Sweep of the Blade (Innkeeper Chronicles #4) - Ilona Andrews Page 0,46

Worked every time. I already had the spikes set up. It seemed a shame to waste them.”

Erast, Karat, and the medic were looking at her like she had sprouted a second head.

The next target loomed on the screen, an older vampire, his hair shot through with gray.

“This one isn’t mine,” she grimaced. “This is my worst failure.”

The recording zoomed in. She was on the ground, her breath coming out in sharp pained gasps. The camera was splattered with blood. The vampire stood several feet away, his armor a mess of cuts. He gripped Helen by her hair. She dangled from his hand, screaming, her high-pitched shriek so sharp. Every time Maud heard it, it felt like her heart was breaking.

“I’ve got your whelp, bitch! I’ll slit her throat so you can watch,” the vampire roared.

He jerked Helen up. She spun in his grip, pulling her two daggers out, and drove them into the vampire’s face.

He dropped her. Maud surged off the ground, drove her sword into a cut in his breastplate, and twisted. The armor cracked, contracting, and locked on the vampire, paralyzing him. The vampire collapsed, and Helen stabbed his exposed neck again and again, screaming.

“This one is hers,” Maud said.

It was so quiet, she could hear herself breathing.

“How many are there?” Erast asked.

“I don’t know,” she answered. “I never counted.”

“Then perhaps we should do so,” he said.

8

“Mama?”

Maud opened her eyes. Two pairs of eyes stared at her, one Helen’s green and the other golden brown.

She must’ve fallen asleep. In enemy territory. Alarm shot through her in a chemical jolt. Instantly she was awake.

The pale walls rushed at her, the only room she’d seen in the castle so far that was made with a sterile polymer instead of ancient stone. She was still in the med ward. The medic must’ve added a mild sedative to her medications. Combined with the additional strain on her body, exhausted from the fight and healing at an accelerated rate, the medication had put her under. She wasn’t sure how long she’d slept, but the sharp pain in her ribs was gone. Fatigue wrapped around her like a soft straitjacket. Her head was fuzzy.

“Mommy?”

“Yes, my flower?”

“This is Ymanie.”

Ymanie blinked her big round eyes and gave a little wave. She was about Helen’s age, although a little taller and more solid, with dark brown hair and dark-gray skin.

Maud’s mouth was dry, but she made it move. “Good to meet you, Lady Ymanie.”

“She also had repercussions,” Helen said.

“I did,” Lady Ymanie confirmed.

“They have a place,” Helen said. “There’s a big tree and it’s on a tower and you have to climb to get to the top and then there is a thing and you grab the handle and go whoosh.”

What?

“You go whoosh,” Helen repeated. “Down the rope.”

“Are you talking about a zipline?”

“Yes!” Ymanie and Helen said at the same time.

“They won’t let me go unless I have permission,” Helen added. “Can I please go?”

“Is Lady Ymanie going too?”

Both girls nodded.

Helen had made a friend and wanted to go play. “Um...sure. You have permission.”

“Thank you!”

The two girls scurried away.

Maud pushed from the cushion and sat up slowly. The medic looked up from his post near the console.

“How do you feel?”

“Tired, but the ribs stopped hurting.”

“Good. The ribs should be completely healed by tomorrow morning. The damage to your internal organs was slight, but it required some repair as well, so treat yourself well for the next twelve hours. No strenuous activity today. No fighting, no training, no sex. A nice satisfying meal, early to bed, and a full night’s sleep. You may soak to lessen the body aches, but do not take any stimulants, medications, or supplements. If you do something stupid, and come back to me again before tomorrow, I won’t be as kind. Do we understand each other?”

“Yes.”

“Good. I’ll help you with your armor.”

Five minutes later, Maud walked down the breezeway back to the tower. The transparent shield that had guarded the bridge from the elements yesterday was gone. Sunshine flooded the world and wind stirred her hair. It was late afternoon. She’d slept most of the day. Who knew what happened in the last few hours? Logic said she should be worried about it and taking some steps to find out, but she felt too groggy.

A piercing squeal whipped her around. Hundreds of feet above, a tiny body shot down a nearly invisible rope across the open gap between two towers at breakneck speed. Maud’s heart tried to jump out of her chest. She