Page 50 of Blood On His Lips

“Report,” Juliette snapped.

The girl glanced at me, her slender chest heaving as she caught her breath. She must have been running in an all-out sprint.

I nodded and she gulped in air. “They're fighting. Soma said to get you. The commander has left with Lord—”

“Let's go.” I cut her off, my guards and I already moving. Delphine turned on her heel and dashed away.

We followed, people leaping out of our way as we ran through with the grim force of battle stallions. Soon, we didn't need Delphine to guide us. The rumbling of the distant storm and the general noise of the crowd had blanketed the angry sounds of a brawl on the edge of the faire grounds away from the buildings, almost as if the combatants had planned to have it out of the way. Premeditation would get us in worse trouble than if a fight spontaneously broke out.Fools.

As we closed in, the telltale sound of fist striking flesh, grunts and cries of pain, snarls of rage and the scuff of feet chased fleeing people.

Numair bumped my shoulder to get my attention. “Stay at my side, Aerinne, I mean it. This could be a cover for an assassination.”

I nodded grimly as we skidded to a halt, pausing bare seconds to assess a tangle of bodies. I recognized several of the missing youths from my House, several from allied Houses, and those wearing Montague and Labornne insignia. Including Tybien.

I cursed, low and vicious, in four different languages and still needed nastier words to plumb the depths of my frustration. “We get our people out. Don't kill anyone.”

Numair spared me a withering look, Juliette grinned, and we waded in.

My temper grew steadily. Brawl was an innocent word, implying accidental hostility provoked by the presence of much alcohol. I'd gotten caught up in a fight between two drunks while serving drinks in a bar during college. That had been fun. This was different, though; this was ugly violence.

I dodged a flying body and staggered when I didn’t avoid a glancing blow soon enough, spitting blood out of my mouth.

Juliette bared her teeth and punched that one, and I took care of another whose narrowed eyes stated he recognized me. As I dropped him to the ground, I whirled on instinct.

A blade flashed too close. Numair blocked, growling, and wrapped a hand around the fool’s neck.

“Don’t kill him,” I snarled as he squeezed. “Disable only.”

Numair grunted, then lifted the male and threw him. He landed in the melee and disappeared.

Juliette stayed close to my back, drawing her sword. We fought our way through, Numair grabbing the young ones by the scruff and threatening heinous deeds if they didn’t retreat now.

“Do you want to be responsible for your Lady’s death or injury?” he demanded of a boy who pouted. Soma. “She will not leave untilyoudo.”

“Labornne insulted the Lady!” was the heated protest. “We fight in her honor. Lady, don’t make me flee.”

“You break the Prince’s peace,” I said, cool but sympathetic. “You were deliberately provoked to do so. Come, take your sister to safety. What if she’s injured?”

He paled.

“Go. We will retrieve her before she kills—shit.Go.Get Delphine out of here.”

Soma obeyed, and I watched them just long enough to make sure no one obstructed their path.

We found three dead as we fought through the slowly thinning crowd. One of ours, one of Labornne’s, one of Montague’s.

“We need to retreat before the Prince comes,” Juliette said, jaw tight with tension. “He isn’t going to stop and ask questions, and you being here will just piss him off more. He’ll either think you started it, sanctioned it, or are in danger.”

I nodded. We turned to abandon the crush when the sudden cries of a familiar name reached my ears.

Numair cursed as Juliette stared in the direction of the shouts. “There’s nothing we can do,” he said. “Wait—Aerinne! Damn it!”

Juliette grabbed my arm.

“I’m the highest ranked person here,” I said, shaking her off. “If I don’t offer aid then Faronne could be held liable. If he’s already dead, then at least it’s obvious I didn’t kill him.”

But we were the only ones of our House left.

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