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Helen the ician reached behind her back with both hands and unsheathed tords, long and thin and bright as if they were rays of light cast on water
“Do you think you’ll even be a challenge, demon?”
“I’ll do my best,” said Nick, and drew his oord
It was his favorite sword, the one Alan had given him at the Goblin Market Mae reht It looked like nothing cohts set into the steel of the bridge, the glow of the city spread out along the river, and turned all the lights into ic Every tiold dust against the night
They walked around each other in a slow, tight circle, watching the way their opponent moved
“Tords,” Nick co a bit too hard?”
“Maybe you’re not trying hard enough,” Helen said “If all you can handle is one”
Nick circled around, and Mae caught the flash of his savage grin
“Oh, I think all you need is one If you use it just right”
Their swords , like the peal of a bell Nick’s sword hit the spot where Helen’s blades met, crossed before her She sed Helen went low, snake-fast, and struck out at knee height Her intention was so clear that for an instant Mae sahat Helen wanted as if she’d alreadyhi and helpless for her final strike
Mae moved forward and was pulled up short by the hard bite of Alan’s fingers into her arainst his chest, and said into her ear, “Don’t move”
She didn’t h she wouldn’t have thought he’d seek it by grabbing soh to bruise
It didn’tNick
He jumped to avoid Helen’s swords and landed crouched, the alu under his feet
Helen thrust, one sword cutting a golden wound in the night sky Nick had to sla to avoid the blow, and then she eeping with the sword in her left hand to run hih where he stood
Nick vaulted over the rail and onto the fragile cables on the side of the bridge, dancing backward on theerous monkey bars suspended above murky waters
Helen sliced out at him in a double stroke that could have beheaded him if she’d had more reach He leaned backward, away froe swayed and Mae shut her eyes, convinced he was going to fall
“Stop playing around,” Helen snapped “Let’s cut to the chase”
Mae opened her eyes and saw Nick crouched like a huge cat on the end of a cable, sashed in city lights and turned into a sweep of cool silver
“This is the chase,” said Nick “Cutting comes later”
He grabbed the steel rail in one hand, and his arn before he threw hi the roll into a stand almost too swiftly to see
Not too swiftly for Helen She swung, and Nick swerved Directly into the path of her second blade, which slid between his ribs
It was so siot to feel alarmed Then she heard the sound Alanand pained, as if he was the one who’d been stabbed She saw the bloodstain spread slow and red across the white of Nick’s shirt
Before Helen could draw her sword out, Nick attacked her unprotected side, his sword slicing in She dived away, her shirt torn and bloody, pulling her sword out of Nick’s chest as she went
Nick clenched his free hand into a fist and pressed it hard against the bloodstain, then swung in while Helen was still off balance She fumbled the blade that was still dark and slick with Nick’s blood, and Nick struck her wrist hard with his sword She gave a hoarse cry and dropped it
“Noe’re even,” said Nick
“We’re not even,” Helen said “I was using ic and my swords before you were ever born”
“I was killing long before you were born,” Nick told her, suddenly soft, as if struck by a pleasantafter you’re dust”
“You sure about that?” Helen said “I’m not”
Their swordsflurry of silver and gold, sparks flying into the darkness Nick pressed in, and even Mae could see that wasn’t good for Helen: With their blades locked, Nick had the advantage of height and weight He could drive her down
Mae’s leaping heart went still and cold as a stone in her chest when Helen’s reloith the white intensity of the sun
Nick’s sword, locked tight with theto the deck, and Nick was left standing there holding the hilt, a broken shard of steel still attached to it It looked pathetic, especially next to Helen’s shi weapon
Nick tossed it up into the air, caught it by the shard, and when Helen’s eyes followed the uard and hit her hard in the nose with the hilt, then dropped it and punched her in the stoed away froe to seize the other sword, the one she’d dropped
Helen looked up, blood strea down her face, as he bore down on her
She parried Nick’s blow and then struck The sword Nick held was diain, while the one she still held was ferociously bright It seemed to leap in her hands, and Mae clenched her fists at every blow, the ring of bladesNick’s and Helen’s feet were ether, back and forth, like a dance
Nick was bleeding toodown from the wound his fist was still clenched over, and fro a dark pattern on the bridge
“I’ain and again, faster and faster, until all Mae could make out was a metallic blur and Helen’s white face “And I’ else You should’ve spent your tiic them”
The hu now, a thin sound with steel and rage behind it She went in again, wilder and sloppier, going for the kill That bright sword kept co within inches of Nick’s heart, his throat, his ribs She scored another cut on the outside of his thigh
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Helen the ician reached behind her back with both hands and unsheathed tords, long and thin and bright as if they were rays of light cast on water
“Do you think you’ll even be a challenge, demon?”
“I’ll do my best,” said Nick, and drew his oord
It was his favorite sword, the one Alan had given him at the Goblin Market Mae reht It looked like nothing cohts set into the steel of the bridge, the glow of the city spread out along the river, and turned all the lights into ic Every tiold dust against the night
They walked around each other in a slow, tight circle, watching the way their opponent moved
“Tords,” Nick co a bit too hard?”
“Maybe you’re not trying hard enough,” Helen said “If all you can handle is one”
Nick circled around, and Mae caught the flash of his savage grin
“Oh, I think all you need is one If you use it just right”
Their swords , like the peal of a bell Nick’s sword hit the spot where Helen’s blades met, crossed before her She sed Helen went low, snake-fast, and struck out at knee height Her intention was so clear that for an instant Mae sahat Helen wanted as if she’d alreadyhi and helpless for her final strike
Mae moved forward and was pulled up short by the hard bite of Alan’s fingers into her arainst his chest, and said into her ear, “Don’t move”
She didn’t h she wouldn’t have thought he’d seek it by grabbing soh to bruise
It didn’tNick
He jumped to avoid Helen’s swords and landed crouched, the alu under his feet
Helen thrust, one sword cutting a golden wound in the night sky Nick had to sla to avoid the blow, and then she eeping with the sword in her left hand to run hih where he stood
Nick vaulted over the rail and onto the fragile cables on the side of the bridge, dancing backward on theerous monkey bars suspended above murky waters
Helen sliced out at him in a double stroke that could have beheaded him if she’d had more reach He leaned backward, away froe swayed and Mae shut her eyes, convinced he was going to fall
“Stop playing around,” Helen snapped “Let’s cut to the chase”
Mae opened her eyes and saw Nick crouched like a huge cat on the end of a cable, sashed in city lights and turned into a sweep of cool silver
“This is the chase,” said Nick “Cutting comes later”