Lance nodded and Marlin snicked in close to my side.
"The women?" he said.
"Do the women have nothing to live for?" I said. "Nothing to fight for? They stand with us."
His eyes rolled to his toes and I had the feeling he was struggling with the order. I gripped his arm.
"Look," I said and jerked my chin toward the wives and women that were being cut down the same as the men.
"We'll help them fight."
It was a cold and calculated risk. But I'd done what Hunter had always told me I could do. I closed down the parts of myself that would feel fear for others. Hesitation would be their deaths anyway.
He nodded and then we ran. Hard. All of us, to gain command of the dead zone. Lance gathered the strongest of the men and women.
Together, we huddled like an like a Roman phalanx.
Where townsfolk didn't have weapons, they chose rocks. Now that the fire was out, we could see that Hunter and his Ruby skulls had been hunkered down into a cave within the hogbacks. I could see him looming at the mouth of the cave with a tall, black figure at his side.
Waiting for us.
No doubt they'd watched us fighting the blaze. Letting us wear ourselves out so that we were too spent to put up much resistance.
But he had forgotten that sometimes fear and adrenaline can recharge even the most exhausted body. And these townsfolk were definitely afraid, definitely filled with adrenaline.
And so was I.
I charged forward with bow gripped in one hand, quiver in the other.
The marauders had already made it halfway across the field. They left bodies all around them as they came, thundering toward me on horseback.
The sound of hooves pounding against earth was a roll of thunder in my ears. The rain had made the ground mucky and slippery.
Mud sprayed everywhere, making the horses look as though they were running through a fog of muck. I heard someone behind me swear. Lance, probably. Someone else called me crazy.
But they came too.
We spread out as the townsfolk ran for cover behind us. From the corner of my eye I could see Gal gathering some of the men in a cluster. Each of them were plucking rocks from the ground. A few older kids were making piles of the rocks for ammunition. They were ready to fight with whatever they could find.
It was my job to make sure they didn't have to fight at all.
I braced myself, trying to be mindful of how Lance had told me to square my shoulders, tense my back.
The bow was sturdy and spelled. The arrow would find its mark. All I had to do was remain calm.
"Something's off," someone said from beside me.
I didn't turn to face Marlin, though I know he expected me to. I needed to keep my eye on Hunter. A few more yards. He'd be in range then.
"Don't you see it?" Marlin said.
The battle engaged around me. I could hear swords clashing. The dull, peppering sound of stone striking flesh.
Time was running out.
"What do you think is off?" I said through gritted teeth.
Holding the arrow taut was taking all of my concentration. My fingertips stung.
"Look past him."
Indeed, just beyond the horses that were spreading out over the fields I could see that tall, thin figure.
"Why is he just standing there?" I said. "Why isn't he doing anything?"
"No idea," Marlin said. "But it's always the ones who appear to do the least that you have to worry the most about."
I couldn't hold the arrow anymore. And Hunter refused to come close enough to be within range.
His Ruby skulls spread out around us.
I winced at the sound of metal striking wooden clubs and hatchets and even bone.
"Fuck," I said, disgusted with my lack of action. I shouldn't be just waiting. I should be fighting with them.
"Don't engage," Marlin said. "Not yet. Let the others fight. He's almost in range."
"Fuck you," I said.
I wasn't going to stand around while everyone did the filthy work of trying to stay alive. I lowered the bow and tracked the field, looking for the clutch of fighting that needed me most. I spied three Ruby Skulls charging a group of men who clutched rusty spades. One of them had a sledge hammer and not a sword. He aimed for a farmer who was pitching rocks at them.
I had two arrows left.
The farmer dodged the blow and managed to pull the Ruby from his horse.
Marlin muttered an attaboy.
That one farmer gave me hope. We weren't exactly sitting ducks. We outnumbered them. We could beat them. We just had to be smart. Had to hold our position. If we ran, the tide would shift in Hunter's favor.
I pivoted in place. The arrow was nocked. My arms were trembling from effort. Our fighters had spread out, Lance and Gal and Dallas led separate companies.
I took aim at a Ruby Skull racing toward a solitary farmer limping toward a rumbling wagon loaded with injured and children. He clutched his side as he shuffled along.
I knew so long as I directed the weapon at the enemy it would find its mark. I let go.
The Ruby Skulls fell from his horse.
Several of the townsfolk overran him. A woman came away with his sword. A youth leapt on the horse's back. He began charging straight toward us, delivering a much needed mount to someone with a weapon capable of wielding one.
Gal was the one who took it. Without hesitation, she reined the horse toward the onslaught, her sword held aloft, ready to strike.
The phalanxes held. We'd taken down at least three Rubies. There were wounded all around me, but we still had a chance. Chas had the wagons loaded and were already trundling back toward town with kids of all ages. Dallas and his street rats had melted into the forests, but they had done what I needed most. I couldn't blame them for leaving, not when they'd managed to herd dozens of kids to safety.
But what had I done?
I'd let everyone else do the fighting. I was useless. So useless none of the Rubies had come anywhere near me.
"Not useless," Marlin said. "Calculating."
"Why aren't they attacking me?"
I didn't expect Marlin to answer. And I didn't need him to. I saw Hunter trotting his mount toward me, and I knew why none of the others had attacked me. I was his to take down.
Or so he thought.
It would be his last thought.
"Go look after the others," I said as I pulled the last arrow from the quiver and strode to meet Hunter.
"Gal and Lance have got that taken care of," Marlin said.
"Then help them evacuate everyone."
The men on horseback had leapt to the ground and were racing for the wagons as they rattled off toward the woods and New Denver.
I felt Marlin hook my elbow and yank me backwards. I glared at him.
"Leave me to finish this," I said.
"I would love to," Marlin said. "But look."
The thin man had advanced too. He had moved at least a dozen paces, and kept that same distance as Hunter advanced.
"That can't be good," I said and Marlin mumbled an agreement.
"Can't you do something with your magic?" I said.
"I thought you'd never ask."
He pulled his ear buds out from his shirt pocket and plugged them into his ears.
"It's a Good Life if You Don't Weaken," he said a little too loudly.
"You don't have to tell me," I said.
He smiled and shook his head, then bopped it back and forth once or twice to indicate he was listening to music before he darted off for the wagons and the throngs who were running behind it. I watched him touch as many people as he could. Heard him yelling at them to let themselves get struck.
"Trust me," he shouted at them.
He'd pleaded exhaustion earlier, but even so, he strode valiantly from one person to the next.
Each transfer of energy staggered him somewhat, but he kept it up, racing from one man or woman to the next until he finally sank to
the ground. Myste hoisted him to his feet and helped him to a safe place near a natural barrier of rock. She covered his body with hers as she stared out around her, almost daring anyone to come near.
He'd be fine, I knew. They'd both be. At least that's what I told myself as I turned my attentions to the townsfolk.
It would take a man of incredible fortitude to stand still while someone attacking him tried to cut him down with a blade. I knew that there would be precious few of the townspeople who would be able to do that and then transfer that mustered energy over to the weapon, either disintegrating it or turning it into such hot metal that the attacker couldn't hold it.
It wouldn't defeat them, but it would give each town person a few moments to fight back.
But I wasn't sure they could. These were ordinary people, terrified and exhausted. Their survival instincts would be on overdrive.
I'd had enough of calculation. It was far past time to act. I spied Hunter, deciding where I would meet him. Almost as though he knew what I was thinking, he whistled shrilly. Several Rubies closed in around him as he advanced.
I felt a hand on my arm.
Clutching me.
I spun, throwing an awkward and unaimed punch.
It missed Lance by several inches.
"You ready?" he said.
I nodded. "Past ready."
"Then let's get the bastard."
Hunter was close enough now that I could see the expression of rage on his face. Calm, cool, collected Hunter Wolfe, so proud of his ability to keep his emotions in check and out of justice, had lost himself to rage.
He would make mistakes.
He was already making a mistake. Getting too close to me. Putting himself within range. His Rubies were on foot, they couldn't possibly block him from me. Lance was already racing toward them beside me. The sound of metal rang out in the air. Men fell beneath Lance's blows.
He was trying to clear a path for me, make sure I had an oasis of safety around me so that I could use the bow he'd fashioned.
I wouldn't fail him. Or the town.
I let go all of the sounds around me. Funnelled it down. Filtered out everything that had nothing to do with me raising the bow, pulling the string back, taking aim at Hunter and his horse.
I inhaled.
I said a little prayer.
And then I let go.
The arrow sailed through the air. I hadn't given thought to the target. I had just let the arrow fly.
I heard the sound of impact. I dropped the bow, watching and waiting for Hunter to fall from the horse.
But even as he started to slump in the saddle, a buzzing sound rose from behind him.
The thin man.
I tracked a line to where he stood, his arms lifted to the air. A black plague of insects had gathered around his arms.
They swarmed through the air toward Hunter and enveloped him. I could swear they landed on his skin, swarmed over his face as though his flesh were a field of tender grain.
A whistle sounded out of nowhere.
The Ruby skulls began to retreat.
What had started out as a couple dozen, had been cut down to at least fifteen.
"Hell no," I said.
We'd come so close.
I surged forward. I'd struck Hunter. The arrow knew its mark. I couldn't let them escape. Not now. Not when I had him.
I just had to finish it. I'd do it with my bare hands if I had to.
Someone touched me, and a buzz of electricity surged through my veins. The bow dropped from my grip and thudded into the wet earth. My palm stung like it had been laid on a hot griddle. I shook it out, confused until I heard a familiar voice.
Marlin. Swaying on his feet as Myste held him up by the armpits.
"You can't," he said.
I swung at him, furious.
Either he ducked or Myste pulled him out of range. Either way, I missed.
White earbuds dangled over his neck and hung along his chest.
"I can't weaken," I said. "Not now."
He pointed in the direction of the retreating men and where Hunter's horse was enveloped in a black swarm of locusts. As I watched, the plague lifted him from his mount and he spun midair like a roasting pig.
The swarm carried him to the thin man and he hovered over the magician's head, spinning on an invisible spit.
"Blood Magic," Marlin whispered. "The worst kind. Dead man's blood."
The thin man's arms spread wide to receive locusts and man alike.
Together the swarm seemed to eat them alive until they disappeared.
"This isn't going to go well," I said.
-6-
We regrouped back at the Musk estate. My estate, now I guessed. It was a massive property, stretching out backwards into the hogbacks and to the side past rolling fields. The main house itself was a two-story building made of old lumber and whitewashed cedar shingles. It had real windows spun from lead and imported in (if you are to believe Musk) from New New York.
We didn't so much as gather at the estate as limped in. I half expected the place to be empty, but it was swarming with children and women. Some of them bustling about with trays of sliced apples and nuts. It looked like Chas had done exactly what I'd asked and brought all of the vulnerable home after the fire.
I felt ashamed. Who was I to be obeyed? Someone responsible for a dozen or more deaths. No doubt many of these women had lost their husbands today and still didn't know it. I wasn't sure whether they were fools to follow me or if I was a fool to think I could lead them.
And I'd done nothing, putting my trust in magic instead of my own hands.
"You've got that look again," Marlin said, pulling wires from his ears.
He looked even more thin than the last time I'd seen him, but at least he'd regained a fresher pallor to his face. After the battle and sending muster into so many people, his skin had taken on a grayish tinge.
"What look?" I said, although I had a good idea I knew exactly what I looked like. Guilty. Ashamed. I had a hard time meeting his eye.
"That looks like you're responsible."
I swept my arm across the space, indicating the dozens of men who were wounded, the soot covered faces. The bloody footprints on the floor.
"You don't think this is all my fault?"
"What I think is your fault is the fact that you're hesitating."
He clamped his hand down over my shoulder. Peered into my eyes.
"It doesn't matter how you feel right now," he said. "These people needed a leader. They chose you. You don't have time to hesitate or doubt. You don't have the luxury of feeling guilty."
I crossed my arms over my chest, reclaiming the moments in the field when I'd purposefully shut down all compassion and consideration for the women. Lance had doubted me then. So had Marlin.
I sighed. "Where's Chas? I want to get a head count of anyone who has been wounded. And I want to know exactly how many people didn't make it back."
"Everyone made it back," Marlin said with a grim line to his mouth. "You made sure of that."
I'd helped load the shrouded forms into one of the wagons before we returned. I counted seven dead men and three women. Thank God the number didn't include children. There was comfort in that, I supposed.
"Sure," I said. "But they didn't all make it back alive."
He put his hand in the middle of my back and gave me a gentle shove toward a woman carrying a tray of apple slices. "Stop worrying about couldas and wouldas. Eat. You need to refuel. Look at me. I had a nice hearty bowl of oatmeal and apples and I feel much better."
I crossed my arms over my chest. I didn't deserve to eat.
Marlin pilfered an apple slice from a tray and crammed it into my mouth until I opened wide and chewed. It was a sour piece and I grimaced.
"Listen," he said. "Hunter would've attacked anyway. Maybe he lit the fire and maybe he didn't. But he would've come for us eventually. You know this. It's why you shut yourself down and did what you had to. You made de
cisions the best you could. There's no shame in that."
"Maybe. Maybe not," I said. "But I'm just as bad as Colton. I sent those men out to fight Hunter knowing they couldn't possibly win. And here I am living in this posh estate."
"Now you're reaching," Marlin said.
"Really? At least he didn't think so much of himself that he was willing to put everyone else's lives at risk. This is one big, disgusting bowl of soup."
He put his hand to his mouth in a yawn and I wasn't sure if he was showing his exhaustion or pretending to be bored with my arguments.
"The secret of a good soup is to season it judiciously," he said and then canted his head at me. "I think you need to pepper yours with as much don't give a damn as is necessary and not one grain more."
I wanted to say that was the whole point. I was tired of shutting myself down, of distancing myself from decisions that meant life or death to some poor innocent, but he swung on his heel, saying something about a nymph he'd missed and that he'd never get any sleep unless he paid his debts.
The way he whistled as he strolled away, told me he was looking forward to it.
I watched as the group of people swarmed about, lifting slices of apples and nuts from the trays proffered. I wondered how many of those women were now widows, how many of the children were orphans. It made my throat tight to think that I might be responsible.
But Marlin was right. Wallowing in self-pity was a waste of time. What was done was done. Wasn't that something Hunter had taught me? Tamp down the emotion so that it doesn't get in the way.
I knew we needed to do what we did. It was either that or these people wouldn't just be orphans and widows, they would be dead. Maybe that skill was useful. Maybe it did need to be employed for the greater good at times, and maybe, like Marlin had suggested, the key was in where and how it was deployed.
I blew out a breath through tight lips and resolved to let it go. This was one time where that sense of compassion I'd been trying to foster would just get in the way.
And now that I'd juggled all that reasoning, I realized exactly how famished I really was. The taste of the sour apple made my palette dry. I scanned the room, looking for a tray of nuts.
Queen of Skye and Shadow complete box set : Queen of Skye and Shadow Omnibus books 1-3 Page 17
