Amaranthe yanked the tabs and threw the cans to the floor behind the mass of men. She flattened herself to the deck, anticipating fire. Crossbow bolts thudded into the front of the stage, one grazing her hair on its way past. The backpack offered little cover, and she had a sudden image of a bolt hitting one of the canisters, causing it to explode…
Her own explosions came first. The booms weren’t as ear-splitting as they’d been in the confines of the stage, but they served their purpose, hurling the back row of attackers to the deck. Smoke billowed into the air. It was as much cover as she’d get. Forgoing the long route, Amaranthe vaulted onto the stage, her injured back clenching in a protest of pain. Without any grace, she scrambled to the hole. Not until she dropped out of sight did she pause to grab her battered muscles and suck in a deep, bracing breath. Even then, her pause was short. She had to join the others and hope she’d given Sicarius the help he needed to escape the dining hall.
When she reached the grate, Sespian was still there, waiting for her. Relief washed across his face. He looked like he might have been thinking of running after her.
“ Are you…?” He grabbed her arm and helped her into the cubby.
The cramped space, its bottom lumpy with cement and cold with inches of water, was not the oasis she would have preferred to slide into, but at least she could lie on her back and rest for a second. Sespian dragged a dented and charred box over the entrance before closing the grate.
“ We’re through,” Books said, his voice strained.
Amaranthe forced herself to roll over. Basilard and Books lay on the far side of the wood-framed lumpy gray mass that encompassed the rockets. Water was entering through the charred, perforated line cut around the mess. The oblong cutout looked like it could drop away at any second, but the men had wedged boards beneath the edges in a couple of spots. Lying on his belly, Akstyr supported his end of the cutout from the side nearest Amaranthe and Sespian. Basilard lay shoulder-to-shoulder with Books on the far side. A wildness haunted Books’s eyes. He alone seemed to realize what might happen if just one of the rockets broke open when the load hit the bottom of the river.
Two security men in ship’s whites approached the railing as soon as the stolen enforcer boat approached. So much for sneaking aboard.
“ You better go up top and do the talking,” Maldynado said. “They might recognize me.”
“ No faith in your enforcer costume?” Evrial asked.
“ It’s just that my blindingly handsome face draws people’s eyes and sticks in their minds, no matter what I wear.”
“ Those are men. Somehow I doubt your face has the same effect.”
“ You’d be surprised.”
Evrial climbed onto the deck, her head filling with visions of men propositioning Maldynado. She supposed he was pretty enough that it happened.
Their craft bumped against the side of the steamboat. Maldynado matched the larger vessel’s speed-their propeller scarcely stirred the water in comparison to the giant paddlewheel. This close, droplets of water spattered everywhere. Evrial wiped moisture from her cheek, thinking of the last time she and Maldynado had been so close to a paddlewheel. It’d been while fighting piles of enforcers. This situation was far too similar for her liking.
The security men leaned over the railing. “What are you-”
Evrial tossed them a rope. “Tie us, will you? Those marines are taking up all the space up front.” Not to mention that she didn’t want to be noticed by said marines. At the moment, the steamboat blocked her and Maldynado from their view.
One of the men caught the damp rope, shrugged, and bent over a metal cleat. His comrade wasn’t so quick to accept the arrival of strangers.
“ Who are you? Where’d you come from?”
“ Town.” Evrial waved back downriver, chagrinned to realize she’d forgotten the name of the little port. “My captain said he saw some criminals stowing away as you left dock. We’re here to collect them, though…” Evrial gazed up at the deck-smoke was wafting out of the dining hall entrance. “You look like you need more help than we brought. Are they in there? Causing trouble?”
“ Trouble.” The man tying the rope snorted. “You don’t know the-”
“ You look familiar.” The second man scrutinized Evrial. “Take off your hat.”
Uh oh. Maybe this was one of the security men who’d investigated the cabin the “maids” had infiltrated. None of them had seen her face though, had they?
“ Listen…” Evrial climbed up the railing, keeping her head down. “I don’t take orders from security grunts.” She swung her leg over. “I need to see the captain or the officer of the watch.”
Her feet had barely touched the deck when the suspicious man grabbed her arm. He reached for her hat. “I said-”
Evrial planted her weight, then threw her body into a straight punch to the man’s nose. She was two inches taller than he and, despite his wariness, caught him by surprise. He staggered back, almost tripping over his comrade. Evrial lunged after him, grabbed his uniform front, and sank low so she could spring up, using her momentum to hoist him over the railing. He landed on the enforcer boat and bounced into the water.
The second man dropped the rope he’d finished tying and reached for a baton hanging from his belt. Evrial kicked his hand away before he could unclip it. She stepped in, slipped a dagger from his sheath and pressed the blade to his throat.
“ Join your colleague in his evening swim,” she said.
The man groaned. “You’re with those cursed outlaws, aren’t you?”
“ Apparently.” Evrial leaned into the blade, threatening to draw blood.
“ The marines will chop you all down like dead wood.” Spitting out that line was the extent of the man’s bravery, for he jumped over the side after that.
He twisted in the air, however, and landed on the enforcer boat. He yanked another knife out of a boot sheath and lunged into the cabin.
“ Maldynado, look out!” Evrial barked, horrified that she’d done so poor a job of subduing the man.
She leaped over the railing, landing in a crouch on the deck. She took a running step toward the cabin, but halted, arms spinning for balance, when Maldynado appeared in the doorway. He held the stray security guard by the back of the neck. Blood streamed from the man’s nose, and he gaped at Evrial with crossed eyes.
“ Lose something?” Maldynado asked.
The man stumbled, almost falling at Evrial’s feet. Maldynado tossed him over the side. The other security man had already fallen behind and was swimming toward a riverbank.
“ I didn’t want to treat him poorly since he was kind enough to tie up our boat,” Evrial said.
“ Ah, quite thoughtful of you.”
“ Also, I’m not as unrecognizable as we’d hoped.”
Clangs came from the deck above. Men in black marine uniforms were jogging along the lower deck, their arms laden with weapons. They were scurrying about on the top deck as well, and even on the roof. A squad raced into the dining hall.
“ I’m not certain we’re going to be able to get in to help the team,” Evrial said.
Maldynado opened his mouth, but a boom drowned out his response. It had come from the middle of the boat-the dining hall?
“ Think that’s Lokdon blowing things up?” Evrial asked. “Or the marines trying to flush them out?”
“ I don’t know, but we are going to help them.” Maldynado pushed past Evrial and headed for the railing.
“ Wait.” Evrial grabbed his arm. A second boom roared. Someone was going to sink the boat at this rate. “What if they don’t need help? What if they need a way to escape?” She waved at their enforcer craft. “We have it.”
The rest of the marines on the lower deck veered into the dining hall, except for four men who split off and ran toward the rear of the steamboat, toward Maldynado and Evrial. Uh oh. Had they seen Evrial hurl the security guards over the side? Or maybe they recognized Maldynado’s face.
Each marine carried a rifle diagonally in front of his chest, and more weapons dangled from their belts. The men picked up speed as they closed on the enforcer boat.
