Page 26 of Court of Lies and Deceit

Draven flexes his hand on the hilt of the knife.

Then the door is yanked open.

And I have to give it to him, it is indeed very dramatic when he slits Danzo’s throat right as the guards charge into the room.

“Assassins!” the first guard screams, his eyes wide with shock and panic.

The two guards behind him begin drawing their swords while he starts channeling some kind of magic. But I never get to find out what kind, because all three of them are hit in the chest with a blast of wind from Draven. It sends them tumbling back out the door.

“Go,” Draven says as he whirls around and sprints towards me.

I scramble up onto the windowsill and then leap out the third-story window.

Winds rush in my ears for a second.

Then my feet hit a bridge of solid ice with a thud. I crouch down to regain my balance while Draven jumps out of the window and lands behind me. Shouts rise from the guards outside in the gardens as the two of us take off across Isera’s ice bridge.

Magic is summoned from below, but before they can shoot it at us, Alistair throws a torrent of fire at them from a roof to our right. Flames roar through the air, and the guards dive for cover.

My boots are slipping on the slick ice bridge as I hurtle down it. As if Isera could see that all the way from where she is waiting on the other side of the stone wall, she changes the texture of the ice so that it becomes rough and pebbled.

Alistair shoots another blast of flames at the guards below.

And then jumps from the roof and towards the bridge.

I gasp, because there is no way he will make it all the way there.

But before he can plummet down to the ground below, Isera stretches the ice bridge in his direction. He hits the pale ice with a thud and rolls with the motion. Then he’s up and running. Draven and I reach him a second later.

An absolutely ridiculous laugh rips from my throat as we leap off the ice bridge on the other side of the stone wall and disappear back into the darkened city.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

The armchair lets out a huff as I drop down on the soft brown cushions and lean back while raking my fingers through my hair. On the other side of the low table, Draven claims the remaining armchair while our four other companions are still making their way into the living room.

“I can’t believe that actually worked,” Alistair says as he throws himself down on the couch and swings his legs up across the cushions.

Galen unceremoniously pushes Alistair’s legs back down on the floor and sits down next to him.

From the other armchair, Draven turns to Alistair while a smug smile plays over his lips. “Like I said, not my first assassination.”

Alistair rolls his eyes, but instead of taking the bait, he shifts his gaze to Isera. “Would you sit down for once? You’re always lurking by the door like a little… lurker.”

Isera, who is leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, gives him a flat look. “Your extensive vocabulary dazzles me.”

He huffs. “It’s not…” Trailing off, he instead turns to frown at Lyra, who is strolling away from the living room. “And where areyougoing?”

She spins around gracefully to face us while continuing to walk backwards towards the kitchen. “To get some glasses, of course.”

On the couch, Galen sits up straighter and frowns at her. “Glasses? For what?”

A mischievous grin spreads across her mouth as she holds up a bottle. Both Alistair and I raise our eyebrows in surprise. Draven doesn’t look particularly surprised, and Galen just groans.

“Seriously?” Galen questions and flaps a hand in her direction. “Where did you even get that?”

Her orange eyes gleam. “I stole it from the mansion, of course.”

Galen sighs and rubs a hand across his face.

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