The attack on Phelan happened too fast to prevent, but that didn\u2019t stop me from burying an arrow in the camazotzi<\/i>\u2019s back a second after Phelan\u2019s head slammed into the ground.<\/p>\n
Dammit!\u00a0 If I hadn\u2019t been so focused on watching that bastard Cariocecus, I could have stopped them!\u00a0 What kind of fucking game is this?<\/i><\/p>\n
But Cariocecus was shouting at his minions to\u2014to stop<\/i>?<\/p>\n
What the hell is going on here?<\/i><\/p>\n
Low, rich feminine laughter echoed off the walls.\u00a0 Below me, Thom and Thordin stood frozen, Thordin\u2019s axe filling his hands and Thom\u2019s sword drawn, both weapons in hand in the instant after the camazotzi<\/i> fell on Phelan.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey don\u2019t answer to you anymore, you puny excuse for a warrior deity,\u201d a woman\u2019s voice purred.<\/p>\n
A petite, slender figure garbed in a cloak of sable fur knifed through the ranks of camazotzi<\/i> and crossed the field toward Cariocecus.\u00a0 The cloak slid from her shoulders as she crossed the field, her hair oiled and dark, braided and beaded, skin the color of milk chocolate swathed in black leather tooled with red and white beads and shells.\u00a0 She looked like some Egyptian empress garbed for war.<\/p>\n
Maybe she is<\/i>.\u00a0 I swallowed rising bile.\u00a0 That\u2019s the last thing we need.<\/i><\/p>\n
Apparently, it was always the first thing we got\u2014the things we didn\u2019t<\/i> need.<\/p>\n
I tried to will Thordin and Thom to retrieve Phelan, but they stood frozen in the gap.<\/p>\n
Phelan just lay very still and bleeding below me, his eyes closed and his face turned toward the sky.<\/p>\n
Not fucking good.<\/i>\u00a0 \u201cKel!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOn it.\u201d\u00a0 She ducked between Thom and Thordin, startling both of them, and ran the dozen feet to where Phelan lay.\u00a0 She hooked her hands under his armpits and started to haul him back toward the safety of the walls.<\/p>\n
The woman\u2019s eyes fell on her, then flicked up to me.\u00a0 The hint of a smile played on dark red lips.<\/p>\n
\u201cGutsy,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
I notched another arrow.\u00a0 \u201cTrust me,\u201d I said in a low voice.\u00a0 \u201cWe try to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
She turned away and took Cariocecus\u2019s face in her hand, twisting him around to face her.\u00a0 Our enemy\u2019s eyes widened, his posture stiff as he met her gaze.<\/p>\n
\u201cM-Menhit,\u201d he stammered.\u00a0 \u201cTo what do I owe the pleasure of this coup d’\u00e9tat<\/i>?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re a bastard, little god,\u201d she purred.\u00a0 Though her tone was soft, her voice carried.\u00a0 My fingers tightened around the haft of my bow.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re a bastard,\u201d she repeated, \u201cand I\u2019ve got use for these and theirs and this place and your little minions and you will not be stopping me from using them to my advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re working with the Hecate,\u201d he spat.<\/p>\n
\u201cUntil our paths diverge and I win the double-cross, yes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The woman crushed his lips beneath hers, then tossed him away like a piece of garbage.\u00a0 He hit the wall and screamed before crumbling into a faintly steaming heap at its base, barely moving.\u00a0 Her eyes flashed a she looked up toward me.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou always had the luck of a goddess, little hunter,\u201d she said as she met my gaze.\u00a0 I saw death there and stared back, unflinching.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not going to be my death.\u00a0 Not today, not at her hands.<\/i><\/p>\n
Not ever at this bitch\u2019s hands.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cBring it on,\u201d I said with a cruel smile.\u00a0 The words came from a dark place inside, where memories that weren\u2019t my own hid, still breathing despite the death of the bodies that had earned them.\u00a0 \u201cYou didn\u2019t win then and you won\u2019t win now.\u201d<\/p>\n
She lifted a hand to signal the attack as I let my next arrow fly.<\/p>\n
Like a black tide, the camazotzi<\/i> rushed the field.<\/p>\n
The arrow slammed home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The attack on Phelan happened too fast to prevent, but that didn\u2019t stop me from burying an arrow in the camazotzi\u2019s back a second after Phelan\u2019s head slammed into the ground. Dammit!\u00a0 If I hadn\u2019t been so focused on watching … Continue reading