Horsemen's War (The Rebellion Chronicles #3) - Steve McHugh Page 0,28
asked.
Layla nodded. “That’s the plan, yes.”
The cop nodded.
“Good,” Layla said. “Let’s get this place locked down and make these assholes regret coming here.”
Chapter Six
NATE GARRETT
Washington, DC, United States, Earth Realm
There was a lot of running around. Reports were coming in that KOA to the north were executing civilians, and while I desperately wanted to join those fighting against them, I elected to stay and deal with Gawain.
Leaning up against the corner of the metal wall, I looked toward the White House. I’d constructed a shield of dense air a meter in front of me, just in case any of the snipers decided to try their luck.
“I assume that you’re trying to piss them off,” Roberto said from behind me.
“I’m just trying to figure out the best way to get from here to that building without anyone dying,” I said without looking back. “It’s not exactly an easy spot. I assume the tunnels are a no-go.”
“They blew them the second they took the building. Lots of C4 down there too. Even if we could get the tunnels clear, there are too many booby traps to do it safely.”
I looked back around the wall. The lights in the garden and around the White House exterior had been turned off, leaving only those inside the structure on.
A bullet smashed into the shield of air I’d placed between the pieces of metal wall, only a few feet in front of Roberto. There was a crack as the sound of the shot registered, and people threw themselves to the ground while I plucked the bullet from where it hovered in midair.
“Good shot,” Roberto said.
A second bullet smashed into the shield of air, two feet away from my head.
“Nate,” Selene said from beside me. “Stop winding up the sniper.”
I took a step behind the wall, and Roberto passed me a map of the interior of the White House, which I studied for a second and then passed back to him.
“Do you have a plan?” Selene asked.
“Sort of,” I said. “I need you to get the rest of the team together. No sorcerers.”
Selene stared at me for a second before nodding and heading back into the camp.
“What do you need?” Roberto asked.
“You see those big powerful lights that you’ve got aimed out around the park?”
Roberto nodded. “I think I know where this is going. I’ll be back in a minute.”
A few minutes later, Selene returned with Zamek, Remy, Sky, Diana, and Kase, the latter of whom was beginning to concern me, as she hadn’t given herself a break in a year.
“Good to see you,” I said to Sky. “It’s been a while.”
“Yeah, yeah,” she said with a smile. “Let’s go be heroes.”
“That’s the plan,” I said.
“I have a question for you,” Sky said. “Haven’t seen you in a while, but what happened to the blood magic?”
“I’ve been meaning to ask that myself,” Remy said. “I heard it came back after Portland, but you didn’t use it on the ship.”
“Didn’t use it in Asgard either,” Diana said.
“It’s fading,” I told them. “I don’t like to use it. Don’t like to rely on it. It’s too weak to be a serious threat to anyone, and I assume one day it’ll be gone completely. I can’t even use it to power my magic for more than a few seconds. I’d rather not use it than rely on it. I figured that was what was going to happen seeing as that’s what happened the first time my necromancy reared its head, but thank you all for your concern.”
“Not concern,” Remy said. “Just wanted to know if you were going to go all blood magic crazed if you kept using it.”
“Thank you for your concern for yourself,” I said to Remy, who gave me a thumbs-up.
Roberto returned. “There will be a lot of light flooding the White House lawn. Can’t do it for long, but it should be enough.”
“Oh bollocks,” Diana whispered. “I don’t want to do this.”
“What are we doing?” Sky asked.
“The shadow thing?” Remy asked with a sigh. “This sucks monstrous amounts of ass.”
“Can’t Selene fly us over there?” Diana asked.
“Not all of you, I can’t,” she said. “And if I take out those on the roof and Gawain radios them with no contact, that’s probably some dead hostages. As much as this sucks—and my God, it sucks—it’s probably the safest way forward.”
“It could be a trap,” Remy said. “We go in and get grabbed.”
“I do not think they would like to grab me,” Kase said softly.