Ghost in the Blood by Moeller Jonathan

Author:Moeller, Jonathan [Moeller, Jonathan]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Azure Flame Media, LLC
Published: 2013-12-01T23:00:00+00:00

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Caina awoke with a gasp. She sat up, pushed the blanket away, and looked around. Radast’s workshop was dark, save for a pair of candles. Ark, Ducas, and Halfdan lay on cots nearby, sleeping. Radast sat in the candlelight, scribbling notes into a book.

Caina hurried over to Radast. The dream remained lodged in her mind, and she half-expected to see red-eyed wolves lurking under the tables. Radast looked up as she approached.

“Anna Callenius,” he said. “I calculate a ninety-seven percent chance you have experienced a nightmare.”

“Yes,” said Caina thickly, looking at the shutters. If she opened them, would she see wolves prowling the street? Absurd. It had been a dream.

Yet…

“My calculations were right about you,” said Radast. “Despite what Ducas might say. You found the truth. Lady Palaegus and her teacher are behind the disappearances, that is plain.”

“We don’t know everything yet,” said Caina, staring at the metal shutters. Jadriga, for one. Where had she come from? What did she want? “Not by a long shot. Radast, these shutters…is there a way to look through them without opening them?”

“Of course,” said Radast, rising to his feet. He pressed a latch on the shutters and slid aside a small panel. Caina peered through the narrow opening.

And froze in alarm.

A man stood in the street, staring up at her. Another stood in the shadows of the doorway across the square, and two more stood before the door to Radast’s building. They stood in the exact position of wolves from her dream.

And they all wore bracers identical to Icaraeus’s.

“What is it?” said Radast.

“Trouble,” said Caina.

Even as she spoke, the nearest man’s eyes widened. In a single smooth motion, he produced a light crossbow from beneath his cloak and raised it.

“Down!” shouted Caina, shoving Radast away from the window. A heartbeat later the quarrel bounced off the shutter with a loud clang.

“Ha!” said Radast. “As if a crossbow could penetrate my work!”

“What’s going on?” said Halfdan. He and the others had risen, and Jiri hurried out of the bedroom.

“Icaraeus’s men,” said Caina. “They’ve found us.”

Ducas glared at her. “Jadriga must have pulled the location from Anna’s mind.”

Halfdan shoved past him, walking towards the shutter.

“Careful,” said Caina. “The one in the street is a good shot.”

Halfdan nodded, took a quick look, and snapped the panel shut. “Ten of them. Six were heading into the alley, towards the stairs.”

Caina glanced at the massive steel door bolted to the brickwork.

“They have a very low chance of getting through my door,” said Radast.

Caina and Ark shared a look.

“They don’t have to go through the door,” said Caina. “They’re going to set the building on fire, and kill us as we come down the stairs.”

“Oh,” said Radast. He frowned. “I had not calculated that possibility.”

“Too late now,” said Ducas.

“We’ve got to get out of here,” said Halfdan. “Radast, is the door the only way in and out of here?”

“No,” said Jiri. “In the bedroom, there’s a trapdoor with a ladder to the roof.”

“Good,” said Halfdan. “We’ll go from roof to roof, make our way to the docks.

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