Catastrophic Attraction - Eve Langlais Page 0,86
familiar faces and one very sad one.
“Where’d Roark go?” she asked.
Jorah pointed. “Out da door, and den he blocked it so we couldna follow.”
“We’ll follow all right,” she grumbled.
“Once ya get da little princess, ya might want to clear out,” Jorah announced. “Things are ‘bout to get ugly in da city. Dere is rumbling in da streets.”
“Just what we need,” she muttered, “a revolution.”
“Since it might get sticky, Jorah’s going to ensure the ship is ready to go. I’m coming with you to lead you back once we get the princess,” Tanzie announced. “Do you know where she is? Because Roark wasn’t in a talkative mood when he stomped by.”
Casey tapped her lower lip, hated to waste the time talking, but she’d not remained alive this long—and with fewer scars than Roark had—to simply rush in. “He’s pretty sure Anissa has lured her to the Silent Sisters tower.”
“His sista?” Jorah whistled. “No wonder he so fucking pissed.”
He also wasn’t thinking straight. “I don’t suppose there’s a back door into the tower?” Casey asked.
“We can get into their cellars via the tunnel,” Tanzie informed her.
“That’s perfect. You and Cam will sneak in the back, while I keep an eye on the king storming the front.”
“Shouldn’t you stop him instead?” Tanzie queried.
She snorted. “I am not getting in the way of a man who needs to do something for his little girl. But I can provide support so no one knifes him in the back.”
“Are you sure your brother is the right choice?” Tanzie asked in a soft murmur.
“I’ll handle him.”
She neared him, but Cam wouldn’t even look at her. Which was why she slapped him in the back of the head and snapped, “Get over yourself. This wasn’t entirely your fault.”
“It’s always my fault. I’m never good enough to protect. Someone always gets hurt.”
She’d never understood how bad his guilt was before. Always saw it as him being overbearing. Then she met Roark, who suffered from the same thing. It gave her a little more patience.
Casey hugged her brother. “It wasn’t your fault, and I’m okay. But Charlie won’t be if we don’t give her a hand, so suck it up and let’s go. You and Tanzie are gonna sneak in through the tunnels.”
“What about you, how will you find him?” Cam asked.
She eyed the cat sitting by the door looking impatient. “I’ve got a guide.”
Once she slipped into the shadows, it wasn’t hard to navigate the city streets and catch up to Roark. Sachi led the way, the feline somehow keeping track of Casey and nudging her into the right direction. Useful scruffy thing despite her gassy issues.
Emerging into a wide-open space ringed in fountains, she couldn’t miss the spire that rose in the sky, all the windows dark except for the ones at the highest level.
Entering the courtyard that was strangely silent even with the fountains, Roark didn’t slow his stride. Not even when a trio of gray-robed women marched around the side of it and arrayed themselves in a solid line in front.
“Give me my daughter,” he demanded, his voice a terrible darkness that seeped forward, full of magic and menace.
The women didn’t reply, either because of their vow or other reasons. Their eyes held a strange glow. Their hands raised, and Casey’s skin prickled.
Uh-oh. Sachi fled before the first of the fireballs was launched. Casey ducked and half turned to cover her face.
The expected heat never materialized. She turned to see Roark holding out a shield that deflected the various magics flung against him, from fireballs to lightning and even a strange green fog. When that failed, the robed women—still utterly silent—threw themselves at him.
It was the last thing they did.
She couldn’t have said what he did, but whatever it was devastated those attacking them. One immediately dropped dead. The two others began to scream and claw at themselves before running off in different directions, caught in a mental nightmare.
He stepped through over the body and spread his arms wide, expending even more of his power. She could almost see the strong shadow breeze that shoved into the doors. They exploded open and banged hard off the building. He walked right in, and Casey, keeping to the shadows, slipped in behind him.
The silence within had nothing to do with a vow, she quickly realized. The bodies on the floor had crooked limbs and staring eyes. Violence had already passed through.
Only as Casey stepped in to follow Roark did the door swing shut behind her.
She whirled to look,