Horsemen's War (The Rebellion Chronicles #3) - Steve McHugh Page 0,36

bollocks,” I said. “I forgot about them. I’ll get Kase and Diana to deal with them.”

“We’ll wait for your signal, then,” Roberto said.

Chapter Eight

NATE GARRETT

The senators had been right, and on the way through the White House to the West Wing, we found multiple rooms with bodies in them. Most had been shot at point-blank range, but more than a few had been attacked by things that were definitely not human. The rage I felt at such needless slaughter made my desire to find Gawain and hold him accountable even stronger.

“They’re going to know we’re coming,” Sky said.

“I hope so,” Zamek said fiercely. “I prefer beating the shit out of people who are prepared for it.”

“They executed so many people,” Selene said angrily.

“I’m guessing guards and Secret Service who weren’t on board with Avalon’s vision,” Sky said.

“And anyone who looked at Gawain funny,” I added bitterly.

“He always was a twat,” Selene said. “So what do we do with him when we’ve got him?”

“We’ll take him to Mordred,” I said. “He has Excalibur; he can use the sword to get the answers we need without having to tear him to pieces.”

“Can we tear him to pieces just a little?” Remy asked. “Asking for a friend.”

I shook my head as we reached the first floor, where Diana was waiting for us. “Kase is sat in the Green Room calming down,” she said. “She’s angry, Nate, but she hasn’t tried to kill anyone. I took her to the pantry and had her wash herself down. None of these hostages need to see a blood-drenched Kase and wonder if the cure was worse than the disease.”

“Fair point,” I agreed.

“I moved the hostages to the East Room too,” Diana said. “It’s away from the West Wing entrance, and I didn’t want any snipers taking shots at them.”

“You’re on a roll,” I said with a smile. “Roberto and his people will be here soon, but there are snipers on the roof. You think you can deal with them?”

Diana nodded. “I’m sure I can manage.”

I chased after the rest of the team as they continued down the stairs to the ground floor of the residence building and along to the Palm Room, which looked out over the Rose Garden and entrance to the Oval Office. I saw no one out there, but that didn’t mean they weren’t waiting.

Remy drew his revolvers, and I placed a hand on the Sig that I’d kept from the third floor. Sky and Selene were unarmed only in the sense that they didn’t have guns or swords, and Zamek kept his bloodstained battle-ax in his hand.

I looked over at the wall that separated where we stood from the press offices. “Any chance you can make a big hole in there?” I asked.

Selene followed my stare, turned into her dragon-kin form, and spat a jet of ice to cover a huge piece of the wall, which Sky punched, her fist wrapped in her necromancy power. It took a few blows to get through, and eventually Sky got fed up with punching it and just blasted it with the same power, tearing the wall to bits and leaving us with a makeshift archway.

The press offices were empty, as was the briefing room beside them. I’d considered just using the West Colonnade to get around to the Oval Office quickly but was certain that Gawain would have people watching it. And I didn’t want to have to deal with whatever traps and unpleasantness he’d have prepared for anyone trying that tactic.

We stopped at the stairwell and stepped out into the corridor. “We’ll split into two teams,” I said.

“I’m coming with you this time,” Selene said, leaving absolutely no room for argument.

“Fine,” I said. “The rest of you, go through the press secretary room, around the maze of corridors, to get to the Oval Office past the study. We’ll go the more direct route and generally piss everyone off enough that their attention will be on us.”

“Do not kill the president, even if he is a traitor,” Sky said. “We kind of need him.”

“Well, that’s my afternoon ruined,” I told her sarcastically.

“I’m just reiterating for the sake of those who are here who might forget.”

Everyone turned to look at Remy.

“Yeah, that’s fair,” Remy said unrepentantly.

When everyone left, Selene turned to me. “Right, just how exhausted are you?”

I shrugged.

“It took you longer to deal with those people on the third floor than I’d expected,” she said.

I nodded. “Yeah, well, I didn’t want to go all out because