The Gauntlet by Karen Chance Read Free Book Online

don’t get that gate open!”
    “And now what?”
    “Now this.” She rotated her wrist and the
barrel followed the motion, spewing its contents across the
smoke-blackened scene.
    “That wasn’t what I meant!” Kit said, giving
into temptation and shaking her. “How do you plan to get out of
here?”
    She licked her lips. “We fight.”
    “With what? You’ve just sent our only weapons
to the other side of the castle!”
    “Not all of them,” she protested, glancing at
the pieces that lay scattered across a nearby table. “As long as
it’s only guards, we should be—”
    The sound of a heavy fist, pounding on the
door, cut her off. “Open in the name of the queen!”
    “She isn’t my queen!” the witch yelled.
    There was a pause, and then another voice
spoke. “Then open in the name of the Circle.”
     
     
    Chapter Six
     
    Gillian stared at the vampire, who looked
blankly back. She didn’t have to ask if he had any ideas. His face
was as pale and tight as hers felt.
    Outside, someone’s spell smashed the barrel
into a thousand pieces, but too late. There was a huge shout from
the crowd as the witches realized what had just rained down on them
like manna from Heaven. And then the fighting resumed, far more
viciously than before.
    It was what she’d wanted, what she’d worked
for. There was no way of getting Elinor out of here if the gate
stayed closed, and no chance to break through without weapons. But
the plan had been to ride the barrel back down before sending it
off into the fray. Not to get trapped five stories off the ground
with the Circle on either exit.
    “Master Marlowe,” the mage’s voice came
again. “We know you are in there with the witch. Send her out and
you may leave peacefully.”
    “Peacefully?” The vampire snorted. “Your men
attacked me!”
    “Because you were protecting the woman. Cease
to do so and we will have no quarrel with you. We promised your
lady safe passage and we will honor that agreement.”
    Gillian braced herself, sure he would take
them up on the offer. She had friends who would have abandoned her
in such a situation, and she wouldn’t have blamed them. And this
man owed her nothing.
    But he surprised her. “I have need of the
witch,” he said, gripping her arm possessively.
    “Then you can petition the council.”
    “Would that be the same council that
sentenced her to death?” he asked cynically.
    “Send her out, or we shall come in and take
her.”
    The menace in the man’s voice made Gillian
shiver, but the vampire just looked puzzled. “Why?” he demanded.
“Why risk anything for a common cutpurse? She is of no value to
you, while my lady would reward you handsomely—”
    The mage laughed. “I am sure she would! Do
not think to deceive us. A common cutpurse she may have been, but
the guards saw what the old woman did. We know what she is!”
    The vampire looked at her, a frown creasing
his forehead. “What are you?” he asked softly.
    Gillian shook her head, equally bewildered.
“Nobody. I…nobody.”
    “They appear to feel otherwise,” he said
dryly. Sharp dark eyes moved to the table. “I don’t suppose any of
those weapons—”
    “Magical weapons are like any other kind,”
Gillian told him, swallowing. “Someone has to use them.”
    “And I’m not a mage.”
    “It wouldn’t matter. Two of us against how
many of them? No weapon would be enough to even the odds, much
less—”
    A heavy fist hit the door. Gillian jumped and
the vampire’s hand tightened reflexively on her arm. It shouldn’t
have been painful, but his fingers closed right over the burn the
eldest had given her. She cried out and he abruptly let go, as the
mage spoke once more.
    “Master Marlowe! I will not ask again!”
    “Promises, promises,” the vampire
muttered.
    Gillian didn’t say anything. She’d pushed up
her sleeve to get the fabric off the burn, but no raw, red flesh
met her gaze. Instead, she found herself staring in confusion at