Bloodfeud (The Scarlet Star Trilogy Book 3) (41 page)

Dizali took a moment to reach into his jacket pocket and retrieve a folded slip of paper. He splayed it on the table and pointed to a sentence underlined in red ink.

‘I had some of the Emerald House’s financial advisors investigate. Do you know what they informed me, Lord Darbish?’ Dizali asked, pulling another piece of paper from his pocket.

Darbish was too busy wiping the sweat from his face to answer.

‘Twenty thousand, four hundred and ninety-eight florins, never mind the pennies. Spent over a course of three months. That is enough for a deposit on an abode as large as Knutshire’s.’ Dizali cast the second paper on the table.

‘You see—’ Darbish began.

‘I see nothing but a man who has already received far more than what was agreed, and has squandered it away.’ The Lord Protector rose and so did Darbish, with the usual struggle. He didn’t know whether to down the brandy or leave it on the side. He chose the former and then reached for the box.

‘My Lord. I must protest!’ he said. But on seeing the glower on Dizali’s face, he chose to cut the sentence short. ‘My apologies.’

‘See that you do not squander the payment, Lord Darbish. I would hate to see you unable to contribute to the Order’s ongoing work.’ Dizali manoeuvred around the table to show him the door. ‘We cannot have penniless members, now, can we? We would have to throw you out of the—’

A lordsguard came crashing through the grand windows. He sailed across the room like a misshapen cannonball, shrouded in glass. Dizali deftly shifted Darbish in front of him, and the armoured man flattened him, knocking him senseless.

Dizali was already marching for the door, enraged.

‘GUARDS!’

*

‘A fantastic shot, if I don’t say so myself,’ said Gunderton, shaking his hand. ‘Told you mantis shrimp was impressive.’

‘Fantastic. But we haven’t come here to show off. Come on!’ Lilain dragged him forward.

Lurker spun the Mistress around his finger. ‘I could have just shot the bastard, right there and then,’ he said. They hadn’t banked on Dizali sitting pretty behind a wall of glass, but it had been a happy coincidence. Drawing in a couple of guards was even better. That mantis shrimp shade had some punch to it. Literally.

‘And he would have died a martyr, just like Merion said.’ Lilain shook her head.

‘More lordsguards!’ Gunderton snapped, breaking free of Lilain’s hold and wading forward, as Lurker kept them pinned with a few thunderous shots from the Mistress. The Brother was already drinking another vial, bright orange blood leaking onto his lip.

He ducked behind a column as a bullet sprayed him with stone chips. Lilain stared at him, only three feet away, cocking Long Tom. ‘Gunderton?’

‘It’s nothing.’ He grimaced as he patted his arm, eliciting a thud. The skin beyond his sleeves and around his collar had hardened into armoured plates. It was a carapace, running along his chest, shoulders, back, and arms. It glittered like oil in the gaslight and the lightning flash of the gunshots, sporting all the colours of the rainbow.
Lobster blood
. His grimace turned to a grin before he darted away, with Lilain firing past his ear.

She watched as the Brother cleared them a path, swinging hammer-like punches left and right; breaking bones and cracking armour with his bare fists. The sounds made Lilain’s stomach twinge as she dashed forward with Lurker, who was reloading mid-stride.

‘I think our new friend misheard the word “distraction” for “destruction”!’

‘We seem to be doin’ both,’ said Lurker.

‘Just don’t go doing anythin’ brave or stupid tonight.’

‘I never plan it. Stupid things just come and find me.’ Lurker looked back at her and touched a leather finger under her chin. Lilain fixed him with a flat gaze.

‘That’s what I’m worried about. Now that we’re so close to the end.’

‘You’re feelin’ it too, ain’t you?’

‘Hopin’, more like. It’s about time we had a break.’

‘We’ll get one, you’ll see.’

‘We all finished?’ Gunderton had just punched the lock out of the door. He was already standing on the other side, panting, looking impatient. He glanced at them over his armoured shoulder; not an easy feat for a man with a shell.

A gunshot rang out as soon as their feet crossed the threshold. Glass exploded above them.

‘Down!’ Lurker shouted, dragging Lilain behind a nearby cabinet. It was the grand and large sort, built out of oak and delightfully solid; useful when under fire. Several bullets hammered into its other side, making it shudder against their spines.

Lurker angled the Mistress over his head and spent her chambers, keeping the lordsguards at bay. Lilain took a quick peek before the shots began to rain down again. The guards were a hundred yards down the hallway, barricaded behind an overturned table. In the centre of the battleground were the stairs that Merion would be coming down any moment. Another gun-crack made Lilain duck back in. ‘We’re almost there!’

‘They’ll press forward as soon as they can,’ Gunderton barked over the tumult. Shouts echoed through the arching hallway. ‘And it won’t be long until the Brothers find us.’

‘We said we’d trust him!’ yelled Lilain. ‘We’ll stay put. ‘Merion will be here.’

‘He’d better be,’ said Lurker, sliding more bullets into his pistol.

*

A rattle of gunfire exploded from beneath them, making Calidae jump. Merion clapped his hands. ‘And there we are! If not a little late.’

The Lady Serped was not amused. ‘So this is your distraction? An all-out gun battle? I knew I shouldn’t have left this part up to you.’

Merion scowled. ‘It’s working, isn’t it? Now, stand back!’ He waved her away and took a step from the door, kicking at it until the lock began to splinter.

‘Do take your time,’ said Calidae, between the kicking and the bursts of gunfire. She had picked up one of the lordsguard rifles and stood ready, pointing its bladed muzzle back the way they had come.

‘Should have bought some bear blood,’ hissed Merion.

Three more kicks and the door surrendered in a cloud of splinters. Merion almost fell with it, but managed to stay upright, barely a foot from Witchazel’s face.

‘Mr Witchazel,’ Merion said, extending a hand. The lawyer shook it weakly. ‘We will talk. But now we have to run. Understand?’

‘Yes, Tonmerion,’ Witchazel rasped in a broken voice.

The boy examined the man’s crooked stance; the extra wrinkles in his face. ‘Are you able to?’

‘I may not be as fast as I once was, but I will keep up. I want out!’

Merion grabbed the lawyer’s sleeve and hauled him to the doorway.

They had barely taken three paces when two deafening gunshots rang out. Merion rushed out into the hallway, hand clasping another vial, only to find the muzzle of Calidae’s rifle smoking, two dead lordsguards at her feet.

‘This is why you need me,’ said Calidae.

‘Bring them running, why don’t you?’

‘In a house full of gunfire, who is going to notice a few more shots?’

Merion rolled his eyes. ‘Mr Witchazel, Lady Serped, so on and so forth.’

‘A pleasure to finally meet you…’ the lawyer’s voice fell away as she turned and showed him her scars.

‘Likewise, I am sure,’ Calidae snapped, dragging him onwards. ‘We need to move. Take a left, Merion.’

The rifle fired three more times, leaving three more guards on the plush carpets to bleed out. Merion dropped one of his own with a vase to the face. Witchazel just stayed well back and did as he was told.

They paused at the top of the staircase that Calidae had marked as their escape route. Merion poked his head around the corner and saw a troop of lordsguards standing at its foot, firing across the atrium, choking it with smoke and echoes. Three men in bowler hats stood between them, hurling flames though the air. Their acolytes fired wildly into the haze with sleek pistols, or threw spars of wood with alarming speed.

Calidae nudged him out the way and took a look for herself. ‘Think you can take them, leech?’ she said, looking Merion up and down. There was no sarcasm in her voice; just a simple question. That was too rare to be ignored.

‘Is that a challenge?’ replied the young Hark, managing a smile. He held open his coat and snatched the next vial.
Sprite
. It glowed a fearsome orange, as though a furnace was trapped behind the glass. He swigged it down and let it burn in his stomach. It was fierce, but Merion’s blood was running hot. Within moments he was bubbling with magick.

Merion crept back to the edge of the stairs and fixed his eyes on the crackling rifles below as they sparked in quick succession. He stretched out a hand, fingers straining. His whole body shook with the effort.

The flames were too brief for him to snag. But then, there was a sudden pop in the flow of magick, and as the next gun spoke, he reached out with his mind. The rifle burst asunder, flames tracing back through the barrel and igniting the other rounds. The lordsguard fell, screaming as the hot shards of metal kissed his face. The next gun did the same, and the next. Howls of pain punctuated the gunfire. In the lull, Calidae took aim, firing at anything that moved. The remaining lordsguards skipped back, eager to escape the bullets. Even the Brothers hunkered down behind the nearest doorway.

‘Go!’ yelled Calidae.

Merion bounded forward, yanking at her arm, but she shrugged him off. ‘I’ll hold them back.’

The boy flashed his most serious glare. ‘This is no time for heroics, Calidae Serped. Come on!’

She fired off another round before matching his fiery eyes with her icy blues. ‘Go, then. I’m staying!’

Merion’s mouth flapped.

Below them, a blur of iridescent armour and whirling fists darted through the smoke, eliciting shouts from the adjoining hallway. Merion pushed Witchazel ahead of him. ‘Go, man! Make for the door!’ He looked back to Calidae. ‘Are you mad? What about the plan, damn it?’

Calidae grabbed him by the collar of his cloak. Merion batted her hand away and the two stood toe to toe for a moment, noses almost touching. ‘I need to stay. I need to find out his secret.’

Merion shook his head. ‘You can’t change the plan this late in—’

‘Tough!’ she snarled. ‘It’s already changed! This doesn’t affect you. You still get to pull off your trick. You found your deeds and the Fae blood, right?’

Merion winced, watching a dark body slipping down a muddy slope in his mind’s eye. ‘Of course,’ he lied.

A burst of flame flashed at the foot of the stairs, and they both turned to see a Brother standing there, trying to keep Gunderton at bay. As he ducked a bullet, lightning fast, he caught sight of them in the corner of his vision. His mismatched gaze turned just enough to see Merion and Calidae standing there, rifle in hand. The boy met his eyes for the briefest of moments, before the Brother was forced back behind the wall. Merion cursed.

‘Well, that’s decided then!’ she snarled.

‘He will kill you for this.’

‘No, he won’t. Think, Hark! This way you get to rescue me instead of waltzing in here to “talk like men”, as you so poetically put it on the
Rosa
. Dizali will keep me alive if he thinks I can be shown off alongside you in the House. Two prizes are better than one!’ She poked him down a step with the sharp end of her rifle. ‘And don’t pretend you care. Besides, if he does kill me, you will be free of my promise. Won’t you, Hark?’

‘Surprising as it may seem,’ said Merion, brandishing a finger, ‘I was hoping you’d come around. I have no interest in giving you more scars.’

He stared at her as he jogged down the steps, his eyes searching her impassive face. She said nothing, but he caught the flicker in her sapphire eyes. ‘Until later, then!’ snapped the boy.

Witchazel had been scooped up by Lilain and Lurker, and ushered outside. Gunderton was now being beaten back, blow by blow. The Brothers were summoning fire, causing it to dance across the walls. Merion took a stand at the bottom of the stairs, eager to show the Brothers and their acolytes what he was made of. He reached out and grabbed their fire, snatching some of it from their will and turning it back on them. He was rewarded with a chorus of yelps.

‘We need to go. We can’t take them all!’ Gunderton yelled at him, seizing his sleeve. It was sound advice: something huge and bear-like was lumbering towards them through the haze. Glass smashed as vials were thrown aside. Merion and Gunderton hurtled down the corridor and into the cold night air.