With preternatural speed, I reached out, catching the pendulum before it hit the ground. I looked at the emerald in my hand and could almost hear a woman’s calm voice saying, “You forgot something.” Pulling back my fist, I prepared to fling the damned thing into traffic, but before I let it fly, the emerald warmed my palm, absorbing the sound of time and delivering peace to my soul. Damn it. Instead, I shoved the pendulum in my pocket and watched as the falcon made its ascent into the sky.
“You’re a pain in the ass-you know that?” I shouted. A few people stopped to gape, though I was only one of several people on this street talking or shouting to themselves. I meandered through the pedestrians, fighting to appear unruffled until I could find a hidden place to leave my solid form behind.
On the plus side, I had less time to kill before nightfall, which meant less time until I could track Reaver. But I was terrified I’d lost more than seven or eight hours. What if it had been seven or eight days? I hurried toward my apartment, all the while racking my brain for a decent excuse for where I’d been, when I heard the scurrying sound of insects close behind me.
I rolled my eyes to the heavens. Just what I needed. I fought the urge to turn and stamp their shiny little bodies into the pavement. In the light of day, a Lyhtan could choose to take the corporeal form of an unassuming insect. At night, they were formidable fighters, nearly seven feet tall and with sharp, venomous teeth that could turn their prey’s insides into a slurpable goo. I’d once seen one of them partaking of a liquid meal. In a word: Disgusting.
Rather than flee like a coward, I stayed my course, waiting for the right time and the right place to turn and fight. I sensed the approach of sunset, my skin prickling with each passing second. Until the sun slipped completely away, the Lyhtans would be shielded from human eyes by their incorporeal forms. They could attack me right here and now if they wanted to. But I assumed they hadn’t attacked me already simply because they were worried that they’d run out of time and would be forced to regain their solid forms before they could kill me. I needed to find cover, and fast. Good thing dangerous, abandoned alleys were plentiful. Gotta love the city.
The evening sun plunged beneath the horizon, and I felt its passage as a rumble that traveled the length of my body. Quickening my pace, I ducked into the darkest, dankest, most abandoned alleyway I could find-and I turned to fight.
Son of a bitch, there were five of the fuckers. I could easily have taken two or three. But five? Fate really had it out for me. I drew my katana, thankful I wouldn’t be hindered by my corporeal form. Post-sunset, the Lyhtans would be trapped in their bodies, but it didn’t make them any less deadly. Any one of them would be capable of ripping my head from my shoulders if I made one careless move. But if I could take their heads first…the better for me.
I assessed the situation as quickly as I could. None of them appeared armed, though their taloned hands could deliver a poisonous slice or two. I wasn’t taking any chances as I backed deeper into the alley, drawing them away from the hapless public. “I’m having a serious self-esteem moment,” I said. “I mean, five against one? You guys must think I’m pretty damned tough.”
One of them laughed, and I shivered at the sound. No matter how many years I lived, I knew I’d never get used to the many facets of sound that made up a single Lyhtan voice. “We’re going to enjoy eating you.” As a collective body, my five attackers took a step closer, greenish drool leaking from their gaping mouths.
“You’ll make a decent meal,” another said. “A savory morsel, indeed. The world will owe us a debt of gratitude once we’ve finished with you. You are Other. Worse than you were when simply another Shaede scum.”
Nothing I hadn’t heard before. Lyhtans bore a hatred and jealousy toward Shaedes for as long as their species had lived. And since my transformation into something more than both of them…let’s just say they wouldn’t be inviting me to any family functions any time soon. “Okay, you hate me. And might I add, maybe you’re just a little jealous that I can do what you can do-but better.” I swung my sword in a swirling pattern. “I might be outnumbered, but you’re outweaponed, and outskilled. Leave now and I won’t harbor any ill feelings.”
They laughed, the sound of a thousand mirthful voices. “She’s brave,” one of them said to his buddies.
“She’s not smart, though. Oh no, she is not smart at all.”
Their little conversation was grating on my last nerve. Again they advanced, and again I retreated deeper into the alley. Gray twilight melted away into darkening night as they talked-I assumed-in an attempt to scare me.
“I’m not smart?” Hmm. That pissed me off. I considered myself pretty damned smart. Reason enough to kill my attackers, fair fight or not. “Fuck you.”
I spun the katana high over my head as I leapt into the air, cutting down with speed and precision. Two of the Lyhtans stumbled back, but the other three charged, converging on me so as to give me no escape. I jabbed with my sword and then cut down. Without pause, I swept the blade back in an upward arc. One of my assailants stumbled backward before falling to its knees, clutching its bleeding torso, while the other died before its body hit the ground. Two down. The one I’d missed lunged toward me, teeth bared and poised to bite. Dissolving into dusk, I left my body just in time to miss becoming a Lyhtan predinner smoothie.
Unfortunately, now I had one enemy at my back and two before me. I drew a throwing knife from my belt and turned to the side. With a sweeping throw, I launched the knife and struck one of my three remaining opponents square in the middle of its forehead. One more down, two to go. It toppled over like a felled tree, landing on the pavement with a sickening crack. I pointed the katana at attackers four and five and waited for them to make a move.
Lyhtans are skilled hunters and adept at hiding. The bastards can literally run up walls, and so I crouched, sword ready, my free hand hovering near my knives. In a blink, one of them moved fast. Like a character straight out of a video game, it scaled the wall, running up and sideways, and then flipped as it came to the ground on the other side of me.
Two against one. Piece of cake. I went for another knife, drew it, and let it fly. It grazed the Lyhtan standing at the back of the alley, the damage barely classifying as a scratch. Great. Way to hit your mark, dipshit. Raif would’ve died if he’d been there to see me make such a rookie mistake.
While I was distracted by my utter lack of skill, assassin number five jumped me. We tumbled to the ground in a tangle of long insect limbs before I dissolved from the Lyhtan’s grasp and reappeared above it. Gripping the katana in both hands, I aimed the sword for the bastard’s heart and stabbed down. It jerked, arching its long, lean back, and died, leaving me man to man-well, woman to thing-with the last remaining Lyhtan. I abandoned the throwing knives-my aim was shit-and went for my dagger instead. Swinging the sword and stabbing with the long dagger, I fought the creature that had nothing more than its talons and sharp teeth to use against me.
The alley was narrow and our quarters close. It damned well might have been blind fucking luck that I’d beaten the other four because, as I grappled with the remaining Lyhtan, it seemed the walls of the alley were closing in on us. It pushed me back, and I slammed against a wall, the katana clanging to the pavement at my feet. The Lyhtan moved in a blur of speed, its long jagged teeth sinking into the flesh of my arm.