Page 11 of A Touch of Treachery
The two men stared at each other for a long, tense moment.Bryce’s eyes narrowed a bit more, while anger sparked in Desmond’s gaze.They definitely knew each other, and no love was lost on either side.
“Bryce!”Desmond yelled.“Stop right there!”
Bryce stabbed a final key on the laptop, then plucked a silver flash drive out of the device.He tucked the flash drive into his jacket pocket, then stood up.His gaze zipped over to me before zooming back to Desmond.Another long, tense moment passed.
Then both men started moving at once.
Desmond charged at Bryce, who grabbed a clear glass vase filled with white orchids off the corner of the reception desk.Bryce threw the vase at Desmond, who stopped and crossed his arms in front of his chest, forming a crude shield.
Smack!
The vase bounced off Desmond’s arms and dropped to the floor.The vase shattered, spewing glass, water, and flowers everywhere.The blow knocked Desmond back.One of his boots slipped on the floor, and he lurched to the side, landing awkwardly on his right knee.
Bryce smirked at Desmond, then braced a hand on the reception desk and vaulted over the top.He landed on his feet as nimbly as a cat, then cut diagonally across the lobby, running toward the garden.He wasfast—supernaturally fast—indicating he was an enduro.
I snapped up the gun still in my right hand, but Bryce stepped behind a tree before I could shoot.I lowered the gun and sprinted in that direction.
“Charlotte!Charlotte, wait!”Desmond’s voice rang out.“You don’t know who you’re dealing with!”
I had a pretty good idea, but Bryce being an enduro and a possible assassin wasn’t going to stop me from trying to stop him.
I sucked in a breath and picked up my pace.Over the past few months, Desmond and I had been training together, sharpening our skills and pushing our bodies—and our respective magics—to their limits.I despised running, but all the cardio Desmond and I had done together was paying off now.I sprinted across the lobby with ease and plunged into the garden.
I stepped onto a red-brick path that wound past several trees, along with evergreen hedges and flower beds filled with bright blossoms.I forced myself to stop and peer through the thick screens of leaves.The revolving doors at the front of the lobby were still, which meant Bryce hadn’t left the building and was in the garden ...somewhere.
I looked and listened, but I didn’t spot Bryce, and the only sound was my raspy breathing, along with the gurgling stream flowing under the wooden bridge.I raised the gun in my right hand and crept forward.The briefcase was still dangling from my left hand.
I followed the winding path past one clump of greenery after another, but I didn’t spy Bryce anywhere.
Crack!
A branch snapped off to my left, and I spun in that direction.Bryce stepped out from behind a tree.He raised his hand and waggled a long, skinny silver object.I tensed, thinking it was a gun, but Bryce smirked and lifted it a little higher.My eyes widened in horror, even as my synesthesia outlined the device in a bright, bloody red.
Not a gun—a grenade.
Bryce pulled out the pin on the side and tossed the grenade toward me.It hit the brick path with a loudtinkand skittered in my direction.I dropped the gun in my hand and snapped up the briefcase, holding it out in front of me with both hands like a shield, even as I backpedaled, trying to get out of the blast radius—
BANG!
The grenade exploded, the sound as loud as a shotgun blaring in my ears, but instead of a scorching fireball, acrid gray smoke spewed out.The smoke blasted over me, stinging my eyes and making me cough.I stumbled around.My synesthesia painted the thick, billowing clouds a brilliant red, and I couldn’t figure out how to escape from the smoke and the haze of scarlet flooding my vision ...
“Charlotte!It’s okay!I’ve got you!”Desmond’s voice rang out, and a hand clamped around my right wrist.
I followed his lead, letting him pull me out of the stinging, choking clouds and back into the open lobby.Above our heads, lights flashed, and a loud, distinctive clanging rang out.Someone had pulled a fire alarm.
I sucked in one breath after another, trying to clear the acrid smoke out of my lungs.Desmond’s concerned face swam into view, and he gently wiped away the tears streaming down my cheeks.
“Charlotte!Are you okay?”he asked, worry rippling through his voice and making his Australian accent more pronounced.
“Fine ...”I wheezed.“Just ...inhaled ...some ...smoke.”
Some of Desmond’s concern melted away, replaced by an angry glower.“Let’s get him.”
I wiped away a few more tears.Together, we plunged back into the garden.I grabbed the gun from where I had dropped it, then Desmond and I spread out, keeping each other in sight through the curling clouds of smoke while we searched for Bryce.
A few seconds later, Desmond muttered a vicious curse.I hurried over to his position.A manhole cover was lying on the ground next to a round black hole at one end of the wooden bridge.The rusty metal cover was at least three inches thick, and only someone with paramortal strength could have removed it without help.
“Bryce must have gone down into the sewer system.”Desmond pulled a phone out of his pocket, turned on the flashlight, and angled it into the hole, revealing a metal ladder.
