Red Ruse

Chapter Twelve

Evangeline

Razors are too dull. Spikes are what I need, spikes to tear Red flesh and pin bodies to the wall. Steel lengthening and fracturing to my command, the one thing which never fails me. Barrow can scheme all she wants. She would never beat me in the arena.

"You ready?" I nudge Tolly, clad in blades which fan across his chest like feathers. He nods. Together, we board the snapdragon, breathing in the thrum of steel and the blades rotating above. Electricity pulses through it, and I hiss. Barrow would love to send us spiraling to our deaths.

Archeon gleams below us, sprawling streets and checkered roofs. Our target lies not here, but in Harbor Bay, a rogue Newblood we're expected to haul to the palace. I suggested we dispose of him instead. Maven suggested disposing of me.

"We land in five minutes." Tolly lays a hand on my shoulder. "Pretend he's Barrow."

The plane rocks before I can answer, heat rippling through the metal until it bends. Fire.

Cal.

Of all times, he had to show up now. I still remember his escape from the arena, how he protected that girl as long as he could. She was no match for my broken pipe, the twisted metal torn from the foundation in my rage. I didn't leave much of the body. I cannot make that mistake this time.

Each screw loosens and melts into a collective sheet of metal, one which hovers below the burning snapdragon. We fall atop it, guiding another metal sheet beneath, again and again until a staircase leads to the empty square. Someone awaits us.

It isn't Cal.

A boy scarce more than seventeen sends a fireball from behind a fountain, a poorly aimed one at that. Tolly flicks one of the sheets into a snake, one that curls around his wrist and flings him against the pavement. Wolliver wheezes, more so when my boot lands on his neck. "You have one chance to let me go."

I laugh. "Or what, Rat?"

A woosh of air beside me, Tolly's yelp, a rock slamming into his head and sending his eyes shut. They don't open. Dust flies as a young man with honey brown skin aims another rock at my head, disappearing once it lands on the ground. My boot leaves Wolliver's neck and he runs, a circle of flames rising around us. I take hold of Tolly's snake and send it slithering on the outskirts, thinning out as it stretches further and further. I will not be beaten by a Newblood Swift.

The ground becomes a hashmark of metal wires as the snake covers all within the circle. At the edges, it melts, and the flames rise higher. Fireballs begin to hurl themselves at my head, but I am faster.

"I blame Barrow for this!" I haul Tolly's body upright, dodging another fireball. "If she means anything to you, you will surrender!"

I expect absolutely nothing except more reason to hate her, only for the flames to draw tighter and tighter. Smoke curls into my lungs and I screech, coiling the metal into a snake again. Is this how we die?

But then the snake wraps around an ankle, another rock thrown to no avail but my own satisfaction. The boy with brown skin is here again.

And this time, I won't let him escape.

I tighten my grip on Tolly's body and the snake tightens in turn. The world grows too small, too dark, squeezing me from all angles before relenting. The flames are gone. So are the buildings, the fountain, the pavement beneath me. I am crouched in an alleyway, still clutching Tolly across my aching back.

The boy has accidentally brought me with him.

My snake keeps hold of his ankle, but the iron at my sleeve sharpens to a bullet. It hovers above my hand before searching for a target, not the boy, but another, less slippery one. The dark is hard to discern bodies in, but I catch a silhouette of a woman beside him.

The bullet presses against her skull. "Surrender the Newblood, and no one gets hurt."

The boy jerks his head towards me and lunges, sending Tolly tumbling to the floor. He presses a boot against his neck. "I could say the same to you."

"Don't move." I give the snake fangs and make it bite. "I have a bullet pressed against your–" My lips purse. "Sister? Mother? Cousin?" I sigh. "You better not be mortal enemies."

"We are. Kill her. I don't care."

"You're bluffing."

His boot inches further on Tolly's neck and my heartbeat erupts into a frenzy. "You're both from Samos."

I snort. "So it has a brain."

"Very high up, if you're set to marry the king." He eases his boot off Tolly's throat. "You must be seething at doing such low work."

I sneer. "You would know, I suppose."

"You must know a great deal about my si–Mare Barrow and her Newbloods." He steels, inching the boot back on. "Perhaps we could broker a trade."

I tilt my head back and laugh.

"Tell us her loyalties and what state she's being kept in." The words are slow, not too eager. "And you may have the Newblood."

The woman growls. "Shade, don't–"

I file away the name for later. "Kill him, for all I care. Maven won't know the difference."

"First name basis, I see."

"Kill him too."

He grins. "That can be arranged."

In the background, the woman has been jerking her head to no avail. My bullet remains atop her skull, no matter how she tries to pry it off.

"Eve," Tolly wheezes. "Give him the damn info."

The boot comes crashing down on his throat again and I almost blast her skull off. "Let him go."

He shakes his head. "Her first."

The bullet snaps to my sleeve in an instant, his boot to the ground a moment later. Tolly sits up, coughing, and I kneel beside him. "They'll pay, don't worry."

Shade clears his throat. "The information?"

I roll my eyes. "Your lightning girl has betrayed you. She dines in luxury at the king's side, so don't bother contacting her."

His eyes narrow. "Lies."

"A deal's a deal." I shrug. "You can blame the king. I think he made too many promises against her lips."

He freezes. Beside him, the woman scowls. "I told you–"

I smirk. "Or her hips. You can never be sure these days."

He almost lunges at me, but the woman holds him back. She shakes her head. "Wolliver's still in the square. Catch him if you can."

They disappear before I can demand anything more.

I take Tolly's hand and hug him, tears dripping from my eyes onto his shoulders. "I'm sorry that took so long."

He shakes his head. "You still saved me."

"Is your throat okay?"

Grimace. "Nothing Wren can't fix."

"I'll get the Rat." I pat him on the shoulder. "You rest."

He gives me a pained smile. "No. You need it too, please–"

"Hush." I slide his eyes shut. "I'll be back for you, I promise."

It's a promise I manage to keep as I drag back Wolliver kicking and screaming.