You won’t hear any objection from me, Grandfather said.
Jackie’s silver gaze flickered over my companions, pausing on Gideon. “Sir Faust.” He arched an eyebrow. “You look to be in very fine form.”
Gideon huffed and folded his arms over his chest.
“Signore Pesce, have you fallen under Evelyn’s spell too?” Jackie’s tone was wistful. “She collects hearts wherever she goes and leaves a trail of casualties in her wake.”
Taviano snorted and removed a pair of brass handcuffs from his pocket. I’d seen Otokar—Magician to the Empress of Bonhemm—use a similar pair of cuffs to debilitate Jackie’s Magic when he’d arrested Jackie in the field outside Barsava. Repeating the Magical procedure he’d used to open the cavern door, Taviano unlocked Jackie’s cell and tugged open the heavy iron door. “Come, Faercourt. You have powerful friends in high places that want to see you liberated.”
Jackie stepped into the hall, his eyes latching onto me again. He held out his wrists, not struggling or refusing as Taviano hooked the brass cuffs in place. Jackie’s dark pants and stained linen shirt had seen better days. Yet he held himself regally as if standing among a group of admirers in the drawing room of Ruelle Thibodaux’s townhouse. “It’s an honor that you would come to escort me yourself, Evelyn.”
I gave him a flat, indifferent look and turned to Taviano. “Could you just, I don’t know, shrink him down into a roach I could carry in my pocket or something?”
“Perhaps.” Taviano’s lip curled. “But I would rather save my Magic for something more necessary and important.” He jerked his chin toward the end of the hall. “We should get going. Our luck has held this long. I do not trust it to last much longer.” He grasped Jackie’s cuffs and tugged, urging Jackie to follow him.
Gideon slid behind Jackie, leaving me to bring up the rear. Gideon had likely placed himself in that position not only to guard Jackie but also to buffer me from my most loathed enemy. I wouldn’t run from a challenge, but I didn’t have to cuddle up close to him, either.
Jackie came along complacently, and why wouldn’t he? He wanted out, and we were presenting his freedom like a gold key on a velvet pillow. The brass cuffs might have subdued him for now, but it was only a matter of time before he would be plotting a way to get them off. Jackie was smart, sly, and crafty. He could challenge Hannah Schulze for the title of world’s most manipulative schemer and probably win. I couldn’t let down my guard around him—he remained a coiled snake, waiting for me to make one misstep. Turn my back for a second, and he’d strike.
Already he exhausted me.
“The door to the storage cavern should still be unlocked,” Taviano whispered as we climbed the stairs to the access door. “If we should get separated, we will meet up again beside the pool.”
“Pool?” Jackie questioned. “I wondered why Evelyn was half-dressed and so...” He waggled an eyebrow at my clingy shirt. “Damp.”
Taviano snorted. “I hope you’re a decent swimmer, Faercourt.”
Jackie merely shrugged as Taviano opened the door and stepped into the foyer. Jackie followed, then Gideon, then me. Taviano motioned for us to hang back as he crossed into the main hallway, glancing both ways, presumably checking for guards. He flicked his fingers, beckoning, and took off again, moving fast. Gideon grasped Jackie’s arm and shoved him forward. I sent out my feelers, searching for another storm in case we needed a second distraction or a desperate last-minute assault.
Gideon rounded the corner into the hallway, picking up his pace. I rolled to the balls of my feet and jogged, outpacing him and Jackie. If anyone crossed our paths, I had a lightning bolt queued up and ready to strike. Taviano’s green coat flashed ahead of us as he turned into the vestibule leading to our escape route. I kicked up my pace, trusting Gideon and Jackie would keep up. The hallways were silent—too silent. No sentinels guarded the corridors this time, and perhaps I should have stopped and asked myself why as I rounded the final corner and slid to a stop in the empty vestibule. As Gideon shoved Jackie toward the storage room door, I spun around, searching for Taviano.
He couldn’t have gotten that far ahead of me. Had he already climbed down to the pool? “Where is he?” I glanced at Gideon.
His brow furrowed, teeth grinding.
“Oh dear.” Jackie’s tone was full of sarcasm. “We’ve lost our guide. That doesn’t bode well for us.”
Gideon and I held each other’s gaze. He raised a shoulder and flicked an eyebrow. What do you want to do? he seemed to ask.
“If he’s waiting for us with Council guards down there, we’re trapped,” I said.
“Maybe he went ahead to make sure the cave was clear.”
A burble of acid climbed my throat—my body’s way of saying it had a bad feeling about this. My subconscious sensed trouble. If I was smart, I would listen to it. “I wish that were true, but we knew we couldn’t trust him.”
“We can’t get Jackie through the front doors with the wards in place,” Gideon said. “What else can we do?”
“How do we know Taviano wasn’t lying about that? He’s probably been lying from the start.”
“Do we risk it?”
“Take these cuffs off,” Jackie said, “and any wards will be of no concern to us.”
I cut Jackie a sharp look and turned back to Gideon. “Open the door. We’ll never know unless we look. If it’s just Taviano and a few sentries, maybe we can take them.”
Jackie cocked his head and narrowed an eye at me. “You’re very powerful, my queen. More powerful that the last time we faced each other. I can feel it. But without Taviano’s help, you’ll never swim out of here.” He raised his cuffed hands. “Either way, you’re going to need my Magic.”
“I should have insisted Brigette come with us,” I said to Gideon, still ignoring Jackie.
“Evelyn,” Jackie crooned. “Take off my cuffs.”
I pointed at the cavern access door. “Open it, Gideon, and be prepared to fight.”
Nodding, Gideon crossed the room, pressed his hand to the door, and pushed. It flew open, and a barrage of blue-green lights pelted our faces, blinding us.
“Traitorous prick,” Gideon growled. “Fall back.”
Blindly, I retreated until I backed hard into a wall. Stumbling, I fell to a knee. Thunder roared, and the basilica’s walls shook. The Magical lights cleared, and I rubbed my eyes, trying to clear bright spots from my vision. Gideon had recovered more quickly. His crossbow released a succession of bolts, thwack-click-thwack, answering the clamor of angry voices and gunfire spilling into the vestibule. Sentries rushed in, pistols and swords drawn. Gideon fired, and two guards slumped to the floor.
Acid burned in my throat. Panic dripped cold rivulets down my spine.
A cool hand latched around my biceps and yanked me up. “Evelyn...” Jackie’s face appeared before me, and he grimaced, bearing his teeth. “This is no time to cling to past prejudices and misunderstandings. Let me help you.”
I jerked away from him. “Where’s the main entrance to this place? If we can get to the doors, I can get us out.” So much for no collateral damage and not making the Council of Magic our enemy, but at least we didn’t have to worry about sneaking around anymore.
“You’re the one with blueprints in your head,” Gideon said. “You’ll have to lead the way.”
As we backtracked to the hallway, the guards fired, but their bullets bounced off us. Brigette’s Magic charms were working. At least that much has gone right.
