Faith quickly explained to Tama as I worked on the Councilor’s cuffs. The woman sagged in my arms when I finished. She whispered a thank-you in my ear before straightening.
“Let’s go,” Tama said.
We held hands, forming a line. I led the women to the steps. At the top, I instructed them to run as soon as we left the building. The presence of three people would no doubt alert Ulrick and Tricky, who, I hoped, slept on the second floor, since I hadn’t seen bedrooms on the first level.
“Faster is better,” I whispered. “If we get separated, meet up behind the Dolomite Inn’s stables.”
They nodded in determination.
It was a real shame we didn’t even make it to the door. Tricky and his men poured from the shadows, creating a barrier between us and freedom.
“I thought you were smart,” Tricky said to me. “Then again, you probably didn’t realize just how much power I’ve amassed since our last encounter. Your blood has given me a boost, and I’m well on my way to Master level.” He gestured to his men. Boar and Len grabbed Faith and Tama. They dragged the women back toward the stairs. Faith’s cries pierced me.
“You would have gotten farther without them,” Tricky said.
I shrugged, projecting nonchalance even though my heart crawled up my throat. Janco was being smart. If he tried to rescue me, Tricky would have him, too.
“Not much farther,” Tricky added. “As soon as you touched the basement door I knew. I’ll give you extra kudos for popping all those locks. I guess Ulrick didn’t do a proper search.” His gaze swept my body.
Oh no.
Boar and Len returned.
“You boys go to bed. I’ll see to our guest.” Tricky advanced.
The goons leered, made rude comments and left.
Not good.
“Time for a proper search. Take off your clothes.”
No way. I bumped into a gaffer’s bench. Scrambling around it, I kept backing up. He continued to advance until I hit a wall.
He stopped inches from me. “Last time. Strip.”
I fumbled with my shirt, yanking out the lock picks. “Here.” I thrust them at him. “They’re all I have. Honest!”
“Excuse me if I don’t trust you.” He reached for my collar.
I knocked his arm away. Big mistake. His magic wrapped around me, holding me immobile. He ripped my shirt open, then tore my undershirt off. His hot hands burned my skin as he pretended to search my upper body for weapons.
“Sir?” Aubin said from behind him.
He stopped. “It better be important.”
“You should wait for instructions from the Councilor before…harming her. Her cooperation is critical.”
He laughed. Tugging at my pants, he said, “This will ensure her cooperation. After I’m done, she’ll do anything I ask.”
“You just need to wait a day at most. The Councilor and Gressa may be upset.”
“I don’t care. Go away.”
Satisfied with the ensuing silence, he pulled my pants down to my knees. I strained, wanting to scream when he touched my leg, but I was unable to make any noise.
Then he lurched forward as a horrible thud sounded. Bouncing off me, he dropped to the floor. His magic released its hold on me.
Janco held a blowpipe. “Come on.”
I yanked my pants up and wrapped the remains of my shirt around my chest. “Are you insane? There are powerful magicians here.”
“Which is why we’re leaving.”
We ran from the building and headed toward the woods. And slammed into an invisible barrier. It knocked us backward.
“You Sitians with your magic,” Janco said in exasperation.
He helped me to my feet. We turned around. Ulrick, Len and Boar approached. Janco pulled a pipe from his pocket and loaded a dart. But before he could aim, the pipe flew from his grasp.
“Damn Sitians.” Janco drew his sword, but Ulrick raised his hand. The weapon sailed from his grip to Ulrick.
“Damn magicians,” Janco cursed.
Regret pushed out my fear. I shouldn’t have asked Janco to help me. Ulrick reached us. He pointed Janco’s sword at the Ixian. “Who are you?” When Janco refused to answer, Ulrick poked him in the chest with the sword’s point.
Janco cringed but remained silent. Ulrick turned to Len. “Did you know he was hanging around?”
“No,” Len said.
Ulrick cursed. “Who are you working for? Who knows you’re here?” He jabbed Janco twice.
Even though blood soaked his tunic, Janco kept quiet. I recognized his demeanor. He had shut down, displaying no emotion. He had done the same thing when Ox’s whip caught him.
“Check his pockets,” Ulrick ordered.
Len and Boar frisked him. They piled an impressive number of weapons on the ground.
“He’s an Ixian,” Boar said.
“We should kill him,” Len said.
“Not yet. Once Tricky is conscious, he can extract all the information we need from his mind. Take him down to the holding cells for now. Chain him up. I’m not taking any chances. You.” Ulrick pointed to me with the sword. “Come.”
No choice. I followed Ulrick back inside while Boar and Len escorted Janco to the basement. We entered an office on the ground floor.
Ulrick found a pair of gray coveralls and tossed them at me. “Change your clothes.”
“Here? Now?”
“Yes. I don’t want any more surprises.” He sat behind the desk. “You’ve been full of them, Opal. Picking locks, finding this place, escaping twice, and now your friend.” He ran his fingers through his hair. It had grown longer since our encounter in Ognap. “If you hadn’t been such a pain in the ass, I would be proud.”
“Those escape attempts failed and now a man’s life is in danger. Real inspiring,” I said.
“You’re stalling. Get changed or I’ll make you.”
I turned my back to him and put on the baggy coverall. It was sized for a man. I piled my clothes. No real loss, since I gave the last of my picks to Tricky. If I lived through this, I would have to conceal more weapons on my person. Big if.
When I finished, I met his gaze. Those blue eyes appraised me with cold calculation, which was better than lust. With his increase of blood magic, his soul now matched Devlen’s body and seeing him no longer shocked me. I wondered if Devlen’s soul had also transformed.
“What are you thinking?” he asked.
“I miss Ulrick. The real Ulrick who wanted to assign a battalion of guards to protect me.”
“That lovesick puppy dog?” He spat the words out. “Good riddance to him.” Ulrick leaned back in his chair. “I guess I should thank you. If it wasn’t for your rejection, I’d still be that weak whiner.”
Wonderful. Another screwup courtesy of Opal. Lives ruined while you wait. How many people had I harmed so far? Too many to count. “I made a mess of things.”
“Yep. Sit down.”
I plopped in the chair in front of his desk. Talking to him was better than being locked in the dark.
“Who’s your friend?” he asked.
I saw no reason to lie and wanted to spare Janco from being interrogated with magic. “An Ixian named Janco. He’s working for me. No one knows he’s here.”
He huffed in amusement. “Right. I shouldn’t have bothered. No worries. Tricky is very good at reading minds.” He appraised me. “You know what’s going to happen next. Don’t you?”
“You’ll take my blood and force me to make messengers for Gressa.”
“Force how?”
I stared at him. “You need ideas?”
He laughed. “Guess not. Although you could tell me which one would be most effective?”
“No.”
“Why don’t we skip it. You know you’ll give in. You might have changed, but you still care.”
“I don’t care,” I said. “Not anymore. Everyone has either lied, betrayed or hurt me.”
“If you didn’t care then why did you spend all that extra time rescuing Tama and Faith?”
“Because I thought I’d use them. Put them in the line of fire so I could escape.” I swept my hand out as if dismissing their deaths as an unfortunate side effect.
“Nice try. If I really believed that, I’d try to recruit you.” He tapped his fingers on the desk as he considered. “You know Gressa will send Devlen.”