Bright Blaze of Magic (Black Blade, #3)(48)

“Why wouldn’t I do that?” he countered in a harsh voice. “I’m the Draconi bruiser. It’s my job.”

Deah shook her head again. “It’s not your job to hurt and kill innocent people and pixies, but that’s exactly what you did last night.”

Blake’s eyes narrowed, rage burning in their cold brown depths. “The more important question is why would you betray your own Family? Especially to side with the Sinclairs? Or are you so into Morales that you just can’t think straight? Is that your excuse? Being blinded by love?”

He batted his eyelashes and clutched his hand to his heart as though he were about to swoon. All the guards laughed, but Deah’s mouth flattened out into a harsh line.

“I’m not blinded by anything,” she snapped. “And the only one not thinking straight here is you.”

Blake rolled his eyes. “Whatever. The point is that you are no longer a Draconi. I don’t even know why Dad wants us to take you alive.”

Deah glanced at me, worry flashing in her eyes. We both knew that Victor wanted her alive because she was one of the best fighters in Cloudburst Falls. As long as Victor held Seleste captive, he could force Deah to do whatever he wanted. And that’s if she was lucky. Victor could just as easily want to rip out her mimic magic and take it for himself.

Well, I wasn’t about to let any of those things happen. Victor wasn’t hurting Deah or anyone else I cared about. I shifted my stance, getting ready for the coming fight.

Deah opened her mouth to keep arguing, but Blake cut her off.

“Enough talk,” he growled, waving his sword at the guards around him. “Get them!”

The men surged forward, raising their weapons high. If we ran, they would only cut us down from behind, so Deah and I stepped up to meet them, forming a strong, united front. We both whirled first one way, then the other, battling the guards and watching each other’s backs.

One man screamed as I sliced my sword across his stomach, while Deah stabbed her sword into the leg of the guard closest to her. Two more guards stepped up to take their places, and we took them out as well, then the two after that. In less than a minute, all six of the Draconi guards were down on the ground, bleeding from the wounds we’d inflicted on them, and Blake was the only one left standing.

He stared at us for a moment, eyeing the blood on our swords and the guards moaning and groaning at our feet.

Then he turned and ran.

Deah and I looked at each other, then leaped over the injured guards and sprinted after him. Blake raced down the street, darted into an alley, and rounded the corner at the far end, disappearing from sight. I frowned, realizing that he was heading toward the parking lot reserved for the Families. Blake might be cruel, but he wasn’t dumb. So why would he go there? There was nothing back there but cars, and no way for him to get to safety—

Too late, I realized what Blake was really up to. I grabbed Deah’s arm, trying to stop her, but her momentum pulled us both around the corner.

And right into the ambush.

More than a dozen Draconi guards were waiting in the parking lot, all armed with swords. And Blake was standing in the middle of them, a smug grin stretching across his face. He’d known that we would chase after him, and he’d been ready in case the first group of guards failed to capture us. Now there were too many Draconis for us to fight our way through.

“Grab Deah and kill Merriweather,” he called out in a casual voice, as though he weren’t doing anything more important than ordering fast-food at a burger joint.

“Run!” I yelled at Deah. “Run!”

Together, we whirled around and raced out of the parking lot.

At least, we tried to.

I headed back toward the alley, but a couple of the Draconi guards ran in that direction, moving to cut us off. So I changed course, instead sprinting over to one of the Draconi SUVs parked in the lot, jumping up onto the hood, and then scrambling up onto the roof of the vehicle. A second later, Deah pulled herself up onto the car roof as well.

Blake waved his hand and the guards quickly surrounded the SUV, like sharks circling a lifeboat. My eyes darted left and right and finally up, looking for a way out of here.

There—over there. That would do quite nicely. It would have to, since it was the only chance we had.

“Now where do you think you’re going?” Blake sneered. “You’re trapped.”

I ignored him and looked at Deah. “Follow me, and use your mimic magic to do exactly what I do.”

She nodded.

I slid my stolen sword through a belt loop on my shorts so my hands would be free. Deah did the same thing. Then I drew in a breath, rocked back on my heels, and sprang forward, leaping over the guards’ heads onto the roof of the next SUV over.

Thump.

My sneakers hit the roof and I stepped to the side, making room for Deah. A second later, she landed beside me, but I was already leaping onto the roof of the next vehicle. . . and the one after that . . . and the next . . . as if I was playing an enormous game of hopscotch.

Thirty seconds later, I was at the opposite end of the parking lot, with Deah right behind me and Blake screaming at the guards to catch us or else. The last car was parked up against one of the buildings that ringed the lot, so I was able to reach out, grab hold of a low roof there, and pull myself up onto it. Deah reached out and did the same thing, rolling to a stop beside me.