Skybuilders (Sorcery and Science Book 4) by Ella Summers Read Free Book Online

who’d inhaled enough smoke and fumes in his lifetime to kill him three times over. It was a wonder he was still alive. His heart and the hearts of his three companions beat out a steady rhythm. They were calm, which told Silas two things. First, the four men had set up this same ambush before. And second, they were complete morons. They thought those stacked car barricades made them impervious.
    “So, do you want to shoot them, or shall I?” Leonidas whispered.
    Well, what do you know, the spy has skills after all. Silas looked at him. “How many do you count?”
    “Four,” he answered without pause. “Two in the red car with the roof torn off and two inside that yellow truck without a back bumper. They’re armed.”
    “Yes, I heard the guns.”
    Silas scanned the area surrounding the two vehicles. From a superficial glance, they appeared to be integrated into the stack of cars, but they’d merely been neatly tucked into gaps in the wall. Neither the bus above the red car, nor the taxi above the truck were putting any weight on them. They could drive in and out of those camouflaged parking spots with relative ease. So that was their game.
    “They’re far too cozy to be just any common thugs. They’re acting like this is their territory. Like they’re guarding it,” said Silas. “I think we’re about to be greeted by Master Dominick’s welcoming party.”
    “Ok.” Leonidas’s face hardened into one of dispassionate professionalism. “How do you want to play this?”
    “You step out there and get them to focus their attention on you.”
    “You mean, focus their guns on me.”
    “Just for a few seconds until I can get behind the next stack of cars.”
    “And then?”
    “And then you wait for the crash.”
    Leonidas bit down on his lip. “Fine. But you’d better not dilly-dally while I’m being shot through with bullets.”
    “Don’t get shot then.”
    “I’ll try to remember that,” Leonidas said, and he walked toward the first car wall.
    Silas ran up the fence, darted across the top edge, then ran back down to land behind the second stack. As two engines revved up, he peeked through a gap to see the cars occupied by the junkyard bouncers drive out of their coves in opposite directions. They passed through the narrow opening on each side without even braking. This was certainly not their first time. The men expelled crass jeers at Leonidas, and their engines roared in accompaniment. They began to drive in wide circles around him. With each lap, the cars moved in closer.
    It was an intimidation game, and it wouldn’t be long before they moved from pounding their chests and waving their guns in the air like delinquent teenagers, to shooting something a bit more potent than insults at Leonidas. Silas dashed off to stand behind the first wall. He pressed his palms against the car wall, and it tottered. Neat lines or not, the thing was as unstable as cake pudding.
    As the cars curled around, their tires screeched and their engines roared. His hands still pressed against the wall, Silas waited for the two cars to cross paths, and then he gave it a forceful shove. The wall toppled over and smacked down hard against the tops of the thugs’ two cars, trapping them beneath the weight of several dozen vehicles. Surprised gasps turned into indignant curses.
    At the edge of the wall, Leonidas dove through an opening in the falling cars. He turned the dive into a roll and bounced back to his feet.
    “Thanks for the warning,” Leonidas grumbled, dusting off his fancy suit.
    “I did mention a crash,” said Silas.
    “Yes, but I didn’t realize that involved me dodging falling cars.”
    “You performed the maneuver as though you’ve done it many times before.”
    “I have.”
    “Then I’m not sure what the problem is.”
    Leonidas shook his head but didn’t comment. Instead, he looked to the four men shifting about, trying to free themselves from the pile of cars pressing down on their intimidation