Page 202 of Glutton for Punishment

I need to be out there.

My power hits the window in a clean, focused strike, and the glass disappears. I climb through without hesitation and drop the short distance to the ground, landing on my feet with a soft impact.

The noise of battle swallows everything again the moment I’m outside.

I move, staying low, slipping into the edges of the courtyard where the fighting is less direct but still close.

Shrubs. Broken stonework. Ornamental vases half-toppled. Fountains spilling water across cracked marble. I use all of it, weaving through cover as I move deeper into the chaos, staying hidden from view.

No plan. I need to reach our team.

I’m already calculating my next move when movement to my left catches my attention.

Brix.

What the hell?! He shouldn’t be here?

He’s in the middle of a brutal struggle, wrestling a gun from an enemy. He gets a grip on the weapon’s handle, twists sharply, and uses the man’s own momentum against him. Brix pulls the attacker’s arm over his shoulder in a controlled arc before he drives an elbow into his ribs and snaps the man’s arm with clean, sickening precision.

None of them should be here.

A sharp voice cuts through my confusion. “You’ve finally joined the party.”

My head snaps left to find Amaya.

She’s already aiming. The gun is steady in her hand, her expression bored more than angry, like I’m just another inconvenience she has to deal with. The trigger clicks.

I move on instinct.

The bullet whips through the air exactly where I was standing, punching into stone. I don’t stop running.

“Hm,” she calls after me. “Guess that means you aren’t Vex’s little love puppet after all.”

Another shot fires. Then another. I weave between cover to break her line of sight, forcing my body low as debris rains down on me from her shots.

“Arwen!”

A hand catches my arm and pulls me hard behind a toppled dumpster just as another bullet strikes metal.

I look up to find Atticus, and my next breath comes out as a shudder, relief hitting me so hard it almost knocks the fight from me.

He’s alive. My eyes drag over him, checking for injuries, and I catch him doing the same. I drag him to me in a quick embrace.

“I’m fine,” I manage, my pulse still racing. “But what’s the plan here? It feels like we’re severely outnumbered.”

His grip stays firm on my arm as he leans out just enough to scan the chaos beyond the dumpster.

“Are the other siblings here?” I ask, voice tight.

“I think so,” Atticus replies, eyes flicking across the battlefield. “Wicka’s been taken out momentarily, and you should know Paris is on our side.”

That surprises me, but there’s no time to process it.

“I’ve only seen Amaya and Vex,” he continues, jaw tightening, “but I’ve seen signs that lead me to believe the others are here too. But backup is coming. Duval and Val are leading teams from the north. They should be here any minute.”

His gaze finally meets mine again, steady despite everything happening around us.

“We just need to hold the ground until then.”