“What’s up?” Rick asked.
“Shh!” I fired back, putting a hand to my lips to remind him to be silent.
But it was too late. The sound of shoes scuffling on pavement filtered through the closed door and into my ears. Someone had heard us.
“Come out, Damian,” a low, gruff voice said from the other side of the doorway. “Come on out nice and slow. We know you’re in there.”
Damn it. I recognized that voice, even through the muffling effect of hard wood. It was Lanky Guy. We’d been caught.
I tried to make out the exterior situation by peering through the windows by the doorway, but it was hard to make out anything. The moon was on the far side of the house, so the light coming in from these windows was minimal. Still, I was pretty sure I could make out Lanky Guy and the silhouettes of four or five other people out there standing near him.
Great. A full pack of bad guys, and just one of me. Why did it always end up like this?
“Stay back,” I warned Rick. I took the circlet out of my pack and shoved it into his hands. “Keep this in case I get hurt. Don’t give it to anyone.”
Rick barely nodded his head. His eyes were fixed on the doorway and his face had returned to that same ashen color from before. He must have recognized the guy’s voice as well.
“Come on out, Damian!” the voice demanded again. “All we want is the crown.”
Shit. How’d he know about the crown, too? But then, I supposed even ancient Celtic warriors could read a newspaper.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” I shouted through the doorway. My hand tightened around the hilt of my katana as I inched toward the door. I wasn’t going to get many shots at doing this the right way.
“Give it up, Damian. We saw you in there with the crown earlier.”
What? How was that possible? We’d been so careful, too. For all I knew, it was a ruse, but either way, he was right. I did have Boudicca’s crown. Or rather, Rick did.
“All right, I’m coming out. Just don’t do anything crazy,” I said. My hand closed on the door handle. “I wouldn’t want the circlet to get hurt or anything.”
I heard the sound of feet shuffling on the other side of the door again. If I was right, Lanky Guy was right on the other side of it now.
As silently as I could, I slid my katana out of its sheath. If I was fast enough, I could pounce on him before he even realized the door was open. Then I pressed down on the door handle and pulled.
I raised my katana and made ready to strike, but the scene on the other side of the door made my blood run cold.
“Sheila!” I cried through clenched teeth. He had Sheila.
“That’s right, Damian,” Lanky Guy said, nodding.
He had a dagger held up to Sheila’s throat, which he pressed into her skin just a little bit more as he hefted her backward a half step. He was flanked by Half-Naked Guy and Bat Boy from the earlier conflict. I took a quick look around to see if I could spot the rest of his crew, but they weren’t in the immediate area.
“Put that sword away and come out with your hands up, and no one will get hurt,” Lanky Guy insisted.
Damn it. I’d planned for several contingencies, but this wasn’t one of them. I should have known they’d have gotten to her first, but some part of me had hoped she’d been able to escape them and drive off.
I put my katana back in its sheath and held both of my hands up in front of me, palms forward.
“There you go... guy,” I said. I wasn’t sure how else to refer to him.
“Arlan,” he said slowly. “It’s Arlan.” He grinned at me and beckoned with his hand. “That’s it. Now come out slowly. Both of you.”
Well hell. Somehow, he even knew Rick was with me. Just how bad had our stealth been? That was the last time I took a researcher on a stealth mission.
“You got it, Arlan,” I said. I took a few steps forward until I’d cleared the door frame, keeping my hands visible the whole time.
I could see Sheila’s neck trembling next to the cold steel of the knife. Part of me wondered that if Arlan pricked her skin, if she could activate her blood magic to defend herself, but at the same time, this was not how I wanted to find out. Too risky.
Her lips mouthed the word “sorry” at me, and I shook my head slightly. She had nothing to apologize for. I was the one who should be sorry. I’d put her in that spot. Me and my stupid desires had put everyone in jeopardy.
Rick followed after me. His hands were clear, so he must have put the book down somewhere. I was actually surprised at his brilliance on that move. Far better not to let them know we have anything other than the crown unless we had to.
“There,” I said. “We’re out. You have us where you want us.”
Arlan nodded. “The crown. Give me the crown.” He nodded to Bat Boy, who took a step forward and held out his hands toward me.
I sighed. “Rick, give it to him.”
Rick’s eyes looked like they were about to bulge out of his skull. “But the spell! They’ll have everything they need!”
“If we don’t give the crown to Arlan, he’ll kill Sheila,” I replied, shaking my head again. “Just do it, okay?”
Rick nodded, then pulled the circlet out of his pocket. A collective gasp went through the Celtic guys as they saw it. No doubt they recognized it right away as Boudicca’s.
I tried to find some way to turn their momentary distraction to my advantage, but there was none. They were several steps away, and my katana was
