Chapter 18 #2
One of the pirates jabbed Garrett hard in the back with the butt of his spear.
Garrett let out a startled yelp, and I grabbed the spear out of the pirate’s hand and pressed the blade against his throat before he could so much as blink.
I kept my eyes trained on his, cold and hard, even as I heard the click of pistols being cocked from around the room.
Bao-Sung let out a hearty laugh, and I saw him wave his hand out of the corner of my eye, ordering the others to stand down. “Feisty,” he said to me, speaking in Northian. “My captives are not usually so fearless.”
“Yeah, well, that’s probably because you don’t usually capture mages,” I snarled, throwing a fireball at him.
The pirate overlord’s eyes widened, and he jumped to his feet as he drew his sword.
To my surprise, the steel blade glowed bright blue, and Bao-Sung batted the fireball back in my direction.
Damn, I thought as I twisted away from the fiery missile. His weapon must be spelled to repel magical attacks!
“I’ve had enough of this!” Garrett shouted, swinging toward the pirate nearest him.
He sliced his hand through the air, and the pirate fell back, a huge gash opening up in his throat.
Blood poured down the front of his shirt as he went down, and pandemonium broke out as the rest of the pirates charged us with swords and pistols.
Iannis flung out a hand and turned three of them into ice, and Director Chen conjured a shield to stop the bullets as gunfire exploded through the air.
The pirates cried out in surprise as she grabbed one of the brutes by his throat and lit his entire body on fire.
Screams and burning flesh laced the air, and I jumped out of the way as two pirates rushed me, conjuring a shield to deflect their bullets as well.
Spinning around, I kicked one in the back and sent him crashing into the other one.
“Enough!” Bao-Sung roared in Northian, and the entire room froze.
Dead pirates littered the floor, several struck by their own bullets.
But plenty were still alive—the door to my right had swung open and more were pouring in, drawn by the shouts.
Bao-Sung yelled at them in Garaian, and the surviving pirates grudgingly backed off, grumbling and shooting glares at us as they retreated to the edges of the room.
Garrett looked like he wanted to pursue them, but Iannis shot him a warning look.
“My apologies, honored lords,” Bao-Sung said, reverting to Northian. The devious gleam was gone from his eyes now, and his expression was grave. “I did not realize that I was dealing with mages. You do not dress like people of importance,” he added, his tone accusing now. “How was I to guess?”
“We are trying not to draw attention,” Iannis said calmly, though his eyes glittered with cold fury as he held the pirate overlord’s stare. “And we would have succeeded, if your thugs had not intercepted us at the docks.”
“May I ask what your business is?” Bao-Sung drawled, twirling the ends of his long beard around his forefinger.
He was remarkably cool, considering that his reception room was littered with the dead bodies of his henchmen.
“There must be great need of secrecy, if you would risk arriving here dressed little better than peasants. Your Garaian woman must know that anyone who comes to my port looking like prey… becomes prey.” His eyes flicked back toward me, and he grinned, revealing a gold tooth where one of his incisors should have been.
“Though that one does rather look like a predator.”
“That’s none of your business, pirate,” Iannis said.
“And since we have the upper hand, I don’t see any reason to tell you.
” He raised his left hand and the same ice-blue energy from earlier crackled around his fingers.
The hairs on the back of my neck stood up, and I tensed, wondering if he was going to smite Bao-Sung in his own home.
“That might be true, but you could hardly keep a low profile if you wiped out my entire household,” Bao-Sung said, not the slightest bit ruffled. “You are strangers, presumably in need of local help. We might yet do business.”
“Perhaps we might,” Iannis agreed to my surprise as he reached into his sleeve.
He pulled out a fat brown leather purse, then tossed it from hand to hand.
Bao-Sung’s eyes lit as it made a clinking sound with each toss.
“Do you happen to have an airship and pilot on hand that we could hire for a long-distance journey in two or three days’ time? ”
Bao-Sung’s eyes were glued to the purse. “That might be arranged. Your ship is part of the deal?”
“Indeed, and don’t pretend we are not overpaying. We require discretion, mind you.” He handed the purse to the pirate.
“Hmm.” The pirate hefted the bag, then pulled out one of the gold coins and bit down on it. Satisfied, he nodded, then tied the pouch to his belt. “Yes, I do believe this is a fair exchange. But there is something else I want from you.”
“Which is?”
“Your shifter female.” The pirate nodded toward me, and I stiffened beneath his lecherous grin. “I am even willing to trade one of my own concubines for her. I love taming the feisty ones.”
“You slimy bastard,” I spat, stalking forward before Iannis could reply. “I’m done with you treating me like a piece of meat. If you think you’re so much better than me, why don’t you get down here and fight me like a real man?”
“Sunaya!” Iannis snapped, and, if looks could kill, I’d be dead. But I refused to look at him, instead holding the pirate lord’s glittering gaze. My blood was boiling now, and I really wanted to spill his.
Bao-Sung arched his brows. “Are you challenging me to a duel?” he asked, sounding incredulous.
“You bet your ass I am. No magic, just hands and weapons. Now get down here.” I stepped back a little, toeing one of the dead bodies away so that we could make enough space for a small arena. “If you win, you can have me for a night.”
“Like hell!” Iannis snarled, surging forward, but he stopped as I pinned him with a glare of my own.
“Do you seriously have such little faith in me that you think I’m going to lose to a human?”
“No, but the fact that you would even make such an offer—”
“Is tempting,” Bao-Sung finished for him, rising slowly from his seat. “Prepare yourself, then, Miss….”
“None of your business.” I knew better than to give this sleaze ball my name, and I couldn’t be bothered to come up with a fake one. Instead, I drew my crescent knives and assumed a fighting stance. “Are you going to talk me to death, or are you going to fight?”
Bao-Sung laughed again, and then the next thing I knew, he was in my face, his sword swinging straight down at me.
I raised my right hand just in time to block him with my crescent knife and continued the arc, pushing his sword away and slashing out with my other knife.
He dropped to the ground, avoiding my blade, then kicked out with his leg and swept my legs out from under me.
“Oof!” I grunted as I crashed to the ground.
I rapidly rolled out of the way as he stabbed at me, then bounced back up onto the balls of my feet.
Our blades clashed again as he closed the distance, and I went on the offensive, slashing furiously.
He parried each of my strikes with astonishing skill and force, and, for a moment, I regretted my promise not to use magic.
But only for a moment.
I slashed with my blades again, then pretended a moment of weakness, slowing my movements and allowing my eyelids to droop a little.
Bao-Sung took immediate advantage of the opportunity, charging in with amazing speed for a human.
But I was faster, and I stepped out of the way, then kicked him as hard as I could in the back.
Bone splintered beneath the heel of my boot as at least one rib gave way, and he cried out, stumbling forward.
“You witch!” he hissed, whirling about, and I was impressed that he managed to keep the grip on his sword steady.
His face was white now, beads of sweat trickling down into his mustache, and I knew he must be in incredible pain.
He charged me again, but this time when I caught his sword with my crescent knife, I swung it around and used my curved blade to catch his sword and pull it from his weakening grip.
The sword clattered to the ground, and the room fell dead silent as Bao-Sung looked down at it.
“You stayed true to your promise, and yet you still beat me.” Bao-Sung bowed, and his body buckled beneath the pain. Two of his pirates rushed forward, each catching him by the underarm before his knees hit the ground. “A shame, as I was greatly looking forward to having you in my bed.”
“Yeah, yeah.” But I couldn’t help the grin that tugged at the corner of my lips at his determination, and at the playful note in his voice despite his broken ribs. “Now why don’t you have your men show us that dirigible?”