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Harmiston glanced at the bomb and containers. “Where’s the rest?”
“Thirty seconds out,” Ayd said and picked up a container of the crystal matter that was the silver nitrate.
Even with the six people needed to carry the clunky bomb, it would take them two minutes to cross the garden at the straightest path to one of the back entrances. Harmiston could shield them all from being heard, but not seen.
Ayd was true to her word. Half a minute later, fifteen Ghosts plus Nadia and Harmiston were ready to go inside. A few more would do their part to stop anyone from following them. They had neutralized every werewolf guard they had come across on this side of the Palace. From what they could see, no one kept watch from the windows within. There usually were some who did, but the blood donors on the other side of the building drew their bloodthirsty attention.
“It’s now or never,” Kary said, taking the lead with a large container of water under one arm, his sword drawn and ready in the other. With Marika in an undisclosed place guarding the Queen, he was in charge.
They scrambled across the garden with all the equipment, the first Ghosts cutting through hedges to get there fast enough. This was not a mission where they banked on not being discovered. They all knew they would. It was all about getting far enough before that happened.
Nadia was set to guard Harmiston. He was the one who knew how to operate the bomb, and Kary figured she was more than interested in keeping him alive, so she stayed close to him the whole way.
Harmiston made short use of the lock on the door they wanted to enter through. The lock melted under the magic force Harmiston hit it with, and it opened without a sound. From there, it was all about being silent and navigating the many halls and corridors.
They soon came upon a set of backstairs.
“Tunnels are down there,” Barkin said. Out of all of them, he knew them best, having been down there the most. “Let’s hope we won’t need them.”
They all hurried up the stairs, the ones carrying the bomb contraption a bit slower. It was heavy work maneuvering the thing.
Taking the tunnels would increase their chance of being caught too early. Kassemyr and his hybrids used them frequently for moving around unseen by citizens, and that meant a large group like the Ghosts were now, would easily be spotted. They had therefore set their sight higher.
Literally.
The halls and corridors were empty of hybrids or other beasts. It was a hard blow for Nadia to know that at this very moment, innocent Agarthans were forcibly fed on somewhere else in the Palace. She suspected one of the reasons the Wraiths hadn’t been part of this was because the Ghosts had learned from her reactions at Nightworth. It truly was the Wraiths’ duty to guard the Shade and protect Agarthans from such horrors. Likely, the Ghosts had not trusted the Wraiths to stay on track. Which was underestimating them, in Nadia’s opinion. The Wraiths were nothing if not thorough when completing a task.
“We’re approaching the Spellbound Halls,” Ayd announced a few minutes later. “There should be no hybrids here.”
“Let’s hope they’ll let us pass through their barrier,” Kary commented.
They were all headed for the great hall where the throne had once been. The Ghosts had been spying for weeks, gathering intel and the surviving donors had been a good source of information. Kassemyr used the hall frequently. It was large and centrally placed inside the Palace—a good place to rule from. But he’d had the throne itself thrown out. If they could place the bomb near that room, the poisons would hopefully work faster. It was all a guessing game at this point. The unknown physiology of the hybrids made it hard to predict anything.
They entered the long corridor that passed the Spellbound Halls at as much of a jog as the heavy bomb would allow.
“It’s still there,” Harmiston said, eyes narrowed, staring ahead at something unseen.
“The barrier?” Nadia asked him and he nodded.
“Then we need to ask the city mages for a favor,” Kary said.
The mages were notoriously neutral though. Their one duty was to keep the city going, and they lived in the Spellbound Halls and seldom left them. The Ghost spies could report that since Kassemyr took over, the mages had never left the Palace. They had stopped Kassemyr’s chase and attack on the Queen, Ghosts, and courtiers when they’d fled the castle, but that was it. Now though, the Ghosts needed back in.
They didn’t need to knock on one of the glass doors. It opened and a few mages stepped out, including Suchin who had spoken for them the last time they were there. Her dark hair was pulled back into a tight braid, the gray streaks prominent. Like all of them, she appeared tired despite looking healthy.
“Ghosts,” she greeted them with a neutral, weary expression.
“Mages,” Kary said. “We’re in a hurry so we ask of you to lower your barrier so we can pass through.”
Suchin and the mages eyed the covered bomb and then looked back at Kary. “A counterattack?”
Kary frowned. How would they know what it was? “Care to share your knowledge?” he simply asked.
“Yes.”
“Wait,yes?” Harmiston blurted. “You are secretive by default. Why yes?”
“Because our duty is to keep the city going, but it won’t last long if the current ruler eats the citizens,” a younger mage by Suchin’s side said. The older mage gave him a silent warning but didn’t correct his statement.
