Page 173 of The Dragon and the Dove

His lips flickered. ‘Power.’

Greed edged his voice.

‘Power,’ she echoed.

‘More than you could ever conceive of.’

‘I don’t spend my time thinking about power, Theo.’

‘You prefer to give it all away,’ he said, canting his head. ‘That’s why you’re dying.’

She jerked, as though he had slapped her.

Shadows spilled across the cobbles as Ransom strained to rein in his mood. If Theo noticed, he made no show of it, and across the bridge Andreas was too busy howling with laughter, eagerly feasting on their conversation.

‘Enough of this,’ said Theo, turning sharp. ‘Get down from there.’

‘Feeling snacky, are you, Soul-eater?’

He narrowed his eyes. ‘You’ve been spending too much time with Hale.’

‘I’ve been spending time with the saints who haven’t screwed me over.’

‘I haven’t screwed you over,’ he said.

She canted her head, mirroring his pose. ‘Yet.’

A shadow moved behind his eyes, there and gone in a flash. He stepped back, looking over his shoulder to Andreas. ‘Aren’t you going to come and claim her?’

The Silver-tongue’s smile was all malice. ‘I think I’ll wait just a little longer.’

‘I’ll come down when your prince crosses that bridge,’ said Sera, looking down on Theo, but the soul-eater wasn’t listening to her now. He was looking at the clouds.

Unease rippled along his brow.

There came a sudden shrieking chorus.

Shadows spilled across the sky as the Strix appeared in their droves. War cries erupted from the Urnican Stargrazers as they swooped down on the city with a vengeance that made even the river tremble.

Sera bit back a curse. There were so many she didn’t know where to look, far more than Mercure’s spies had accounted for.

The largest of the Strix banked and came at her like an arrow. Across the northern rooftops, the Orders fired their crossbows. Bolts whistled as they missed their marks.

Sera gripped the flagpole and sank into a fighting stance. If Andreas wanted to pick her off, he would have to do it himself. She would not be plucked from the arch like a worm.

The Strix bore down on her, the sun glinting off its blood-red tail feathers. Surging forward, she swung the pole with all her strength, slamming into the hard edge of its skull. The impact knocked her on her ass, and she rolled to avoid its snapping beak.

Ransom’s shadows erupted in a towering black wave, blocking out the prince and his army, Theo shouting at her feet, and the rest of the Strix circling overhead.

‘Screw the plan,’ he yelled, climbing onto the arch just as another Strix dived. It banked to the left, narrowly avoiding the swelling dark.

Sera lifted her head, raising herself on her forearms.

Down below, Caruso was advancing on Theo, swinging Fatebringer with a power that made the soul-eater’s eyes glow. Another Strix dropped from the sky. Ransom cast his shadows like a net, and it fell with a dying howl, tossing its rider from her saddle.

Sera got back on her feet, flagpole in hand, as more Stargrazers converged on them.

Ransom dispatched two more without breaking a sweat. He glanced sidelong at her. ‘All right, spitfire?’