Page 6 (1/2)

Chapter Six

"Rache!" Jenks shrilled, scaring the crap out of me as he darted down fro as I paused, a hand on the tree besidered dust, he hovered beforebetter than to ask what had happened I was here, the assassin wasn’t It was enough for Jenks, and right now, it was enough for round," he said, and tension hit ardener’s bunker It was his idea I told hi to find him, Rache! It’s notto look back the way I’d co heavily so I could follow at ets hi to pound hientle incline

The back of rass thick and well h overhead like a distant ceiling Seagulls called, swar kid with a box of ani behind a row of tall shrubs

Da held tight todown a damp sidewalk Ahead of ht into a wall of earth In the distance, one of the arch’s huge legs rose up Oblivious toshut

I slid to a panting halt before the brown-painted steel door, listening as I struggled to catch my breath and tried the handle Locked-and not with a spell, which I could break, but probably with a mundane dead bolt from the inside At least Jenks was in there

"Da my phone out of my pocket "Answer me, Ivy," I said as I hit the button and wrenched on the door at the saht behind you," came her voice, and I spun

"Where," I started, then shoved the thought out of"Two of them In there with Trent"

Ivy ave the knob a side kick, yelling for strength I heard metal snap, and I wasn’t surprised when the knob ca and the door opened God, I had good friends

Shoulder to shoulder, we looked down a long, dimly lit roohts were pale, and the sun streamed in for only a few feet It was silent, and a cool breath of underground air, blowing out from the depths, movedthe chill take low of pixy dust shohen she pulled the door shut, and I pointed

"There"

It smelled like oil and damp-of sweaty men, old ht of the sun for twenty years This was not on the regular tour, and I wondered where ere as we followed the corridor down and around, shunning doors and open archhen Jenks’s dust pointed elsewhere

"Where’s the third one?" she whispered

"Back at the car, out cold Don’t let the, okay?" I said breathlessly, and she nodded, taking that at face value

We have to be al how Quen kept Trent safe every day I suppose watching Trent in an office was easier than trying to shake three guys in a Cadillac, but I was going to get the man a leash if we found hihpast , I bolted after her Trent was shouting-it sounded like Latin-and, rabbed a rusty ceiling support and swung ht

Squinting, I watched Jenks bust another bulb tointo the dark, Ivy’s sleek for was low, and the space was croith abandoned machines Trent had his back to ht, a protection bubble around hi if he was okay and following Ivy, busy thunking people into walls by the sound of it

The circle was larger than I thought Trent could iven hinetic chalk He had a ribbon draped over his shoulder, and a cloth hat on his head that I didn’t recognize I sniffed, wondering if that was an extinguished candle I sard as our eyesalmost scholarly with that hat and ribbon, but he seeave hilow of Jenks’s dust lit a dark corner, and I winced at a loud clang Crap, if that had been Ivy’s head

I barreled into another puddle of light, scra It was the short guy, and using his ownsupport He hit with a thud, grasping weakly at it as he slid to the dirt-caked floor With a dull crack, the beaht on hi hied a toe under him and flipped him over to see his pained expression "Surprise," I said, and his eyes widened

"Duck!" Jenks yelled, and I dropped, feeling the rush of metal over my head

"Son of a bastard!" I whispered as I rolled away, finding my feet when I hit a piece of ic detection char hair was in front of me with a metal rod the size of a baseball bat Damn it, is Ivy down?

I couldn’t see her, and I backed up as he ca his pole in some lame-ass elf move as if it were a sword My hands were e, but there were no char my lips, I tapped the ley line that St Louis was built on If he started singing, I was going to fry hi of dead fish and electric lights slammed into me, and my eyes widened It was as if it hit every square inch of my skin all at once, and I sucked in ht under the ley line!

The guy I’d sla, and his buddy took a moment to help hihed fro in circles aroundfrouy pointed at ed when so somewhere above us Their heads shot up as if surprised, and I dove for the shadows

"Grab soic detection a her head I never got a circle up as the tingle of wild ht, doubled over in pain as a surge of energy swamped me It was as if they had found a way to duto channel the entire ley line or spindle it-anything to get atop the ed to ride the wave of cresting energy, and with a triuy back out ofmy connection with the ley line entirely before they fried ic, and this I could handle Son of a bitchwhat deht them that? And how much had it cost?

I looked up fro fallen Ivy was standing besideeyes to see the two elves picking theood iffro as she pulled h o when I winced, but she didn’t lookand dirt caked on her entire right side

"Great How about you?" I snatched rimy floor and faced the two assassins