Night Quest by Krinard Susan

Author:Krinard, Susan [Krinard, Susan]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781488004582
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2016-01-31T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

“You will abandon your human friend?” Kronos asked.

“The guard didn’t see me,” she said, “but Daniel will certainly realize that I am the one who released you. If I allow Garret to defend me, I will put him in an untenable position.”

Kronos nodded gravely. “And Pericles?”

“We have no time to save him,” she said, fighting desperately against paralyzing grief, anger and guilt.

“It is unfortunate,” Kronos said, “but I believe that he will gladly make the sacrifice.”

Artemis grabbed one of the daycoats hung outside the cell and tossed it to Kronos, while his disciples claimed the others. There wasn’t one left for her, but she trusted in her well-honed ability to get to cover before the sun rose.

“I will go first,” she said, “and try to distract the guards on the wall. Stay behind me until I give the signal.”

She left the building as she had approached it, crouching low as she ran, and made straight for the eastern wall.

“You!” she called, waving at the nearest of the four guards. Once she’d caught his attention, she said, “I was sent to tell you that rogues have gotten into the compound, and that all soldiers must report immediately to the front gate!”

The dhampir hesitated, eyes narrowed as he studied her face. “Lady Aresia?” he asked. “Why did they send you with this message?”

“No one else could be spared. Daniel says that you must come!”

Someone behind Artemis darted forward, passed her in a blur and launched himself up the stairway close to where the dhampir stood. The guard never saw him coming. The dhampir fell onto the parapet walk, and the Freeblood crouched beside the still body, his expression tense with excitement and fear.

Furious that the exile had acted without her signal, Artemis started forward. But the other three guards were charging the Freeblood, and Kronos’s disciples leaped up the steps to confront them. Artemis joined them in time to watch the brief struggle, prepared to interfere the instant one of the exiles acted too forcefully.

But they were skilled, and kept Kronos’s promise. They took the soldiers down with carefully calibrated blows that rendered them temporarily unconscious, as she’d done with the guard at the storage building. She quickly checked the dhampir’s pulse, and found it strong and even. He would wake within minutes.

“We must jump,” she said as Kronos came to stand beside her. He nodded and signaled to the others. Together, the six of them leaped over the wall. Shouts of anger rang from the stockade.

Artemis rolled as she struck the ground and plunged over the riverbank into the water. The bridge loomed over her to the right. Kronos splashed down beside her, and she heard the others nearby. They turned left, wading parallel to the bank as bullets cut the surface of the river directly behind them.

Then, suddenly, the barrage stopped. Artemis could no longer hear raised voices or the chatter of weapons. The sky was growing lighter. Trees bunched thickly along the riverside beyond the area the colonists had cleared around the walls, the only real shelter in sight.

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