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“We have to fight to our quarters I’”
“I thought you’d say that” Chance patted his backpack
Then I noticed Shannon was already wearing hers And incongruously, Greydusk carried my purse Butch popped his head out
“How?” I asked as we ran
The Imaron explained “When the wards went down, I suspected betrayal I knee had to be ready to athered your things”
“Since then, we’ve been holding that toaiting for you to get back” Shannon pointed at the far end of the courtyard
“We couldn’t defend the palace,” Chance added with the salt of regret
“But you saved me Thank you”
Shannon laughed She seemed happier than she’d been since she walked into the throne rooht Chance would climb out of his skin Greydusk had to physically restrain hio look for you after the wards went down”
“We’re going to talk about that,” Chance said tightly
With the protective imperative in place, it must have nearly driven hiht you’d be safe here”
“The Hazo have established a base in the throne room” Greydusk cut in “I’m sure they mean to come root us out of the tower, once they secure the rest of the castle The Saremon patrol the halls, and there are more Xaraz all over”
“What about the Eshur?”
Greydusk reht, but the Obsir are present”
“Their enforcers” I nodded to shoith him, but I didn’t feel as I had The roles of various castes were ive a rat’s ass about the fall of ick she’d channeled had burned the queen out At the least, she’d gone co me more…myself
Unfortunately, Ninlil was the expert here Notthat Greydusk remained at my side, as he knew the palace like the back of his hand The de the side We’d try one of the postern doors in the hope it would prove less heavily guarded
Outside the door layto flee I’d told them to take shelter inside, where they would be safe My misplaced confidence had ended in so many deaths The horror overwhelmed me for a moment and stole my breath
“I can try a cloaking spell,” I said softly “But it will draw most of the power you loaned lanced at Shannon and Chance, inviting them to consider the question too
“Save it,” Chance finally said
Greydusk nodded “We’ll have to fight, and there’s no guarantee that the spell ork Theyrunes inside the perimeter”
“Shan?”
“Dude, I have no idea But I’ve got this cool sword and Grey was nice enough to spar with rin, almost as if she enjoyed the insanity that surrounded us
Well, it was a pretty cool sword I smiled as the deh to handle that Using the spell I’d perfected in the Sareick into the lock mechanism, which snicked open Greydusk stepped inside first The palace s fibers They hadn’t spared the servants they found Misery deluged me
I promised safety and I failed them That sad whisper came from Ninlil, huddled in the back of rateful for small mercies
“Shoes off,” the demon instructed
My boots would ring out on the tiles; they had been designed toThat ran counter to our aims now As much as possible, we needed to run undetected There was no way to avoid fighting entirely, but it made sense to conserve our resources as much as possible When I pulled off my boots, Chance and Shannon did the sao
“Which way?” Part of me knew, but Ninlil was silent and distant, lost to despair She had never failed like this before
Neither had I—on this scale—but I was used to life kicking me in the teeth My personal soundtrack could be that Chu inforward Shannon and Chance fell in behind lean more about this mountain fortress, but the Ninlil half ofIt’s probably crumbled to dust and infested with monsters This silent taunt drew no response
Fine I’ll do this without you Crazy, but Ithat her withdrawal left me with a hole inside Sometimes I’d hated her fiercely, like when she taunted Chance aboutKel, but just as my love had become hers, her pain became mine
“We have one advantage,” Greydusk whispered “They will not expect you to return and fight your way to the heart of the castle”
“They probably think she’s gone,” Chance agreed
“Seeking more allies?” Shannon sounded steady Fearless, even