Page 86 of Magick and Lead
Behind us, someone banged against the door again. The wood groaned and cracked.
“Essa…” Charlie warned.
“Yes, Essa?” the prelate whispered. “What will it be? Me, or Othura?”
Gods, I wanted Kortoi dead with every fiber of my soul. But losing Othura would be too high a price to pay. With a growl of anguish, I sheathed my dagger.
“Fine. But you’re coming with us,” I grabbed the prelate’s arm. “Charlie, keep your gun on him.”
Disbelief crossed Charlie’s face. Clearly, he didn’t understand what was happening, but he trusted me enough to nod. “Fine. Let’s get out of here, then.”
But at that moment, there came a final impact, and the door behind us cracked down the middle. Half clattered to the floor, the other half swinging in on its hinges as gunmen in suits swarmed in.
We were caught.
38
CHARLIE
The president saved us. Or the sight of him, anyway.
As the security agents swarmed in, armed to the teeth, they saw the man they were sworn to protect. Half his face was blown off, yet he was somehow standing. And his eyes were glowing red.
In another context, it would have almost been comical to see the blood drain from all their faces at once. They stared, pale and slack-jawed, and every one of them hesitating, baffled by the sight before them, until the president shouted,
“Get them!” Then, we all swung into motion once again.
I cracked off a shot with my pistol, hitting the nearest man in the shoulder. Essa darted forward with her dagger, quick as a sewing machine’s needle, disarming two agents with slashes to the wrist, then doubling a third one over with a kick to the gut.
Suddenly, the world began to feel strange, as if all of reality were being warped by a heat mirage. I thought I must be injured and losing blood, until I looked over and realized Hoatan was building up his magic again.
Essa raised both hands, the dragon stone on her necklace glowing, her eyes fixed on the Torouman with a look of pure fury. A blast of wind tore through the room, racing away fromher in every direction, and the agents in the doorway tumbled like bowling pins. In the chaos, I seized Kortoi by the arm, pressing my gun to his temple, and followed Essa as she dashed through the newly cleared doorway.
The dining room was awhirl with motion, dignitaries milling about uneasily, servers bustling to and fro, a string quartet sawing away at their instruments in the corner despite the sound of nearby gunshots. We burst into all of it, inspiring a chorus of screams. Men and women scurried out of our path at the sight of my gun and Essa’s dagger. One fellow in a dress military uniform tried to step forward, but Essa blasted wind at him, making him stumble backwards into a table, which collapsed under his weight.
I heard footfalls behind us and looked back to see the president’s bodyguards back on their feet and charging after us.
“We’ve gotta get out of here,” I said, firing a couple of reckless shots at our pursuers. Kortoi tried to squirm out of my grasp, but I used my dragon stone to make my hand hot—not quite enough to ignite his robes, but hot enough to be a warning—and he calmed down.
Ahead, several sets of glass doors leading to the balcony had been swung wide to let in the night breeze, and Essa made for them with determination.
But how would we get away? Dive into the river and try to swim as the presidential guards picked us off from above?
It seemed a decidedly poor plan, and I started to say so, but Essa had already picked up her pace from a jog to a sprint. Before I could get a word out, she’d raced to the edge of the deck and vaulted over the rail.
“Essa!” I called, but at the same moment, an explosion came from beneath us. I winced, bracing for shrapnel and flame, but it wasn’t an explosion of fire; it was an explosion of water. Glistening droplets blasted into the air, illuminatedby the strings of lights above like a constellation of diamonds. And in their midst, I saw leathery wings, silver scales, and the serpentine flash of a tail.Othura. Essa landed in the saddle, and her dragon wheeled to face us with an impressive flourish that made our attackers cower.
I tightened my grip on Kortoi, broke into a run, and hurled both of us over the rail. Kortoi landed squarely on the dragon’s back. I, on the other hand, began to slide off the slick scales, toward the dark, frothing river below. Fortunately, at the last second, Othura kicked out a back leg, nudging me back up.
Careful,she scolded me.You’ll have to do better than that, Skrathan.
I’m no Skrathan. I’m an ace,I wanted to tell her. But in the chaos, there was no time.
Kortoi had settled in behind Essa in the saddle—apparently finding a dragon ride preferable to a plunge into the rocky river below. I scrambled into place and got my gun barrel back where it belonged—on the prelate’s temple. Then Othura’s powerful wings thumped hard, and we were rising, The Mint falling away fast behind us. Gunshots and outraged cries followed us from below, but they were too late. We were already gone. And Kortoi was ours.
39
CHARLIE
