Legacy of Flames- The Complete Trilogy, page 17
part #1 of Legacy of Flames Series
“Get that animal out of here!” someone yelled.
Astor grabbed my hand tight enough to crush the bones and dragged me expertly through the chaos. Whoever was checking IDs on the doors had gone inside to see what was going on, and it looked like we weren’t the only people who’d decided to take advantage and sneak in. Though Astor did a better job of parting the crowd than I did. My hand throbbed where he’d grabbed me, but we were in.
Even in the rush, I had to appreciate how fancy the place was. The hall’s thick carpet cushioned our steps, and the way through was lined with gilt-framed paintings. Probably of famous hunters, I thought, not stopping to get a close look at any of them. Tapestries threaded with religious-looking imagery filled the spaces between. The remains of a shattered glass vase shone underneath a lamp. Becks must have knocked it off the table.
Astor let go of my arm when we were in the main hall. I shot him a glare, not daring to speak. The hall was wide and opulent, what you’d expect of a mansion of this size. Stained glass windows covered one wall like inside a cathedral, and the arched ceiling supported a bright crystal candelabra. Too many lights, too few places to hide.
I took a couple of calming breaths. I’d felt unbalanced since we’d heard that noise. Astor led me around the hall in a circuit, not touching me. Hunters didn’t touch one another. They walked in step like trained soldiers, hands on weapons, periodically checking all the exits. By the time we’d reached the thick of the crowd, Astor had shown me all the ways in and out—I glimpsed Becks sitting outside, underneath the windowsill in cat form—and the noise had calmed down.
A group of assassins stood in discussion a few feet away.
“That’s the host,” Astor murmured. “Malkin is the commander of the Elites.”
Crap. This Malkin dude didn’t look familiar, but he wore a military-style jacket with badges pinned onto it, polished boots and clothes covered with so many weapons that he could probably take out a dozen enemies at once. Now I looked, I spotted several similarly-dressed individuals throughout the crowd. Elites. Their uniform looked a little different to the usual, glowing with an odd sheen in the light from the window. Ah. It’s some kind of armour-like material. Made sense. They were the only people carrying guns in the hall. Several each. Of course, they were close enough to the jail that they could go and pick up more of those deadly bullets whenever they felt like it.
My hands clenched at my sides and I fought the impulse to let my claws slide out and show these Elites what pain was really about. I kept expecting someone to jump up and shout, dragon! But they seemed absorbed in their own business, and none had given even Astor a glance.
The host continued to talk loudly, gesturing around us as Astor led the way to a safe spot near the crowd. “It’s a natural response, but you’ve nothing to worry about. The perpetrators will be caught and punished according to our laws against unnaturals.”
What? Does he mean shifters or supernaturals? Probably both. I kept still, pressing my mouth flat to hide my emotions and wishing I’d worn the Elite mask instead.
“But I heard they killed some of your fighters,” said someone else in the crowd.
“The scale of the threat was greater than we imagined. We thought the shifters were greatly weakened by the arrival of the faeries, and we paid for that mistake. Be assured, there will be consequences.”
A chill ran down my spine. The guy was talking to potential new recruits, and pretending they weren’t joining a creepy cult. I gritted my teeth, resisting the impulse to react. Eavesdropping was hardly subtle, but too many people had gathered on either side, boxing me in.
I glanced at Astor, and froze. He’d disappeared.
Dammit, Astor. Nothing to do but wait for an opening. Besides, I really did want to know what the Elites’ leader was telling the recruits as a cover story, and why he’d brought them here.
“When?” asked the first speaker. “How do you plan to find them? They’ve already escaped you.”
“Naturally, we plan to give them no choice but to turn themselves in. Our methods are precise and we’ve successfully put together the correct bait to lure out every potential target.”
“But the Mage Lords—”
“The Mage Lords are too busy trying to put human society back together. They’re more frightened of the faeries than they are of us. Furthermore, we are more numerous than ever. The unnaturals, with their magic and grotesque abilities, live shorter lives than we do. They fight amongst themselves and turn on one another with little provocation. A number of our current strategies exploit those disloyal tendencies. Why, the reason we found out the locations of these troublesome shifter groups is because another unnatural turned their information over to us. As I said, this method has its disadvantages—it appears the informant underestimated the extent of this particular group. They seem to have an unusual sense of loyalty to one another, for different unnatural species. However, we have the details of every one of their hideouts and will proceed accordingly. They won’t escape next time.”
Another chill ran down my back, followed by a prickling sensation across the back of my neck as Malkin continued to speak. I wished someone would interrupt, tell him he was a depraved torturing despot, but the crowd nodded along with every proclamation he made. Apparently, someone was paying high sums of money to get info on the shifters. Carter had sold us out, but he wasn’t the only one. Other supernaturals across the city had been given the same offer.
A growl built in my throat. I pushed it down, imagining sinking my claws into Malkin. When Astor reappeared and grabbed my arm, I jumped. He pulled me back. I resisted, shaking my head a little. I wanted to hear their plans—
“Ember,” he said, his voice a feathery whisper against my neck. “The security’s outside. Three of them. Any will do.”
Right. We needed to capture one of the prison guards. For Cori.
Astor moved around the room again, and I followed, slow enough not to draw suspicion. By the time I caught up, Becks had disappeared from the windowsill. Time for our second diversion.
Within thirty seconds, a yowl sounded from outside, followed by an explosion of sparks. Will had dropped the first explosive, which went off like a firework. Now there’d be no doubt they were under attack.
Shouts rang through the crowd. A few people made for the doors, apparently wanting to be part of the action. It figured that the sort of people drawn to the assassins wouldn’t run from a potential enemy.
The second explosion went off around the back of the house. Nice one, Becks.
In the chaos, the crowd had split—exactly as planned. While some ran around the back of the house to the second explosion, others aimed for the first. Astor and I backed away until we reached the side door Astor had shown me beforehand, which was right next to where Becks had set off the explosion. She’d be lurking above, ready to jump.
Sure enough, a muffled yell came from outside, and Astor and I pushed the door open properly just as the knockout spell blasted our eardrums. Other hunters ran around, and there was a yell of pain from Becks, but Astor had already joined in the fray. As had I. I kicked viciously at an Elite’s leg, wishing I’d worn heels after all to get the full effect. He stumbled, and I elbowed him in the face. His nose burst in a shower of blood. I kicked the gun from his hand and moved onto the next. They moved quicker and were more coordinated than regular hunters, but nobody could ever adequately prepare to deal with Becks in cat form. As she wove in and out of their legs, biting and scratching, Astor slung the fallen Elite’s body over his back and climbed onto the drainpipe.
Ack. This was the bit I hadn’t been looking forward to. Especially wearing a dress. Now for the third, and final diversion.
A shadow dropped over us, dark enough to block out the sun. Two more gunshots missed, and one Elite looked up to see what had cast the shadow.
“Dragon!” yelled the Elite, and all hell broke loose.
I dragged my gaze away from the shadow, which did look pretty dragon-like, and followed Astor up the drainpipe. He’d climbed to a first-floor balcony by now, not at all distracted by the shadow. My feet wobbled, and I cursed, hands digging into the drainpipe as I hoisted myself up a little higher. If the Elites looked away from the shadow and shot at me now, I’d be in real trouble. I’d seen half-faeries perform feats of acrobatics which would pale in comparison to the way Astor moved, like he’d been climbing up the sides of buildings all his life. Even carrying the body of an unconscious Elite didn’t slow him down. I swore under my breath the whole way, until I half-fell over the first balcony. Then I grabbed my knife from my handbag and hurled it at the Elite firing at the shadow overhead. He went down with a choked scream, causing the others to misfire.
Astor was two floors above me. Dammit. I cursed him as well as the wobbling drainpipe and uneven footing. My flat shoes fell off halfway up, and the pipe dug painfully into my bare feet. Will continued to fly above, wings spread wide directly underneath the pale sun to make his shadow look larger than it actually was. I had the distinct impression he was enjoying himself. That makes one of us. My dress snagged on obstacles, the silk ripping easily, until I lost patience and hauled the skirt up to my waist with one hand to climb more easily. What seemed like an eternity later, I pulled myself onto the last balcony with wobbly hands.
“About time,” said Astor, who sat alongside the unconscious assassin, eyeing my ripped dress with raised eyebrows. “I think we should go back down onto the balcony and get downstairs through the inside, if you don’t want to climb down the roof.”
“Are you kidding?”
“Nope. Look at them. There’s hardly anyone left in the mansion.”
He pointed down. I’d been so focused on not falling to my death, I hadn’t noticed the screaming had continued and now everyone was gathered outside, some pointing their guns at the sky. The dragon-like shadow had disappeared. I hoped Will was holding up okay.
“All right,” I said. “It’s safer to go inside. The entrance to the jail…”
“There.” He pointed into the grounds around the side of the mansion. The whole place sat on a hill, which hadn’t been obvious from ground level. “It’s underneath us right now, technically, but the tunnels are all covered in iron. No breaking in from here.”
“Damn.” So close, and yet… none of the threatening enemies were obvious from here.
“We need to move.” Astor was already climbing down, leaving our prisoner behind—he must have taken his ID card already.
“You’re leaving him up here—why?”
“He was a dick when I was a new recruit.”
I snorted. “Admit it, you’re enjoying this. Wait, I need to change. Don’t you dare peek.”
I yanked the ruined dress off and pulled the crumpled uniform from my shoulder bag. Lucky I’d brought spare shoes, plus the mask. I shoved it on roughly, tucking my hair into the neck of the black scaled jacket. Turning around, I found Astor had already slipped in through the glass door on the balcony, into a pristine bedroom belonging to someone with more money than aesthetic sense. Everything was a horrible shade of puce.
“Astor?”
“Hurry up,” he called from the landing. I caught sight of my reflection in a gilt-framed mirror and nearly paused. Gone was the human woman, replaced with a terrifying masked Elite in uniform. All I needed was a gun for a prop. I grimaced, tugged the mask down, and ran after Astor.
Howls and barking noises came from outside. I frowned. “That’s not Will. Or Becks.” She’d disappeared, too, but it was easier for her to hide. Still, I held my breath as we raced down the carpeted stairs, hoping nobody was lying in wait. There wasn’t any reason for them to be, though, not with the distraction Will had pulled.
Astor pulled me into an alcove as a few people rushed upstairs, but they didn’t stop to look in our direction. Luckily, we still wore our masks, like some of the Elites did. Within a minute, we were back downstairs, ready to find the door that led outside into the yard where the prison was. I didn’t see any guards outside, but Astor had mentioned guard dogs…
“Ember,” Becks whispered from the shadows. She was in human form, but hunched as small as possible under a bush.
“What happened? Becks, are you hurt?”
She shook her head frantically. “Not—not me.”
“Will?”
“I didn’t see where he went, but—look at them. The wolves.”
A faint growling noise sounded and I instinctively ducked beside her. I peered out of the bush, my heart thumping. I hadn’t seen they were so close. They weren’t guard dogs but grey-furred wolves, stalking in careful circles, in step with one another. None were the size of regular wolves. Some were even as big as bears. Specially bred killing machines?
The wind turned, carrying a familiar scent, which struck me like a blow.
They weren’t guard wolves.
They were shifters.
My body froze in an instinctive reaction of horror. There was no way they’d be serving the hunters of their own free will.
They aren’t just capturing us to kill and experiment on us. They’re making us turn on one another.
17
I stopped holding my breath when Astor hit me in the shoulder from behind. Hard. I gasped, whirling on him.
“Don’t freak out now,” he said. “We’re almost there. I take it one of your friends has a diversion?”
“I’ll show you a diversion.” He knew. He must have, if he’d been inside here. That’s what I got for assuming he’d told us everything. “We’re going to set the wolves free.”
“You can’t. They’re obedient to a fault. Loyal to the League and nobody else.”
“The hell they are.”
“I really wouldn’t mess with them, Ember. You want your sister back, don’t you? Ignore everything else.”
“Like hell,” I said quietly. The wolves weren’t under a spell. The hunters wouldn’t do that. Using witch spells went against their beliefs. Forcing shifters to obey them, however, did not. What had they done to torment them and force obedience?
A deafening pterodactyl-like noise rang overhead, drowning the howls of the wolves. In my shock, I’d forgotten Will. His diversion wouldn’t last long, and the more he provoked the Elites, the more likely it was that they’d retaliate. He might be under a shadow spell, but that didn’t make him immune to bullets.
I’d never in a million years have thought the guards would be shifters. Whether Astor liked it or not, I’d be setting them free on the way out.
Before I could consider my next move, all the wolves looked in our direction at once, catching our scent. Too many for us to fight off without someone getting hurt, or drawing the attention of the Elites.
A yowl from behind me, and as one, the wolves changed direction, moving towards the hedge where I assumed Becks hid with the other spell. I threw the one in my hand in an arc, where it burst in the centre of the group, emitting an aroma which made anyone in the vicinity disorientated. I’d already inhaled a breath, and yet the effect hadn’t hit me.
“Come on,” he hissed. “Don’t breathe it in, or it’ll get you, too.”
He knew, I thought again, looking sideways at Astor as we skirted around the wolves. Astor had been the one to approve the spell. He’d known a spell which confused animals would be enough for the purpose of getting into the prison. But he hadn’t told us.
Astor moved past the spot the wolves had been guarding, where the ground was slightly raised to cover an opening like an abandoned mine shaft. If he hadn’t been leading the way, I’d never have spotted it on this level. The tunnel was a few metres long, made of packed earth which had evidently been dug through.
No time to hesitate. I didn’t look at Astor as I moved forwards, into the hunters’ lair.
Becks ran to us in cat form, carrying a spell between her teeth. She took the lead, her paws making no sound on the earthen floor. The smooth earth changed to metal, and so did the walls. A shiver of fear ran across my skin. This was it.
The wolves must be trained to keep anyone out, because we encountered no guards before the first door. However, a keycard-operated door blocked our way. The card we’d stolen from the guy Astor had left on the roof took care of that problem.
“It’s too quiet,” I whispered as the door glided open with barely a sound.
“Shh,” he said. “They’re aboveground. I did this on purpose. But there’ll be guards by the cells.”
Cells. The corridor ahead looked like the entrance to a high-tech building, not an underground prison. Modern linoleum floors and tiled ceilings and walls, lit by fluorescent lights. My nerves spiked into high gear, scattering my concentration. I’d have expected us to encounter someone by now.
Astor paused at the corridor’s end, where Becks pressed her paws against another steel door. When I used the guy’s card to open it this time, the doors revealed the inside of a lift.
Oh, no. The real prison must be deeper underground. Down an elevator, into the centre of the earth.
Calm down, Ember. It’s not literally going into the centre of the earth. But the tight walls and the presence of so much iron made my nerves jangle so much I nearly dropped the keycard. Becks and Astor joined me in the lift, and he pressed the button. Five floors down? I shot him a wide-eyed look, and he shrugged.
Astor didn’t speak as the elevator descended. Only when we were on the fourth level did he whisper, “Good. I thought someone else might get in at one of the other floors. Do you still have those disguise spells?”
“Yep.”
“Use them now.”
I nodded to Becks, who disappeared. Then I flicked on my own shadow spell, which I’d been wearing as a wristband. A thin layer of shadow folded over me, too faint to see from where I was standing. But I knew I’d disappeared too. The world didn’t look any different, though there was a cat-shaped shadow across the back wall.
“Haven’t used one of these for a while,” I said.
Astor stiffened as I spoke, betraying that he was as uneasy as the rest of us. “Stay close,” he said. “I won’t be able to find you otherwise.”
