Shadow Thief - Eva Chase Page 0,45
of my Jack and Coke onto the living-room floorboards. My head drooped toward the ground.
Hands caught me before I could completely collapse. The music switched off. Ruse’s voice reached me through the fog that had enveloped my mind. “Sorsha? What’s going on?”
Then came Snap’s softer but clear tone. “There’s something in the air. I can’t pick up any larger impressions from it, but I don’t like the way it tastes. It’s thicker over by—I think it’s coming from the hall.”
I couldn’t find my tongue to offer any insight. Heavy steps I knew must be Thorn’s thumped away.
Ruse stroked his hand over my hair soothingly. “Sorsha, something’s affecting you—some kind of drug? I should be able to partly clear your mind so it doesn’t knock you could completely, but I have to get in there first. Your little brooch blocks too much of my power for me to help all that effectively. Can you manage to take it off?”
A breath hitched out of me. My little brooch—my badge. He couldn’t touch it himself—none of them could—at least not without it doing who knew what damage to them. The only way he could remove the badge would be by stripping my dress and bra right off.
I could do this, couldn’t I? Just focus on that one thing. Move my hand off the floor to my chest. Under the fabric of my dress. Yank the badge off. Simple.
It should have been, but I wobbled when I lifted my hand. Even after Ruse steadied me, it took a few fumbles before my fingers caught on my neckline, and by then I’d half-forgotten why I was groping myself in the first place.
A metallic crash sounded from far away. Thorn’s footsteps thumped back toward us. “There was a device at the door propelling some sort of gas underneath. I bashed it down the stairs. No sign of the person who placed it there—” He cut himself off. “Someone’s coming.”
“Watch for their shadowkind weapons,” Ruse warned him. His grip tightened on my shoulder, maybe readying to get on with the stripping if I couldn’t manage the task myself. “The brooch, Sorsha. You can do it.”
Right. Right. I shoved my hand toward my bra. My fingers fumbled over the metal badge and snagged around its edges. There was a clip right… there.
It popped off the fabric cup with a click. I tossed it across the floor with a clumsy flick of my hand, and an instant later a warm tingling spread across my scalp. The sensation seeped through my skull and into my clouded mind.
Within seconds, the floor under me felt more solid, the sounds around me clearer. I raised my head, blinking. Ruse was crouched beside me, his gaze intent. Snap stood braced by the doorway, his eyes flicking between us and the hall, where I assumed Thorn was staked out by the front door.
The door slammed shut. “They’re coming up,” our warrior called back to us. “There are a lot of them—I can’t tell what kind of weapons they have. I can take them on—”
“No,” Ruse snapped, his voice gone ragged. I had enough awareness now to wonder how much the voodoo he’d worked on me had worn him out. That couldn’t be a typical use of his cubi powers. “It’s got to be the same people who came for Omen. You know they were prepared enough to take any of us down. And Sorsha’s still out of it.” His tone softened when he returned his attention to me. “Let’s get you up.”
He hadn’t been able to drive all of the drug out of my system. My limbs still swayed as he helped me to my feet; my vision doubled for a moment before steadying again. My thoughts were clearer, but they jumbled every time I turned my head.
Something banged against the door so hard the hinges creaked. My pulse stuttered at the sound. Ruse gripped my arm tightly. “I don’t think you’re in any condition to stand and fight, Miss Blaze. Do we have any good routes out of here other than that door?”
I could think well enough to answer that question. “Fire escape. Outside my bedroom window.”
“Got it. We’re going to make a run for it.”
He nodded to Snap, who slipped out ahead of us. I snatched the strap of my purse where I’d left it on the sofa. Pickle scuttled alongside me, his head weaving through the air anxiously.
In the hall, Thorn was braced in front of the door. It shuddered again, and