.
The lines of Blaze’s square face soften with shock. The other Acca warriors freeze. I can’t help but gloat a little.
That’s one super-satisfying sight, right there.
Lincoln straightens his shoulders and goes into what I call his royal mode. “I am Lincoln Vidar Osric Aquilus, High Prince of the thrax and future consort to the great scala. You have one chance to give up the coin and the girl. If you do this now, I’ll allow you all to live.”
My tail waves to them over my shoulder. “And I’m the Great Scala and future Queen of Antrum. Normally, I’d have killed you already. That said, my guy here wants to chat, so…” I bob my head, considering. “You’ve got about two minutes, tops.”
“Demon!” hisses Blaze. “I’ll enjoy slicing that slimy tail from your backside, bitch.”
Over my shoulder, my tail gives Blaze a modified version of an obscene hand gesture. I nod in agreement. “That’s right, boy.” I glare at Blaze. “Respect the tail.”
Lincoln moves to stand beside me. “This is your last chance, Blaze.” Even though his words are hard edged, Lincoln’s demeanor stays calm and controlled. “Surrender now.”
Blaze’s chest heaves as he considers his reply. Still, the guy doesn’t even need to open his big yap. I can already tell that he’s going to shoot us down.
Nice.
My thoughts slip into battle mode as my inner wrath demon roars to life. Every tree, wall, and stone falls into an intricate web of possible attack vectors. My battle plans deepen. Different offensive moves flicker through my mind’s eye. There are no less than four different strategies that I could use to take these guys down while getting that knife away from Harper’s throat.
I nod once to myself, the decision made. I’m going with the assault plan that uses my tail the most. After all, my backside is still making lewd gestures at Blaze. That only happens when it’s super pissed. Best to let my boy get out some ya-yas.
Lincoln and I lock gazes. We’ve had situations like this on demon patrol before. I hitch my thumb toward my tail and then toward the other Acca warriors. The question is there but unspoken. Can I set him loose on those guys?
Lincoln gives me the barest of nods. Yes.