Forgotten (31 page)

“You’re going to close up the passes behind your people?”

She hesitated a moment before nodding.

“Then we both know there’s no saving anyone in this city once your people are gone. Even if we can hide, without the supplies we’ll all die of thirst within weeks.”

Dau gave no answer to that. There wasn’t one. They both knew the truth of his words.

“Will you answer a question for me, Kale?”

He frowned. She pressed on, despite it.

“You know Mola intends to betray you?”

Kaie’s frown vanished, a smirk taking its place.
“Oh yeah.
I’m quite aware.”

Dau’s
eyes narrowed, as though she were trying to find some secret buried deep inside him. “Yet you’re letting yourself fall for her, aren’t you?”

He didn’t ask how she could tell. He supposed it came as part of her job as a courtesan, being able to read things like that. He didn’t bother denying it. “I don’t know that people ‘let’ things like that happen.”

Her mouth quirked.
“You do.”

Kaie laughed.
One short, barking chuckle.
“I guess.”

“Why?”

He shrugged. Before that minute, he really never considered it. She drew him like a magnet, and he was fascinated with the hatred burning inside her.
A match to his own.
And having sex with her was outstanding. But that wasn’t why.
Or not all of it.
Before he sorted out his own thoughts, Kaie was answering her. “Because I know she’ll do it.”

Dau frowned, and he could read her confusion as clearly as if she spoke it out loud.

“Why does a diseased man welcome death? Because he knows it’s supposed to be. That it’s right. I’m not a good man, lady. The things I’ve done, the things I will do, I’m not even sure I have the right to call myself a man. And I deserve to die. But the one who deserves to kill me won’t do it. She can’t face the fact that everything noble in me died here, in this place.
But not Mola.
She sees the monster, and when her moment comes, she’s not going to hesitate.”

“You want to die?” Her words were no more than a whisper, and Kaie was surprised, both by the question and the hint of sadness he thought he heard in it.

He shook his head. “No. I’m going to fight for every single breath I draw, until the last of my enemies’ blood pumps out over my hands. I intend to be
a blight
on the gods themselves, Lady Dau. Death won’t accomplish that. But I can’t deny I’m quite taken with the idea that there’s still some measure of justice left in
Ellysum
.”

“And that’s what you think Mola is? What her betrayal will be?
Justice?”

He smiled toothily. “I know it is.”

Dau sighed, and he knew he wasn’t imagining the sadness this time. He shifted uncomfortably. He didn’t want this old bitch’s pity. “Will you tell me how long we have?”

She said nothing. Her eyes wouldn’t meet his.
Soon, then.

The knot of tension that took up the whole of his back only eased when Kaie was out of the manse. He brushed off Mola’s attempt at an affection welcome, which won him a scowl, but he barely noticed. He did note that she never asked him how the meeting went. He figured that meant she didn’t know just how honest Dau was with him. Otherwise he suspected she would be working a lot harder to secure her position at his side. Maybe try to convince him the old woman was crazy.
Something more than pouting at his distraction.

Their return to the house was uneventful. He found Peren and Vaughan on watch. Henry was fast asleep on the bed, but Judah was up and pacing the small space. It didn’t require any special insight to deduce why. The soldier cornered them the instant he and Mola breached the top of the stairs.

“Well?”

Kaie frowned, shooting a pointed glance in Mola’s direction. She was too busy engaging in a glaring match with Vaughan to notice. The giant didn’t let him down. The man’s mouth snapped shut and, with obvious reluctance, held off any further questioning.

“Have our neighbors moved on yet?”

“No,” Judah answered. “Not enough of them. A group left just after you. We thought they might be after you. But there are at least fifteen still camped out, and the patrols are still too regular for my tastes.”

Damn. “Well, that’s unfortunate. I suppose it’s too much to hope you’ve come up with some brilliant plan on how to get us out of here?”

“I thought that’s what you were doing,” Judah grumbled.

There wasn’t time to push the giant into an argument now. “Well, that makes things difficult.” It was the most diplomatic thing he could think to say. “We’re going to have to make a run for it then. The passes are out.”

Judah’s eyebrows shot up into his hairline. “You have a good reason for trying to get us all killed?”

“Yes.” Kaie answered simply.

The giant considered him for several minutes. Then, finally, he got a nod. Kaie smiled grimly. Judah shot a quick glance of his own at Mola, and Kaie understood the message quite clearly. The explanation would wait, but only until the moment the Huduku woman was out of earshot.

“When?”

“Sooner would be great.”

Judah swore, but didn’t argue. He turned to the bed and kicked one of the legs hard enough to bang it against the wall. Henry jumped up with wild eyes.

“We’re moving out,” the giant barked. The other man scowled, but tugged his clothes into place. Everyone picked up their weapons and the few supplies left, spread out between five worn packs. Within five minutes, they were moving out.

They fell into position naturally, a habit established very early in their time together. Mola took point. She was the one with the best knowledge of the city and she was fast enough to hold her own. Vaughan and Peren stood in the middle of the group, with Kaie and Henry on either side to protect them. Judah, unquestionably the strongest swordsman, held their backs.

Within minutes of exiting the house through the back door they were surrounded.

It was the first time, since they started their push against the Fourth, that they faced the other soldiers like this. Kaie and Judah worked very hard to pick targets with little resistance and managed to get them in and out without much conflict. While there were a few close calls, they always managed to get to safety before things out of control.

This time, there was no safety. Within seconds of Mola’s cry of warning, it seemed every soldier in the area poured into the side street, blocking both exits.

Kaie acted without thinking, grabbing Peren and Vaughan and shoving them as hard as he could in a single movement. The two stumbled against the nearest building, Vaughan’s elbow catching Henry and winning them all a curse from the man as he dropped his sword.

Kaie didn’t take the time to apologize or worry about the brown-haired man. He spun to face their attackers with his own blade at the ready.

The streets were working to their advantage. The soldiers of the Fourth pressed in as tightly as they could, but only managed to send four at them from either direction. Of course, that still meant that they were facing eight well-armed warriors at once.

Mola’s laughter cut through the shouts and grunts as she and Judah reached the first of their opponents. For a breath, Kaie could do nothing but watch as she threw herself into the cluster of four men, both daggers flashing in the moonlight, moving fast as lightening. Before Kaie could blink, one of the men toppled clutching at his throat, and she was moving on to the next.

Two of them pushed past her, and he was lost in his own battle.

It took Kaie about three seconds to realize he was overmatched. He considered himself a quick study, but his training with the soldiers wasn’t enough for two at once. Judah’s advice – use your speed, always be on the offensive, don’t give them a moment to realize you can’t handle a sword – ran through his head for a moment, but it was all he could manage to keep out of their reach. He snapped his sword from one side to the other, using the thick steel to
deflect their swords as best he could, falling back on the quick movements he learned with Gregor to avoid the rest.

Sweat broke out on his brow in seconds. If it didn’t end quickly he would get too tired to keep up the flurry of motion that was keeping his skin whole, he knew.

With a bellow, Henry appeared at his side. He barreled into the man on his left. The man went down, and Henry stayed up. With some of the pressure removed, Kaie faired a little better. He was able to deal a cut or two of his own before Henry cleaved the other man in half.

It won them
both a breath or
two.

Mola was a whirlwind, weaving in and out of the soldiers in front of her at a speed they couldn’t hope to keep up with. The cobblestone was growing slick with blood and Kaie doubted a drop of it was hers.

Judah was doing well. Two corpses were at his feet and his sword danced around in a barrage that the others were struggling to defend against. A woman slipped past his guard on the right, clearly meaning to take him from behind.
Before she could lift her sword, Kaie rammed into her.
They collided against the wall with a thud, and the woman’s sword fell. His own was no use to him this close, so he dropped it and fell into a much more familiar stance.

Her brown eyes narrowed and she pulled a dagger from her belt. He darted forward, ducking under her swing easily, and landed two hard blows into her stomach. The woman stumbled forward, surprise written all over her face. Kaie couldn’t help a grim smile as he rushed forward to hit her head. This dance he knew.

Her eyes fluttered closed and she slumped down. He ripped the dagger from her hand and scooped up his sword, kicking hers back into a small space between two buildings.

Henry and Judah were working together holding back at least five more soldiers without much sign of trouble. He couldn’t see Mola at all, though he heard enough screaming from the other end of the street to know she was still at work. There were four soldiers pressing in on Vaughan and Peren. The two blondes were holding their swords in front of them like they were brandishing torches, swinging them around aimlessly. Kaie grimaced.

Vaughan was a greater threat then the soldiers. Helpless as he looked, Kaie saw the wild look in the man’s eyes and knew what was coming. He could almost smell the magic as it burst out, twin streaks of light bursting from the man’s hands and catching two of the soldiers through their chests. Both toppled to the ground, with a new hole big enough to shove a fist through.

Kaie slammed into one of the remaining two. The man
stumbled
backward several steps, tripping over one of the bodies. Peren leapt forward and bashed the hilt of her sword down on the guy’s head three times. The man’s eyes rolled back and he was out.

Kaie spun on the last one, but it was too late. The remaining soldier’s sword was
up,
close enough to shave his chin, and his own was still at his side. Peren and Vaughan were behind him, useless. He listened to them both gasp as they realized what was about to happen. Kaie snarled at the woman holding his death, wanting nothing so much as to tear her apart with his bare hands.

Her eyes widened, and for a second he thought it was because of him. Then, with a thick gurgle, a blade cut through the meat of her throat. Blood splattered across his face and she fell. Mola pulled the dagger out of the side of the woman’s neck with a wild smile.

She wrapped a finger around his shirt and tugged him forward. Kaie resisted, thinking he was about to get the same dagger in his stomach. She pressed her lips against his.

“Mine,” she growled into the kiss. A shiver ran down Kaie’s spine. Then she shoved him backward and dashed away. A moment later, her flashing blades were buried in the stomach of another soldier. She used the man’s body to propel herself upward, into the middle of the enemies bunched up at the mouth of the street, and disappeared.

Breathing hard, Kaie spun around. He took in the state of the blondes quickly, relieved to see neither of them seemed badly injured. Two sets of huge blue eyes blinked up at him, but he didn’t spare them another second. Judah and Henry were nearly finished dealing with the enemies on their end, so he ran to help Mola on the other.

All three of the soldiers he could reach were standing with their backs to him. Kaie used the opportunity to swing his sword wildly, putting all the strength in him behind it. The blade cut through the shoulders of the first man and lodged itself in the spine of the second. They both fell, alive but done fighting. The third turned around to face the new threat, but Kaie was faster. Using the momentum of his swing to keep him moving, he thrust out his leg and caught her knees with the heel of his boot. She dropped onto the cobbles,
face
exploding in blood with a sharp crack, and didn’t move. Kaie fell back into his stance, holding tight onto his stolen dagger, ready for the next one.

There was no one left.

With a feral giggle, Mola dropped down beside the woman Kaie just felled and, with one startling motion, lifted the girl by the hair and slit her throat so deep it nearly severed the woman’s head. She did the same with every other enemy that was still breathing. Within moments, every fallen soldier was unequivocally dead. Then she slid up to his side, dripping and red from head to foot. After a minute, Peren and Vaughan joined them, clinging to each other like frightened children. Judah and Henry weren’t far behind, though the giant was limping and the other man looked to be short an ear.

Dazed, Kaie looked down at his own body, surprised to see he was covered in cuts – some of them deep enough to worry over. He wondered vacantly where they came from.

“I count seventeen,” Judah muttered lowly. Kaie shook his head free of the numbness threatening him and did his own tally of the fallen. His number matched.

“Was this the group left behind, or the one you thought followed Mola and I earlier?”

The giant shook his head. “Let’s not find out, huh?”

“Good plan,” Henry chimed in, hand pressed firmly against the wound on his head.

He wanted to know if it was an ambush, or just happenstance that set the seventeen on them, but the other men were right. There were more pressing concerns at the moment. It wasn’t worth standing around until more soldiers showed up.

Mola all but danced as she took the lead again. The battle seemed to give her a charge too great for the slight girl to hold. She darted ahead,
then
waited for them to catch up. Kaie couldn’t help a tired grin, watching her. She was child-like in her glee. She was finally wearing the blood of her enemies. He envied her, more than a little.

His enemies were harder to bleed.