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When Clarke’s finally caiven the predawn hour Salance behind herself, saw no one, and strode forward into the small square in front of the storefront
"Wouldn’t do that," a voice said Just a whisper Prumble
She turned, couldn’t see anyone, and stepped back into the shadows anyway "Where--"
"Here"
A ed across the street and slipped into the dark space "Are you okay?" she asked She couldn’t see hiainst her own in the tiny alcove
"They’re inside, waiting"
The words alone were bad enough, but when their fullhit her Sa into place Not only were the Jacobites one step ahead, they knehere to fucking go She thought they’d been careful Perhaps they had and someone talked She shuddered at that idea and buried it deep "How do you know?"
He jerked his chin upward "Second-storyon the left"
Sam looked It was hard to see in the darkness, but on a small sill that extended out from below the as a white bucket This was not unusual in Darhere it rained almost constantly for half the year and external sources of water had all failed Sa, and nearly everyand balcony had similar containers out now that the winds had died out
"Renuka’s signal to me that the cafe is not safe," Prued "Aboard still, I hope If he’s in there we have a big proble proble like rabbits this evening, don’t they?" His last word ended strangely, as if he’d just stepped on a thorn
"Are you all right?" she asked
"Bit of a scratch Took a knife to the gut Relax, it’s not deep and I have a"
She slipped a hand into his coat and prodded until her fingers found a wet, sticky spot He grunted when she put pressure there
"We need to stitch you up"
"That’s the least of your worries Soon the sun will rise, and I don’t exactly blend in, Saet off the streets"
"Not without Skadz," he said
Sa the sa
A minute later, Skadz found them
She heard hi off the vertical man-made canyon walls He raced into the square in front of Clarke’s as if he intended to burst through the door Saer curled around her ar He had the bulky duffel bag that contained Pru over his shoulder
Another set of footsteps grew Four people,chase
Before Samantha could even think what to do, Pruirth, his wounded belly He ran into the square toward the abandoned wreck of a food cart Every useful part had been yanked off the thing, leaving just a skeleton behind A rat scattered fro man approached
Prumble lowered his shoulder at the last second and propelled theJacobites His ti into the square yelped in surprise and s it
Three others followed into the pileup, unable to slow themselves on the wet asphalt An object clattered across the square and slid to a stop near Sa dropped and went for it
Prumble was on the newcomers in an instant He hefted one into the air and tossed hi to their feet One ran The other went at Pruiant htcliff’s fortress wall Prurunted, his wounded belly no doubt on fire
Sa the cold ht It was a suessed Glock, maybe She just hoped it was loaded and not a showpiece
Skadz e the crash of the food cart Pru Sa a clear shot She was about to whistle for Skadz’s attention when the door to the cafe flew open
Saun barrel and the hint of a Jacobite robe behind it She fired without sighting, letting the sparks that erupted fro refine her aier The first Jacobite out the door sround The one behind him froze, fell, and toppled to a heap There were shadows of more behind that one, but they retreated as Saround rolled to the side and took aim She ducked back into the alcove just in tiun barked thunder A short burst, professional The ones inside the building were trained, then Elite She wondered with dismay if they’d been there since before or after the explosion at Selby Systems
Another burst of fire slapped into the far side of the alcove, suppression fire Between bursts she heard footsteps The gun toward her
Then he cried out Surpriseand chanced a look around the corner Skadz had tackled thethe eot back to their feet The gun to shoot Skadz when she drove her foot into his groin from behind She kicked so hard that he lifted a few centi The effort round and she toppled back, cracking her skull against the ground