Taya swung her legs over the railing, holding her arms wide.
Cristof stood upright, holding a second cartridge between his teeth as he broke open the rifle's breech.
The third gunner grabbed one of the loaded pistols as Lars swung his metal club at the man who'd just fired. The club smashed into the side of the wagon, sending splinters of wood flying everywhere. His would-be victim whacked him across the shins with his empty pistol. Lars snarled and swung again. This time the Alzanan howled.
The third Alzanan rolled under the wagon and aimed his gun at Cristof.
'Look out!' Taya shouted, kicking away from the catwalk.
It was a short drop, and she took it hard, the ondium barely managing to slow her fall. Cristof was still jamming his cartridge into place when she landed in front of him, her metal wings spread as wide as possible. The Alzanan's shot rang out through the building.
The bullet hit one of her ondium feathers and sent a jolt running through her arm, but that was nothing compared to the agony that tore through her calf as her foot hit the ground. She staggered, her wings sweeping down and clattering on the floor as she tried to catch herself.
Then Cristof was beside her, one arm sliding under hers. Gasping, she threw her arm over his shoulder, her ondium feathers fanned out around his back.
He spun her out of his way and fired his rifle one-handed.
The weapon jerked out of his hand and the bullet buried itself in one of the crates on the wagon.
Lars stomped on the fingers that were reaching for the last loaded pistol, then kicked the weapon away into the shadows.
Taya gasped with pain as Cristof hauled her back behind the boxes.
'Taya?' His face was white. 'Were you hit?'
'No.' She leaned against him, tears stinging her eyes. She was sure she'd torn out her stitches, this time. 'Help me sit.'
'What happened?' He lowered her to the floor. His hands were shaking.
Taya shrugged out of her wings, letting them float uselessly around her as she looked at her leg. Blood was seeping around the edges of the torn leather. She rested her forehead against her knee, feeling faint.
Then Isobel rose up from the shadows, a rifle in her hands. She gave them a cursory glance, turned to the wagon, and swung her firearm up to her shoulder in a practiced move.
'Lars, I have you covered,' she said, her voice calm.
'It's about time you got here,' he growled. Taya heard a thud. Someone grunted with pain. 'Keep these assholes in line while I look for Kyle.'
'You got it.'
Taya felt Cristof's cool hand on her forehead and looked up.
'I'm all right,' she said, knowing her voice was thin with pain but unable to make it steadier for him. 'Go help them.'
'Just a few more minutes,' he promised, still looking ashen. He grabbed the rifle she'd thrown from the catwalk and stood, taking aim next to Isobel.
'Got him,' Lars roared, in triumph. 'It's Kyle! He's all right!'
Despite her pain, Taya smiled.
Fifteen minutes later, Cristof and Isobel finished tying up their captives. Taya sat next to Lars, who had only admitted to having been grazed by a bullet after Cristof had noticed the blood staining his shirt. Now he was bare-chested, his shirt pressed against his side, inspecting the boxes in the wagon.
'This is our engine, all right,' he said, fingering a splintered hole. 'I hope your bullet didn't go all the way through, exalted.'
'If it did, we'll blame it on the Alzanans,' Kyle said. As Lt. Amcathra had guessed, he'd suffered a head wound, but his captors had bandaged it. Other than some bruises and scraping, he seemed none the worse for wear.
'Fine with me.' Lars stood, then winced and peeled his balled-up shirt away to look at his wound. 'I can't believe I got shot for you, Kyle. I expect a raise when we get our next contract.'
'Oh, stop complaining,' Isobel said, checking a knot. 'You're looking good compared to this guy.' She gestured to the Alzanan that Lars had caught across the ribs with his metal club. The man was fighting to breathe, wincing each time he inhaled. 'He's going to need a doctor.'
'He shot me.' Lars scowled. 'I got scared. I don't like being shot.'
'Me, either,' Taya said, leaning sideways against a crate. After leaving Isobel to take care of the prisoners, Cristof had helped her lock her wings back and had wrapped her wounded leg in fresh bandages.
'If that's how you react when you're scared, Lars, I'd hate to see you angry,' Kyle joked.
'Hello?' Pyke edged in, then relaxed when he saw that everything was under control. 'Everyone all right?'
'We're alive,' Cristof reported. 'Have you seen Victor?'
'He caught Emelie about two blocks from here.' Pyke looked serious. 'She started babbling about bombs, so he's taking her to the Tertius station in Gregor's hack, and Cassi's flying ahead to warn the lictors. If everyone's okay here, I'm going to head up to Primus to spread the alarm.'
Cristof's jaw tightened. 'What bombs? How many?'
'She called them triton bombs and said the Alzanans had made about ten of ‘em. They're set to go off at four in the morning. They were supposed to be a distraction while these guys drove the stolen engine out the city gates.'
Cristof yanked out a pocket watch and checked it. Diamonds glittered in the lamplight, and Taya realized he was wearing his brother's watch.
'Three more hours.' He sounded relieved, then turned a cold look on his five prisoners. 'What do you know about the bombs and their locations?'
The Alzanans looked at each other.
'Talk, and your cooperation will be taken under consideration when they sentence you,' Taya said, in Alzanan. 'Believe me, you'd rather be sentenced as thieves than as terrorists. The Council's not very happy with the Torn Cards right now.'
'We're not Torn Cards!' one of the men protested. 'Those cards were fakes, to fool the police. Everyone knows the Torn Cards are blamed for everything in Ondinium.'
Taya translated.
'He's got a point,' Pyke agreed.
'They'll have to prove it in court.' Cristof picked up one of the Alzanans’ loaded pistols and set it against a prisoner's kneecap. 'Where are the bombs?'
'You'd better tell him,' Taya said, in Alzanan. 'He's in a really bad mood.' She gave Cristof a warning look, but his face was blank. She hoped he was just bluffing.
After a hasty conference, the Alzanans began to talk, and Taya translated. Pyke lingered long enough to get a list of locations, then ran outside to carry the information to lictor stations across the city.
About half an hour later, a group of lictors arrived with a wagon to pick everyone up. They stopped at the hospital to drop off the programmers, Taya, and Cristof, and then continued onward to take the prisoners to the nearest jail.
'You don't have to report in?' Taya asked, as Cristof slid an arm under her armature and helped her up the hospital steps.
'I'll do it tomorrow.'
'Do you think the bombs will be found?'
Cristof's arm tightened around her waist.
'I hope so,' he said at last. 'The Alzanans don't have anything to gain anymore, and everything to lose.'
The group split up, Cristof and Taya going one way and the programmers going the other. A physician pulled out and replaced Taya's stitches, a painful procedure that she bore with clenched teeth and tears in her eyes as she clung to Cristof's hand. The physician recommended another dose of painkiller, but she refused. It
