his point-defense shield to stop four cuts that he simply couldn’t get his sword in position to block. The assassin didn’t waste time attacking his body, where his armor protected him.
Wearing armor, using a sword, Will should have had an overwhelming advantage. But he didn’t. Shit, he’s fast! Backpedaling, Will struggled to regain the initiative. When his enemy paused for a second, he leapt to the attack, concentrating his turyn in his muscles and increasing his own speed. He thought he might catch the man off-guard, but that turned out not to be the case as the other fellow grinned and matched him.
He was expecting that, Will realized. He barely saw the blade that came at his face, and it was with yet another point-defense shield that he managed to keep his eye. I should have started with magic. Attacking with a sword was foolish. It was difficult to get enough space to concentrate, though; his enemy seemed able to read his mind.
A sharp cry cut the night air as Laina caught sight of them. Will turned, thinking to warn her, and the assassin moved in her direction as well. That was too much for him. He had to do something. He released the wind-wall spell he’d prepared earlier, and the sudden violent gusts threw dust and detritus into the air as it knocked the assassin from his feet. It didn’t have enough turyn in it to be deadly, but it was enough for what he needed. As the stranger fell, Will summoned his own crossbow, already locked and loaded. Without pause, he aimed and fired.
Will felt a certain sense of relief when he saw the quarrel bury itself in the assassin’s hip. The man didn’t cry out, but he saw the pain in the man’s eyes. Before the assassin could recover or use some other trick, he needed to finish him. It would only take a second or two to construct a force-lance spell.
“Assassin!” screamed Laina’s voice from his left as she pulled open the gate in a panic.
“I have him, get back,” Will yelled to her, hoping she would change course and run for the house.
A wave of flames washed over him before he could finish his spell. Unprepared as he was, his body still absorbed most of the turyn that fueled the blast, but enough heat got through that it scorched his eyebrows.
Will stared at his half-sister in shock, then pointed at the downed assassin. “Not me, him!”
For her part, Laina finally recognized him. “You!”
“Me?” He could already tell that something didn’t add up. Laina was moving to shield the assassin with her body and five incandescent balls of white-hot fire sprang to life in the air in front of the young woman.
She was protecting the assassin.
He’s her bodyguard, Will realized, suddenly feeling stupid. The fear and outrage on Laina’s face made him feel even worse.
“Surrender and release the spell or I’ll burn you to ash,” she declared fiercely. “Darla, are you all right?” she asked the bodyguard.
Her words made him realize he was still holding the force-lance spell in his hands. I look like a right villain, don’t I? Then his brain processed the rest of her words. Darla? Staring at the wounded assassin, his mind put the pieces together. The assassin wasn’t a slim-built man, but rather a woman—and he’d just shot her.
What is it with me and the female half of the human race this week?
“Last warning!” said Laina through clenched teeth.
He was about to do as she said, when a flicker of movement caught his eye. Laina was facing him, her back toward the corner. If the motion hadn’t been across the street directly behind her, he probably wouldn’t have seen it in time. A man leapt from the roof of the house across the street.
The house was two stories tall, and the man dropped close to thirty feet before landing on the hard stones of the street. The house was similar to the Nerrow home in its construction, which meant the house was set almost fifty feet back from the road. Will’s jaw might have dropped if he hadn’t seen Tailtiu land after falling similar distances without visible