Dark Secrets - Linsey Hall Page 0,28

and handed them to Grey. “These are on the house because I feel bad about your memory. You still need a few ingredients, and this spell is best cast when the moon is at its zenith.”

I stared at the paper in Grey’s hand. An incantation was written on it, along with instructions and a complicated drawing of swirls and spirals. But what if—

A shout sounded from below, and Neve hopped up. “Time to leave. The boss’s goons are here.”

“You’d better go,” Madame Duvoir said. “He’ll cut you apart as soon as he looks at you.”

9

Grey

Men shouted from below us, and Madame Duvoir gestured for us to follow. “Come on,” she said. “I can get you out the back way.”

“Will we avoid his goons?” Ms. Cross asked.

“Most of them,” Madame Duvoir said, cutting across her large flat. “Maybe not all.”

I grabbed Carrow’s hand, and we raced after her.

“Do you have one of those transportation charms you took off the demon back at the Crescent Hotel?” I asked Carrow.

I needed to know she had a quick and safe way out of this. I could cover her until she was through to Guild City.

“Yeah,” she said. “I keep one on me, just in case.”

“Won’t work here,” Madame Duvoir said. “The boss has this whole section blocked off. There are no easy escapes from his turf.”

Clever bastard. I’d done the same at my tower.

“This way.” She led us down a wide corridor.

We crept along the wooden boards, heading toward a part of the building we hadn’t been in before. Outside the brick walls, I heard men running along the alley.

“Some of them know about the back exit,” Madame Duvoir explained.

“We just need to get to the boat,” said Ms. Cross.

The Curse Diviner muttered, “They probably know about that, too.”

Ms. Cross winced. “Captain Bernard is going to be so pissed.”

“I’ll get him another boat,” I said.

I couldn’t allow her to encounter trouble on our behalf.

“If you can get to the old streetcar at the end of the dock, it will take you out of The Dens,” Madame Duvoir said. “It’s not technically part of the boss’s holdings, so it’s a safe space. Get there, and you’re fine.”

She hurried down a narrow spiral staircase constructed of wrought iron. I followed, my footsteps rattling against the metal. When we

reached the ground floor, she gestured to a small door. “That’s your out,” she said. “Follow the row of buildings all the way down to the city, and you’ll see the streetcar. Good luck.”

I reached it first, turning back to Ms. Cross and Carrow. “I’ll take out the first wave of men. You run for the streetcar.”

Both women gave me skeptical looks, as if they weren’t going to run while I watched their backs.

“Just be careful,” I said.

“Of course,” replied

Ms. Cross as she drew a wickedly curved blade from a sheath on her hip, a bloodthirsty grin on her face. The formerly reserved researcher looked ready to skin a demon alive.

“Badass.” Carrow grinned.

“It’s a khanjar blade from Oman. A gift from an old friend.” Ms. Cross flipped the blade and caught it. “Now, let’s get a move on.”

Carrow reached in her bag and withdrew a potion bomb. “Courtesy of Eve.”

I nodded, then turned to the door.

Madame Duvoir stepped up beside me. “Let me give you a head start.”

I nodded.

She reached into the pocket of her flowing dress and withdrew a glass orb similar to Carrow’s. Gray smoke swirled within the little globe. She pushed open the door and, without leaving the building, chucked the potion bomb outside.

A massive poof of dark smoke exploded upward, and men shouted from within the blinding cloud.

“Thanks.” I darted out, using my superior senses to locate my targets.

I could hear them, smell them, sense them through the fog. I charged right, colliding with a Marsh Man. He reeked of seaweed. Strength surged through me, and I grabbed him by the collar and hurled him toward the building. He slammed into the brick and collapsed.

Behind me, Ms. Cross sprinted down the street, headed straight for a man who stood between us and the streetcar. As she neared him, she ducked low, swiping at his legs with her blade. He reached for her, but she was faster, her blade whirling with wicked grace. The knife sliced through his thighs. He screamed and toppled backward.

I heard a noise from my right and spun around. A man surged out of the darkness, his eyes gleaming red. He held up a hand that flickered with flame.

“I was hoping for