Page 105 of Wanted: Rogues and Bards

Fenric knew things were going way too smoothly.

That was when shit always happened. The second you were sure you were in the fucking clear on a difficult job, everything blew up in your face and you landed yourself at the end of a rope.

The second he’d seen Lirion split off from his sister, his heart had lodged in his throat and remained there. He’d been perched on a chandelier after slipping into the villa through an open window. It had been so damn tempting to peck some sense into his brain, but there was no point. Lirion had chosen this path for his sister and all those tortured captives. Fenric was sure he might have done the same thing.

He’d been torn over which direction to go as Lirion hurried away, but in the end, he did as Lirion asked and flitted after his sister. She was the primary target, and Lirion had reminded Fenric more than once that he could take care of himself.

As Aria moved down the hallway of the second floor with her zombie guard, Fenric darted in his bird form, landing here and there on ornate sconces or chandeliers. Aria would knock and whisper something to the girl who was working in that room with a client. Most of the time, the girl could slip away with zero problem with a simple excuse. Other times, it was enough to have the uniformed guard visible in the doorway for the client to shut their mouth and return to the room.

Fenric watched every room, every motion closely. He could feel the seconds ticking away, knowing it was likely that while guards weren’t stationed in this corridor, there was always a chance they were making regular rounds. Stuck in bird form, he twitched and ruffled his feathers, wanting nothing more than to have his blades in his hands. He wanted to get back to Lirion to check on him, but his first duty was to Aria and the people she was trying to save.

Twice, a customer made too much of a ruckus, bitching about the interruption. Fenric zipped down from his perch, shifting from bird to human in the blink of an eye. The bastard didn’t even have enough time to gasp in surprise before Fenric was slitting his throat. He’d hide the corpse under a blanket and send Aria on to the next room.

After the last of the workers were cleared out from the second floor, Fenric shifted into his human form beside Aria. “Is there anyone else?”

She shook her head, pink curls falling to frame her narrow pale face. “No. I don’t know anyone else working here. The main workers on the first floor have more freedom. If they notice something happening, I think they’ll leave on their own.”

“Let’s get out of here. I’ll be right behind you until you reach another member of my team.”

Her expression turned mutinous, and he could almost feel her digging her heels in. “What about my brother?”

“I’m coming back for him. I have to get you out first. Stay close to the guard.”

She glared for an extra second, but Fenric ignored it and turned back into his raven. Stubborn. Just like her brother.

Unable to argue with him any longer, Aria walked briskly down the hall toward a set of narrow stairs the servants and other workers used, the zombie guard close on her heels. Fenric flew behind her, hanging as close to the ceiling as he could manage to remain out of sight. Servants hurried past them, but they quickly averted their eyes from Aria when they noticed she had an escort, as if they thought she’d gotten in trouble with Count Pierres and didn’t want her bad luck to rub off on them.

Fenric shivered suddenly, his feathers ruffling as he perched on a cheap brass wall sconce that had burned out, leaving this part of the hall deep in shadow. A sharp tingle of magic suddenly permeated the air. Something was wrong. Or was going wrong. He wasn’t tuned in to magic the way Hapi and Malfas were, but he could still sense its presence, and there was a new spell hitting the air. It couldn’t possibly be something that could help them. His luck wasn’t that good.

They reached the final side door at the same time as another young woman with wide frightened eyes and deep blue hair. The second she saw Aria, she hurried over and grasped her in a tight, trembling hug.

“Is this really happening?” the new girl whispered.

“Yes. It’ll be okay. We’re almost there,” Aria replied in the same low tone.

With her arm wrapped around the girl’s back, she ushered her out the door into the shadows of the buildings and the crisp, cold night, where hell was already breaking loose.

The air vibrated with Belstrom’s enraged war cry, followed by the pained and panicked shouts of the guards he was destroying with the wide sweep of his fists. Hapi strolled casually behind him in a swirl of black mist that rose and curled around him like tentacles. Each time Belstrom killed a guard, Hapi’s black mist shot out, hitting the chest of the corpse. A second later, the dead man sat up, grabbed his sword, and joined in the fight against the guards. Hapi was joyfully building his army of the dead with Belstrom. They were keeping most of the guards busy, but that was only going to last for so long. Zombies were a distraction, not an effective fighting force until you got in the thousands, and Hapi wasn’t strong enough to manage that many zombies at once.

At the same time, fireballs arced through the air and smashed into the wall and upper levels of the villa. Fenric swore he could hear Malfas’s cackles over the screams and shouts of the guards. At least the warlock and the necromancer were having fun.

“Where-where do we go?” the blue-haired woman stammered.

Fenric ripped his eyes from the mess Bel and Hapi were making as he shifted back into human form. Torches flickered in the darkness, causing shadows to dance and lunge wildly. More fires dotted the gardens, lighting up the night. “There!” He pointed at the side gate that was currently open and clear of guards. It looked as if it was usually reserved for deliveries and servants. Another girl in a flimsy dress was running through it ahead of them.

They darted to the gate and outside the walls, where they could see more girls racing toward the beach.

“Follow them. There’s a rowboat on the beach that will take you out to our ship.”

Aria grabbed his arm with both hands, her nails digging into his flesh through his shirt. “What about Lirion? I’m not leaving without my brother!”

Fenric’s head jerked back in the direction of the wall, but there was no sign of the damned incubus. Where the fuck was he? They’d needed a distraction of only a couple of minutes to get the girls safely out. He should have been running toward them already.

But seconds ticked by and still nothing.

Fenric’s stomach churned and an icy chill crept along his skin that had nothing to do with the cold night air. As they stood there, more guards were slipping around Hapi and Belstrom, despite their efforts to keep everyone occupied. Guards who were heading straight into the building where Lirion remained.

Something was wrong.