Vérzavar Ház

Chapter 24: Too Late

Ruhn reached for her hand. Took the flames within his own. They parted enough for him to see her slim, fiery fingers as he stroked his thumb over them. "My mind found yours in the darkness. Across an ocean. No fancy crystal required. You think that's nothing?"

He glimpsed enough of her eyes to see that they were closed. Her head bowed. "I can't."

-House of Sky and Breath, pg. 723

Something was off.

Lidia surveyed the flat plane of the barge's deck from her position on the dock platform. It was too quiet. Too empty. True, it was nearly one in the morning, but a shipment like this should be well-guarded at all times. There should be shadows moving in the lamplight, even if the large crates of weapons cast long, darkened angles over the metal deck. There should be watchmen milling about at the railing that overlooked the ship's cargo and guards marching a regimented to-and-fro along the lip, just a step from falling into the river below.

Her time as the Hind had never included watchdog assignments–she had never been assigned to guard an asset against harm or theft. But she had conducted many missions with her dreadwolf legions that were on the other side. And never, ever, would Midgard's military ranks be so lax in their security. It just didn't make sense.

"Sir, something isn't right," she murmured, alerting the squad commander through the earpiece she wore. The communication devices were few and far between, but with her proven experience and knowledge of the enemy she had been granted the use of one for this raid. She was still relegated to the defense of the squadron's back, still in that perilous role and outrunning death on her swift, sure feet and quick, flawless aim. But, as a whole, she had gained far more trust. It wasn't nearly enough, but it was a good start. "We should stand down. Regroup, restrategize, and try this again another night."

"We don't have another night, Cervos. You're being paranoid," the crackling voice of her superior for this mission seemed to echo in her ear. Even through the shitty radio signal she could hear the disdain, see the eye roll of the human male - Kerrigan. A strong, if stocky, man who had one of those inflated egos that one often built in the absence of height or other endowments.

"Don't you think it's a little too quiet? A little too easy?" She hissed back, her words taking on a worried edge. "Where are the guards? The watchmen? Why is our quarry practically sitting in a spotlight waiting for us?"

Commander Kerrigan replied, "When you are given a gift you don't ask questions. You simply take advantage." That was certainly not the correct way to go about operations, particularly where lives were at stake.

"Sir, I don't think—"

"Not another word, Cervos, or I will be forced to report you for insubordination," Kerrigan growled. The shifter swallowed the rest of her protests. He sure knew how to shut her up, it seemed, using her desperate need to earn trust and build rapport to his advantage. "We are go for boarding."

With a silent curse Lidia returned her attention to the shadows, made darker by the bright pools of light that fell upon the shipping crates and machinery on the deck. It would be nearly impossible to see any opposing soldiers until it was too late. Her stomach twisted into a knot as the odds continued to stack, her neck prickling in warning despite the warm night breeze.

And then she saw it.

Her eyes caught on a sliver of a reflection, the pooled light shimmering dully across dark metal. Coming from one of the turrets above the crew's bridge. Someone was up there, moving into position, holding something long and metal.