Chapter 15
EMBERLINE
Still rattled from the dream, I picked apart my mother’s warning, trying to decide if we were already too late.
To make matters worse, the location of this particular gate was in the worst possible place, two streets down from the Sala del Giuramento—also known as La Sala—so getting through unnoticed would be a… challenge, to say the least.
Especially with all the increased security.
“Ten guards on La Sala,” I muttered, looking down from the roof at the darkened fondamenta, lit only by lanterns on the sides of the buildings. “A bit excessive, don’t you think?”
“The house of a respected Dynasty member exploded and killed two Pentarch heirs in a single day. Enemies are loose in our city, and mayhem abounds. According to the council, it’s not excessive at all,” Nico pointed out, one side of his mouth curved up in a smile.
“If the threat was real, I would have posted more.”
I lifted my brow. “You posted them?”
“What can I say?” he shrugged lazily, outlined by the starry sky. “I’m good at my job.”
“Are you intentionally trying to sabotage us? You couldn’t have… I don’t know, given them the night off or something?” I hissed.
“Like I said,”—Nico crossed his arms over his massive chest—“I’m good at my job. I can’t just pull every Draconi soldier off the Don’s house with no explanation. Now let’s figure out how to get from here to there.”
Unfortunately, there was just before the busiest bridge on the Riva dei Sette Martiri, where the slight distortion of a fixed gate shimmered in midair.
Since he was short on trust, Gabriel commandeered the cipher, obsessively rubbing his thumb in circles on the metal as he studied the gate, the crowds of tourists moving past it in a never-ending river.
All the while that tight, panicked sensation in my chest was telling me to hurry the fuck up.
“It’s dark. If we dematerialize to the front of the gate, we can use the cipher to pass through,” Gabriel decided. “Stick close, move fast, follow my lead.”
I didn’t have a chance to argue because we were already moving from roof to cobblestones, then through the gate itself, cold magic clawing at my face, stealing the air from my lungs before the gate vomited me out into blinding darkness.
A rough hand caught the back of my coat, swung me around, and pinned me face-first to the ground, where I tried to get my bearings, which was kind of difficult with a mouthful of fucking sand. The shit was even in my eyes.
“Stay down,” Nico ordered. “As flat as you can be. Don’t fucking move.”
“Gods, that’s all you had to say.” I groaned, one leg bent at an unnatural, painful angle, my neck twisted the wrong direction. “Did we all make it through the gate in one piece?”
“In a manner of speaking.” Gabriel’s strained voice came from somewhere to my right, sounding as if he had his teeth clenched together against unbearable pain.
“Dare I ask why we’re face down in the darkness? They can’t possibly see us; there’s not a shred of light.” My eyes were still adjusting to the darkness, and panic rippled through me as I realized I might have grossly oversold my skills for this mission.
“Because the guards posted at night are nocturnal,” Nico whispered. “They’ve already picked up movement and are heading this way.”
Terror stabbed my heart as the swish, swish, swish drew closer—because what I thought was wind was actually boots slogging through heavy sand, and as I squinted at the horizon, four impossibly huge silhouettes took shape against the star-flecked sky.
“They’ll be on us in less than a minute,” Nico said matter-of-factly while my heart hammered away in my chest. “I’ll take care of them, then we have to cross another two hundred feet of wide-open ground before we reach cover.”
“But I can…” I wiggled, still trapped beneath his hand.
“Stay the fuck down, principessa, or I’ll bind and gag you and leave you here.”
Nico melted into the night, and because I couldn’t follow directions to save my life, I lifted my head enough to discern that the four enormous, hulking shapes were outfitted in heavy metal armor that clanked with every movement, their faces covered in hideous masks.
Hiding everything but their eyes.
And those eyes—gods, their eyes—were all wrong. Glowing white against the darkness all around us. I flattened myself back down and reached into my boot, drawing a blade without a sound.
Gabriel’s breathing was labored, but I couldn’t risk moving any closer to check on him.
A lithe, dark form streaked across the horizon line, straight toward the group. There was a flurry of activity, followed by the clanking of armor and the hushed sounds of a scuffle. One of the huge forms went down, then a second.
Before I realized it, I was up on my knees, watching Nico and the third guard circle each other, arms held wide, ready to engage. My breath caught when the fourth crept behind Nico, silent, pale eyes glowing unnaturally, as if they’d gathered all the light from the stars.
I had to warn him.
I sucked in a quick breath, and those glowing eyes laser focused on me. A second later, a flash of silver spun past my face, carrying a whiff of a foul scent, then another ugly groan tore out of Gabriel.
I drew my arm back, measured the distance… and threw.
Without a sound, that fourth guard dropped.