Crossed Blades by Kelly McCullough Read Free Book Online Page B

clear. I’ll have Ssithra signal you when I’m ready.” She dropped over the edge of the tomb and vanished in the dark and the rain.
    I’d barely gotten Jax fastened in place when Triss spoke into my mind.
Faran says to follow now and hurry. She doesn’t want to get too far ahead of us in case a stone dog comes up from below.
    That was a sentiment I could heartily support, though the steady worsening of the storm helped us there. The brutal pounding of the earth by wind and rain—or water and air, if you preferred to think in magical terms—would do much to cover both our passing and our trail. It made an unanticipated but welcome secondary payoff for eliminating the two Hands and their companion Storms.
    I nearly sprained an ankle jumping down from the tomb with Jax on my shoulders, and had to drop to one knee to prevent it. Forcing myself back upright I pushed on into the storm, with Triss whispering words of encouragement and guidance into my mind. Even with all of her gear, Jax couldn’t have weighed much more than a hundred pounds. But a hundred pounds gets heavy fast when you’re jogging along with it on your shoulders in a giant thunderstorm.
    By the time we reached the low wall separating the cemetery from the palace gardens, I was sweating despite the cold rain. Climbing up that wall with Jax on my shoulders made me feel about twice my age, as did climbing back down the other side. I normally would have jumped, but I’d learned my lesson there.
    Maybe fifteen feet on, Triss had me edge over against the palace compound’s outer wall to avoid tripping on the bodies of a pair of fallen Crown Guards Faran had slain. They lay at the base of the stairs leading up to the ramparts. By luck or fate or Faran’s skill, those were the only agents of the Crown that I encountered. The first pellets of hail started hammering down around me soon thereafter, stinging when they hit scalp or skin.
    Faran was waiting for me at the great tower that marked the corner where the wall bent sharply to the northeast, as it followed the spur of rock that footed the compound, a denser shadow in the murk of the storm. “You sure you still want to go out this way?” She’d already slung a rope over the outside wall.
    “No,” I replied, “but I don’t think we’ve got a good alternative.”
    I glanced over the edge. Somewhere down there in the darkness was the river Zien. The plan had always been to make our exit via the Zien, though I’d originally expected to sail-jump off the wall and glide down to the river on shadow wings. The running water was supposed to do double duty, helping us to shake off any possible pursuit by the Elite and their stone dogs as well as breaking our shadow trail in case Jax had taken up with Devin and the other rogue Blades. Now . . .
    “There’s no way she can swim like this,” said Faran.
    “No,” agreed Sshayar, speaking up for the first time since the tomb, “but I can keep her face out of the water and cover her nose and mouth when needed if you can tow her along behind.”
    “I still don’t know,” said Faran.
    “I suppose we could—”
    “Stone dog!” yelled Ssithra, cutting me off. “Coming up through the wall. Go!”
    Dammit!
    I leaped up onto the nearest crenellation and jumped outward, spreading my arms as I cleared the wall. It was that or face a stone dog biting and clawing at me through the stones while I tried to climb down a wet rope in a thunderstorm. Triss spun himself into great dark wings, extending outward from my arms. It was only the second time I’d ever attempted a sail-jump while carrying a passenger—a dangerous proposition—though at least I was able to use my arms to reinforce my wings this time.
    As I glided clear of the palace wall, I heard a faint roaring coming from below and realized it must be the river, angry with all the water pouring down off the hills of the city. Again I regretted the necessity that drove us to this escape route.
    Fresh