Page 53 of Shadows of Winter

“Or one of those beasts.”

Kaylina fingered her sling. These were the men who’d been musing about her anatomy, Legdar and Zerek. While they were looking toward the river, she was tempted to crack them in the skulls. Too bad her rounds were great for taking down pheasants and quail but only tended to bruise men—and piss them off.

“There are no beasts in the catacombs. Unless you count those ugly statues.”

“It wasn’t a sword that tore Penner’s head off. Those were claws.”

“Just grab what you can carry. I have an idea.” Legdar picked up two kegs, tucking them under his arms, and turned toward Kaylina’s tunnel.

She pulled back, hoping she’d avoided being spotted, and jogged back to the alcove.

“Your idea involves running from our friends who need help?” Zerek asked.

“Gonna make a big distraction. If there are rangers down here, they’ll be compelled to leave our men alone and check on it.” Their voices followed Kaylina. They had to be heading for the hidden cubby where the other munitions had been stashed. Or would they go all the way to the castle?

In the alcove, she squeezed between the statue and the sarcophagus, hoping the deep shadows would hide her if the men looked in.

“What kind of distraction?” Zerek asked.

“We’ll blow some of the kegs and see if we can take down that castle.”

Kaylina stared in horror at the tunnel as the men walked past, lugging kegs of black powder. They couldn’t blow up the castle. Even if she hadn’t signed a lease and invested her dream in it, Frayvar was there, worrying because she’d been gone so long. She envisioned her brother being trapped in the kitchen or maybe the root cellar as an explosion boomed, making the ground shake and beams and rubble tumble down and kill him.

“Can you blow up a cursed castle?”

“We’ll find out. Either way, it ought to bring the rangers running.”

“What if the curse transfers to us?”

“Don’t be a milksop.”

The voices grew fainter as they walked farther up the tunnel.

Kaylina gripped her knees. What was she supposed to do? She couldn’t let them set off explosives under the castle. But the sling and knife were the only weapons she had. She was a mead maker, not a fighter, damn it.

Shaking her head, she gripped the sling. She would have to use what she had.

She slipped into the shadows of the tunnel, stepping as quietly as she could. Since the men were lugging kegs, she soon caught up with them.

Sling loaded, she drew it back and took aim.

The tunnel wasn’t wide enough for people to walk side by side, so they trod single file. Zerek, the man in back, was a larger target, so she waited until the head of Legdar was visible and fired at it first.

Before her round struck, she loaded a second. Legdar swore, dropped his kegs, and grabbed the back of his head.

“What are you doing?” Zerek demanded before thinking to look behind him.

He turned his head in time to take Kaylina’s round between the eyes.

The blow was enough to knock Zerek back. He stumbled over the kegs his comrade had dropped.

Kaylina wavered between firing again and running. The first man she’d struck snarled and drew a sword. That made up her mind.

She spun and sprinted away, knowing she was no match for a swordsman. But if they chased her, it meant they wouldn’t head toward the castle with those kegs. Frayvar would remain safe. She just had to make sure they didn’t catch her so she remained safe.

As they abandoned their cargo and pounded after her with legs longer and faster than hers, she realized that might not be possible.

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