Sixty yards, Billi reckoned, between her and Gareth.
“Trust me, okay?” Billi whispered, then put her saber against Vasilisa’s throat. Vasilisa stiffened.
Afew of the werewolves edged closer.
“No, not you lot.” Billi stared at Baba Yaga. “Just her.”
“BacK,
Did she suspect a trap? Of course she did. But Baba Yaga wanted the Spring Child, and what were they? Insignificant humans.
“Come on, take her,” Billi taunted. “Or are you afraid of a few mortals?”
“YoU WiLL
Baba Yaga stepped forward. She moved slowly, each step churning the icy tarmac. Her fingers twitched on the bone staff, the bracelets and necklaces rattling. A deep hellish hiss rolled from her cracked throat.
Just a few more feet.
She was thinking it. They were all thinking it. Billi’s mind was focused on the arrowhead, the small sharp triangle of stone that would kill Baba Yaga. It all came down to the next few steps. She thought of Gareth in the armory, sending arrow after arrow into the bull’s-eye. The guy could put an arrow through the eye of a dormouse in the dark.
Just one more step and it’s game over.
Billi couldn’t keep the urge, the desire, out of her mind. None of them could. They were practically screaming for Baba Yaga to take another step.
“N
Just one more foot.
Baba Yaga’s gaze shot up to the library window. “NO
Oh no.
Baba Yaga was an avatar, but one who’d accumulated all the powers of the thousands of Spring Children she’d devoured. She could command the elements. She’d taught the first Polenitsy to shape-shift. She could read minds. She’d heard them-how could she not? They were all screaming at her to step closer into the Templars’ trap.
The twang of the bowstring seemed as loud as a thunderbolt, and like a thunderbolt, it covered the distance between Gareth and Baba Yaga in an instant. Baba Yaga screamed and fell backward as the arrow entered her shoulder. The Polenitsy wailed, and three scurried to aid their goddess, then backed away as she rose up again, her face twisted into a mask of horror. The iron-filled black mouth opened, and she screamed, snapping the arrow off with a flick of her taloned finger. Bilious black blood spurted from the wound.
The wolf pack leaped toward them. Dozens of Polenitsy moved from human to wolf in the blink of an eye.
“C’mon!” Billi wrapped her fingers tight around Vasilisa’s wrist as she backed away.
The second arrow flew, but Baba Yaga swatted it out of the air; it tumbled away and was lost in the snow.
Arthur grabbed Vasilisa around the waist as he ran, lifting her off the ground.
An engine revved and a Jeep raced out from an alleyway, Lance at the wheel.
“Let’s get the hell out of here,” he said.
The wolves charged them.
“Ivan!” Billi pulled him toward the Jeep. She kicked one startled werewolf in the jaw, catching its tongue in its teeth. Old Gray leaped among the Polenitsy in a frenzy of fangs and claws.
Gwaine and Mordred sprinted into the school building while arrow after arrow from Gareth’s regular supply flew in among the werewolves. Billi understood immediately: the three Templars would cover the retreat, forcing the werewolves to advance under a flight of arrows. Already two werewolves lay still in the reddening snow, arrows lodged in their throats and eye sockets. As Billi ran, more arrows darted through the darkening sky as Gwaine and Mordred added their volleys to Gareth’s onslaught.
Billi’s heart raced as she threw herself into the passenger seat, expecting to have her back torn open to the bone any second. Arthur tossed Vasilisa in beside her and squeezed in next. Ivan slammed the front passenger door shut as a pair of claws ripped across the windshield.
“Seat belts!” Lance shouted as the Jeep’s engine roared.
Two werewolves clambered onto the hood, then yelled as they were ripped off. Gray took one across the throat and hurled it into the pack. Its fur was crisscrossed by bleeding wounds and its jaw slavering red. Gray was defending them from her sisters.
The sky turned twilight dark as the moon slid halfway across the sun’s face. The car jumped forward and accelerated away from the crowd of werewolves. Gray snapped at the arm of one, then she too turned and ran, loping easily alongside the Jeep. Billi glanced in the side mirror and saw a dozen wolves spring into the chase.
She checked Vasilisa, who sat beside her sobbing. She didn’t look hurt, just scared. Beside the girl was Arthur, twisted around so he could watch out of the rear. His leather jacket creaked as he stretched his shoulders, and his fingers fidgeted around the wire bindings of the sword hilt.
Ivan, beside Lance, put his revolver on the dashboard as he adjusted his sword belt. Then he wiped his hands on his lap and took up the big gun. He winked at Billi.
The car hit an ice patch and skidded sideways, the rear turning a full circle before bumping against a tree.
“Down!” shouted Ivan, glancing back at the werewolves descending upon them.
Vasilisa screamed as werewolves slammed into the rear. The Jeep jumped from the impact, then crashed back down with bone-jarring force. The glass blew apart and there was an ear-piercing cry as a wolf went down.
“Any time now would be good,” said Arthur to Lance as the wheels spun uselessly on the ice.
“
“Nasty,” muttered Arthur. Something slammed onto the top of the car, and he shoved his sword through the roof. The sword caught, and he pushed harder. Blood trickled through the tear, and a body tumbled off.
Lance shoved the wheel around and took them down a dark alleyway.
Arthur peered at Ivan. “How are you doing, lad?”
Ivan was dripping with sweat, and blood seeped through his trousers. All the running had reopened the wound on his leg, but his face didn’t betray his pain.
“Not dead yet,” he replied.
“Where to?” Billi asked. They’d lost the wolves, but it was only a matter of minutes before they were sniffed out.
“We patch you up, then fly you and Vasilisa right to Jerusalem,” answered Arthur. “We’ve got the girl away from them. That’s more than we’d hoped for. There’s a helicopter parked near the reactor. The other team will keep the Polenitsy busy for a while longer.”
“And there’s still this.” Billi pulled out the last stone-tipped arrow. Her bow was across her lap now, and she plucked the taut bowstring. Maybe the arrowhead wasn’t as well fixed as the others, but it could still do the job.
Billi looked again at Arthur, Vasilisa, and Ivan. She had three people she cared about right here. And she was going to do everything she could to save them.
41
“A NYTHING?” ASKED LANCE.
Billi peered out the rear window. No wolves. “We’ve lost them.” They’d lost Olga too. She must have fallen
