Page 238 of A Touch of Poison
“Right.” I turned, finding Ari stitching away in the hems of Ella’s gown. “They’re going to get through that door soon—it isn’t made to survive an attack. But we can control how and when. Ari, can you make Fluffy bark, please?”
She frowned at her sewing, muttering magic into her stitches. “Uh, yes… Speak. Fluffy, speak!”
The hound barked and under the cover of that noise, I circled to my friends, whispering instructions in their ears.
“We’re going to get in there,” someone shouted through the door, “and then we’re going to string up your little lapdog.”
Stars above, were they in for a surprise.
* * *
Ari only hadtime to stitch into three of our outfits before the door started to splinter. Rose shrugged, gritting her teeth. “I’ll be fine.” Ari’s gown already had protection in it. I fingered the hem where she’d stitched the tiny mountains in the seam allowance. Ella and Perry’s dresses carried similar designs.
My heart pounded as I took my position to one side of the door. It thudded again, and I held my breath, counting in my head. Their strikes had taken on a steady rhythm now the door had begun to break.
This had to happen at the exact moment.
Ella already had the door unlocked, and Rose and Perry stood against it—the only things holding it shut. Ari and Ella kept back, one holding a poker from the fire, the other a heavy candlestick, Fluffy guarding them.
One second more.
“Now.”
Perry leapt back, and Rose turned the handle, pulling the door open as fur sprouted from her body.
Three men in grey armour fell through, as the door they tried to shoulder openwasn’t there.
I dived for the nearest bit of skin I could find, drawing magic from the palace’s stone. Warm flesh, then a gagging gasp and twitching body.
Steel flashed as Perry lunged, piercing the throat of the second man, while Rose, somewhere between woman and wolf, leapt over the bodies.
A scream shattered the air, then a spray of blood coated the corridor’s carpet.
Perry darted out to help Rose, and I reached for the third man’s exposed throat—his gloves narrowed down my targets.
But with a grunt, the bastard twisted away.
And instead of grabbing him, I found only thin air. The floor slammed onto my hands and knees, jolting through every bone. Blood filled my mouth as I bit my tongue.
Steel filled my narrowing vision, coming this way, hard, fast, followed by his sneering face. “You poisonous little whore.”
I tried to scramble away, but bodies made the floor treacherous and I fell.
Fuck.
Fuck.
Rolling onto my back, I kicked and made contact with something hard, but his charge didn’t falter.
Then there was a flash of gold and a shriek, and his mouth dropped open.
The sword slid from his grip.
He fell.
And over him, bent Ella, smashing her candlestick into the back of his head. “Whore is she?A whore?”
He twitched and went still as she turned his skull into a bloody pulp.
