Page 112 of This Dark Descent
Mikira stared at the hilt of the blade, at the blood staining her hands.
Then she screamed.
CHAPTER 42
ARIELLE
ARI AND DAMIENcommandeered horses from two late-arriving spectators and set off after Rezek’s departing coach. They’d only just reached a gallop when Ari felt the tug of Mazal’s magic. Prickles of emotion filtered through to her, enough for her to recognize that Mikira was in trouble, and they were riding in the other direction.
Take care of her, Reid, she thought.
The outcome of the race wouldn’t matter if they didn’t stop Loic. If he killed Rezek, removing House Adair’s greatest rival’s last heir, he would win the Ascension. Damien’s deal with Rezek would be void; you couldn’t barter with a corpse, and there was no telling what would happen to Mikira’s father. Ari’s chance at an enchant license would go up in smoke, and everything they’d all worked for would be tossed aside in favor of all-out war between the Adairs and Kelbras.
They broke out of a shortcut at the northwestern side of the city and into scattered farmland. The dirt road would empty into the Traveler’s Road north of the Kelbra estate. But was Rezek ahead of or behind them?
Thunder boomed and the first sprinkles of rain fell. Their horses’ hooves kicked up clods of earth as they raced past worn fences and long fields of grass. Ahead, the road disappeared into a copse of trees beyond abend. They galloped around it and their horses shuddered to simultaneous stops, nearly throwing them both.
The Kelbra coach lay overturned in the road, a wheel blown off. Rezek, Loic, and a Kelbra guard stood beside it.
Loic’s eyes narrowed. “Damien.”
“What are you doing here, Adair?” Rezek sneered, a cut above his eye leaking blood.
Damien pulled a gun and leveled it at his brother’s chest. “Call it off.”
“I don’t know what you mean.” Loic’s lips curled.
A gunshot rang, and Damien cried out. He dropped his gun and his horse startled, throwing him.
“Damien!” Ari leapt from her horse, using its body as a shield as she pulled him to his feet. Blood soaked through his jacket at the top of his shoulder. A nick, but enough that it must hurt terribly.
“I’m fine,” he ground out.
Hyle emerged into the middle of the road, a revolver in hand and flanked by four others. “I’d really prefer not to kill you,” he said simply.
“You can’t.” Damien’s voice strained. “It violates the rules of the Ascension.”
“I didn’t hire him to kill you,” Loic said with a shrug. “If he does that, it’s of his own accord and in no way my responsibility.”
“What exactly is going on here?” Rezek had backed away behind his guard, who had his own gun drawn.
Hyle cocked his gun. “Simple, Your Lordship. This is an assassination.”
“Run, Rezek!” Damien whipped out his other revolver, firing at Hyle’s people. They scattered, along with the horses. Damien swung the barrel back toward Loic, but he’d already bolted into the trees.
“To the coach!” Ari called, and they ducked behind it after Rezek and his guard, pressing their backs to the roof alongside them. Only Damien separated her from Rezek, and she longed to reach across him and wringthe man’s neck. She’d burned verillion on instinct at the first bullet, and it warmed her blood with a steady pulse.
“I’m going to string your brother up by his ankles and peel his skin off piece by piece,” Rezek hissed. He snatched one of his guard’s other revolvers, cocking it.
“More likely, Hyle puts a bullet between your eyes,” Damien replied.
As if on cue, a bullet tore through the side of the carriage. Damien popped up, returning fire. She heard a woman scream and Hyle call, “Oh, nice shot! Can you do it again?”
“He’s toying with us,” Rezek growled.
“Do you have any useful ideas, or are you just going to complain until we’re dead?” Damien snapped.
Ari pointed at Rezek’s signet ring. “Give me that.”
