Page 110 of Stars May Burn

I increased my pace, but the keens on the detector grew louder. Let them come. Nothing would stop me from reaching her.

“Left!” Sir Tristan yelled from his position only a step behind me.

I followed his gaze down an alley and raised my sword just in time to block pale slashing arms. Skin that had once been brown was now an unnatural bluish hue; it parted beneath my blade without the half soul reacting. My sword jarred as it struck bone, but still the creature leaned forward, ignoring its injured arms. A half familiar face leered inches from mine before Sir Tristan barreled into it, pushing it away.

I didn’t stop to see the end of the fight. I kept running toward Sophie. She had waited long enough.

We turned a corner, and a shout alerted me to two men at the back of our party fighting another halfsoul who moved with unnatural speed. I slowed, if they managed to break our party apart and separate us, things would be harder. I was about to join the fight when the halfsoul thudded back, a crossbow bolt in its chest.

I glanced at Annabelle. Her eyes were wide, and there was a slight tremble in her fingers as she reloaded and clicked the metal string of the crossbow behind the latch. I stepped closer to her so I could see her line of sight. Three more halfsouls were approaching.

Why today of all days? Why couldn’t Lord Lyrason have waited before causing chaos? I didn’t care about him right now.

This had to take as little time as possible. “Annabelle, shoot the one on the left. Meena, take the one on the right. I’ll take the center. Tristan, clear the way ahead for us. The rest of you spread out.”

I ran toward the middle halfsoul, once a balding man. Nothing registered in his eyes as he tried to grab me. I ducked beneath his arms and finished him with a blow to his abdomen. I turned in a smooth motion and continued running in the direction of the tracking device, Tristan running unhindered ahead. The street was getting narrower, flanked on either side by tall white plastered walls.

“Sophie, wait for me,” I whispered under my breath. “Wherever you are, hold on. I’m coming.”

Annabelle’s footsteps stopped, and I heard her crossbow click. I jumped sideways as a body fell from the top of one wall, landing only a few feet from me. The halfsoul didn’t move. I looked at Annabelle and grunted my thanks.

The whine on the detector finally died.

Meena fell into step beside me, her face looking beyond exhausted and her footsteps heavy. “That one almost had you, General. This isn’t like you to miss them. You can’t rescue Lady Sophie if you’re dead.”

I frowned at her, rounded a corner, and skidded to a stop. The pendulum in the pyramidal device pointed to a house. It was narrow and nondescript. I motioned for our group to press against the wall and catch their breath while I crept to the gate and studied our destination.

The house had a small front garden that was overshadowed with thick foliage, obscuring it from view of the street. Two guards stood in the weak pool of light at the door, destroying their night vision. Fools.

I gestured for Meena to sneak after me onto the ground, and we dispatched them within seconds before they could make a sound.

Not that it would have mattered if they did. I’d never been so angry and was quite willing to fight a whole army of Halfield’s men if I had to. I was just getting warmed up.

The rest of our party joined us at the door.

I turned to Annabelle. “Stay out here and keep your face hidden. Stay out of any action. If things get bad, run.”

She shook her head. “I want to come?—”

I pushed her back. “Stay out here. Refuse and I will tie you to a tree, understand? I have no idea what is waiting in there, and I have a lot more experience fighting than you. Besides, this is personal between me and Sir Halfield. It has nothing to do with the soulless or you.”

Something in my tone and eyes made her shrink back and nod.

I ordered Tristan and the other three men to stay and guard our escape route before I crashed through the front door, Meena close on my heels. If they had hurt her…

The corridor was empty, as was the first room. I pushed farther inside, my sword drawn, anger giving me a strange, cold calm as I methodically checked each room for cowering inhabitants.

At last, I found Sir Halfield leaning on his cane in the pantry, a half-eaten plate of food beside him. He looked me straight in the eyes as if uncowed, but I could see the telltale signs of tension in his shoulders and the way his fingers tapped the silver knob on top of the ebony cane. I walked straight up to him, causing him to back against the wall. “Where is she?”

I expected an attempt to stab me at such close quarters, but instead he pursed his lips as if unthreatened. It was a lie.

“Son-in-law. Let’s make an arrangement. If you tell me what your secret kryalcomy is, I’ll tell you where she is and let her leave with you.”

I was in no mood for games. My hand found his throat, and before he could react, I’d lifted him off the floor, choking him against the wall. “You do not let her do anything.”

He tried his dagger then, his hand slipping the blade from his sleeve and attempting to stab my chest, while his other scratched at my hand around his throat.

I knocked the blade away easily and slammed him against the wall. His head hit stone, and he crumpled, knocked out cold. I stepped away in disgust. If only Sophie would let me kill him. What good could possibly come from letting such a man live who plagued his victims in the worst ways? Who had harmed Sophie! I tied his wrists and ankles to the table.

---