Horsemen's War (The Rebellion Chronicles #3) - Steve McHugh Page 0,33

they stay away from the death room here.” I thanked her and left Diana to deal with an angry and scared werewolf.

“I hope we get information about Tommy from Gawain too,” Selene said, having returned from her search of the nearby rooms.

I nodded. The alternative didn’t bear thinking about.

Zamek walked back into the room. “Found two wards,” he said. “Both simple stuff—a child could do them—but they contained a great deal of power. They’re disarmed, but let’s not be thinking they’re the only ones.”

“Remy, Selene—with me,” I said as everyone gathered outside the Blue Room. “We’re going to take these stairs on the left. The rest of you on the right. The remaining hostages are in the Yellow Oval Room, and we have no idea just how bad it’s going to be up there. Stay in contact; let us know when you’re in position.”

We split into two teams and made our way up each staircase to the floor above. Voices could be heard before we’d reached the top of the stairs. I reached out with my air magic, slowly moving it out of the stairwell and across the second-floor hall. The number of rooms up here was larger than the first floor, so there were more places for enemies to hide and wait to ambush us. While Roberto had told us that the internal security systems had been stopped, my main concern was the eight guards between us and the hostages. We had no way of knowing exactly what those eight guards were.

“We’re in position,” Sky said through my earpiece. “Any chance we know what we’re up against?”

“Not a clue,” I said. “We’ve been lucky so far, but I doubt that we’re going to be able to take out those above us quietly. The ones here were guarding people they didn’t deem a threat; they were stupid. Let’s not assume all of them are.”

“I have a suggestion,” Remy said. “Nate goes up to the third floor; we deal with these assholes on the second floor.”

“As I just said, there’s a good chance Gawain has put some more wards up there,” Zamek said. “A very good chance.”

I looked over at Remy. “And you want me to go up there alone?”

“You can make as much noise as you like up there, Nate,” Remy whispered. “We’ll be dealing with these guys. You only have to keep them busy—or kill them all, depending on what you think is best.”

“I’m hesitant to say that Remy has a good idea, but apparently that’s the world we now live in,” Zamek said.

“Something about dogs and cats living together and mass hysteria,” Selene said.

I smiled. “You going all film geek on me?”

“You know you love that film,” she said. “Besides, it felt apt. Anyway, we don’t have all day. Pick a plan.”

I sighed. “I’ll see you guys back down here. I’ll keep going.”

Selene looked over at me and winked. “Just be you, and it’ll be fine,” she said with a smile.

I moved around the top of the stairs and continued on up. It wasn’t that I was worried about what I’d face—I’d been up against superior numbers before—it was more about trying very hard not to do anything that might jeopardize the hostages. If a stray bolt of lightning hit a ward, it could explode and take half the floor with it. Trying not to get innocent people killed always made things harder, I’d found.

I reached the top of the stairs and pushed out air once again to sense my surroundings. Four people in the hallway beyond. I was going to have to be quick. One of them had a dagger of ice in his hand and was spinning it up into the air and catching it again. A sorcerer. At least that confirmed these were the bad guys.

I tapped my earpiece. “Ready when you are,” I said.

“Go,” Selene said.

I rushed out of the stairwell, straight into a man dressed in combat fatigues. The shock on his face lasted only a second before I drove a blade of lightning into his chest and detonated the magic inside him, turning his internal organs into paste. I removed his head as he fell forward, just in case. Not everything could be killed by magic, but pretty much everything died when decapitated.

I continued on, toward the sorcerer with the daggers of ice. He threw one at me, and I raised a shield of fire, pushing it out toward him, forcing him to move aside. Then a blast of air magic hit