Silence was his answer.
On the other side of the warehouse, behind a stack of crates she’d scouted out yesterday as a potentially useful hiding place, Nico gently set Josef’s body on the floor. At some point after Sted’s final blow, his hands had managed to grip the Heart, which was the only way she’d been able to move it. The black sword followed no hand but Josef’s.
Quiet as a shadow, Nico pulled a length of dyed silk out of the crate beside her and wrapped Josef’s wounds as best she could. She worked quickly, tugging the bandage with shaking hands. Even though he was spirit deaf, Sted was a League hunter. Without her coat, it was only a matter of minutes before he found her.
She looped the crooked bandage over Josef’s chest one last time and tied it tight. The blood was already seeping through, but it would have to do. She was out of time.
Nico ran her hand over Josef’s face, feeling his dim, ragged breath on her fingers. “Keep breathing,” she whispered. “This time, I’ll save you.”
With that, she vanished, skipping through the shadows to the far end of the warehouse. She reappeared behind the pile of splintered wood Josef had crashed into earlier. Sted’s back was to her. He was standing near where she’d hidden Josef, studying the crates. Soundlessly, Nico reached up to the line of dusty tools hanging from the rack above her and took down a heavy iron hammer. It woke instantly at her touch, and she could feel it getting ready to scream.
“Don’t.” The command was a whisper, but it was more than enough. The hammer froze in place, terrified, and Nico lifted it to her mouth, her lips moving against the cold, trembling metal. “Strike him quietly and true,” she whispered, “or I’ll eat you whole.”
She felt guilty as she spoke, and the image of Eli’s serious face as he held her sleeve flashed through her mind. Nico crushed the feeling. The thief had had it easy. He didn’t understand that survival meant doing what had to be done. Anyway, beating Sted and saving Josef meant far more to her than a stupid hammer. Decision made, she drew back her arm and, taking careful aim, threw the hammer as hard as she could. It flew unnaturally straight, balancing itself as it spun, and landed right at the base of Sted’s skull.
The swordsman stumbled and roared, whirling around to face his attacker. This time, Nico didn’t blink away. She stood her ground, staring Sted straight in the face as he raised his arm to throw the immobilization on her again.
“You said you wanted a fight,” she growled, dropping into a crouch.
Sted’s arm fell. “I don’t like to fight girls,” he said with a sneer. “But for that”-he kicked the fallen hammer-“I’ll make an exception. I only hope you’re more of a challenge than your guard, demon.”
Nico’s answer was to flit behind him and slam her fist into his back, right below his liver. Josef had already learned Sted was uncuttable, but every human had the same organs. Still, punching Sted was like punching a rock, and about as effective. The League man didn’t even grunt. Instead, he spun with his blade, forcing Nico to skip away through the shadows or get sliced in half. She emerged panting on the other side of the room, shaking her hand to get the feeling back. Sted turned slowly to face her, looking cockier than ever.
Nico clenched her fists, pressing her buzzing manacles against her skin. Without her coat she could feel the spirits all around her, easy prey, easy power. She could feel the demon inside her waking, scenting food. The spirits were beginning to wake as well, to notice what she was, and she could feel the panic growing. She couldn’t fight like this much longer, and from the look on his face, Sted knew it.
“Jump while you can,” he said, walking toward her with terrible, slow steps. “Every power you use gives me more allies. Soon, you won’t even have a place to stand.”
As if to prove him right, the boards beneath her feet began to groan, working up the courage to snap and trap her. Nico leaped before they got the chance, blinking through the dark to the air above Sted’s head. Sted just laughed and raised his sword to block.
At that moment, deep inside Nico, in the places she never went, something woke, and the wailing demon panic exploded all around her.
CHAPTER 19
The outside of the duke’s citadel was utter chaos when Eli, Miranda, and the elder Monpress finally emerged from the tunnels below. Soldiers were running everywhere, carrying rope and spears, far too busy to notice three people in the shadows as they rushed to get to the square. Squinting into the dark, Miranda could see why. Even from this angle, she could see the cobblestones moving like waves, chasing something she couldn’t see. There were clouds overhead as well, winds ripping across the sky, forming a tiny tornado right in front of the citadel. From the top battlements, she could hear the duke shouting orders, his voice carried far and wide by the spinning wind. He was shouting for them to catch something.
“Ah,” Monpress said, locking the door again behind them. “Splendid.”
“Splendid?” Miranda said, looking in horror as a sheet of roofing tiles flew off a nearby house at whatever was circling in the front courtyard. “This is utter madness.”
“Chaos is the thief’s best friend,” Eli said with a shrug. “Where’s our ride?”
“Busy, from the looks of it,” Monpress said, pointing at the courtyard.
“Ride?” Miranda said. “Do you mean-”
She cut off midsentence as Gin appeared around the corner, followed by a hail of clay roofing tiles. He was running full tilt. They barely had time to jump out of the way before he barreled past. He gave Miranda a wink as he flashed by, and she saw at once what he was planning.
“Get in a line against the wall,” she said, jerking Eli’s chain and pushing Monpress with her other hand. “Be ready to jump on when I say so.”
“Jump on?” Eli said. “You mean throw ourselves at the dog when he comes around again?”
“Pretty much,” Miranda said, hiking up her skirt and tucking it under her belt so it wouldn’t get tangled. “Get ready, here he comes.”
They all whirled to look at Gin. He was still running full tilt away from them with the stones right on his tail. But just as he was about to hit the tall bank that separated the castle grounds from the river, he dropped to a crouch and skidded to a stop. The stones, not made for high-velocity anything, sailed straight over him, landing with a splash in the river beyond. The moment they were over his head, Gin was back on his feet racing toward Miranda. She held out her hands, motioning for Eli and Monpress to do the same. The ghosthound ran low, and as he passed they grabbed on to the thick fur of his back. Gin’s momentum took them off their feet, and suddenly they were flying along with him down a side alley while the wind howled overhead.
“Letting yourself play decoy,” Miranda said, digging her fingers in a little harder than was necessary as she climbed into position on his back. “That was a foolish thing to do, dog.”
“Well, hello to you too,” Gin panted. “Ask the old man if we’re still going for the wall.”
Miranda glared at him, but turned and relayed the question to the elder Monpress, who was helping Eli get into place.
“So far as I know,” he said. “I haven’t heard anything from Josef or Nico.”
“You probably won’t,” Eli said, grabbing Gin’s fur with both hands as the dog raced through the night. “Even if he sent a message, we’d never get anything through all this mess. I can barely hear myself think with the town like this.”
He was right, Miranda thought with a grimace. The whole town seemed to be shouting all at once. And not just spirits, but guards and alarm whistles too. Gin had his ears back as he ran, taking a crazy path through the back alleys as he ran north and a little west, toward the wall.
“Wait,” Miranda shouted. “We’re escaping? What about my rings? I can’t leave without my rings!”
“We can’t go back for them now,” Eli shouted over the din. “Not unless you want to fight the entire town.”
“The duke took your rings?” Gin panted, alarmed.
“No, I think Hern did,” Miranda answered. “We have to go back.”
“Well, look at it this way,” Eli said. “Now that you’re out, those rings are the only power this Hern fellow has over you. He’s certainly not going to risk them on something trivial.”
