Page 96 of Only Cold Depths
The mercenaries fired their cannons and blasters, while the House Collier guards did the same with their weapons, trying to stop their enemies from breaching the main castle. Bright green and red energy bolts zipped through the air, and the battle began in earnest. Walls exploded, permaglass shattered, and yells and screams boiled up into the air.
“We are under attack!” I thought I heard Siya’s voice, but the continued cannon and blaster fire drowned her out.
So far, all the fighting was on the ground level. Beatrice’s tea had been on the third-story terrace, and the mercs hadn’t managed to get this high. Since no one was firing at me, I kept going, running as fast as I could, my stormsword clutched in my hand.
Kyrion? Kyrion! I’m heading toward the guest wing! I think the mercenaries are targeting Wendell!
I called out to Kyrion through the bond. The sticky cobweb of him in my mind pulsed with icy fury, but once again, the emotion blotted out everything else, and I couldn’t tell where he was.
I growled in frustration, sucked down another breath, and picked up my pace. Thanks to my O2 enhancement, I didn’t need as much oxygen as other people, but running from one bridge to another and then going up and down the stairs in between was still taking a toll. I felt like someone had clamped a metal vise around my chest and was slowly cranking it tighter and tighter and squeezing all the air out of my lungs, but I kept going.
There was no other option. Not if I wanted to save my father.
And Ididwant to save him. I still didn’t know how I felt about Wendell, Beatrice, or Zane, but I didn’t want them to die before I had a chance to figure it out.
More blaster bolts zinged through the air, along with the answeringboom-boom-boomof cannon fire. I couldn’t tell if the mercenaries had breached the main castle or if the Hammers and House Collier guards were turning them back, but that wasn’t my fight, so it didn’t matter right now.
Kyrion? Kyrion!
I called out again, still trying to figure out where he was, but all I got was a sense that he was trying to find me as desperately as I was searching for him. As difficult as it was, I released the bond. I needed to focus on the here and now, not all the thoughts and emotions rattling around in my mind and heart.
I finally reached the guest wing and forced myself to slow down. Running blindly forward and getting shot by a mercenary wouldn’t do me any good, much less save Wendell.
Cannon and blaster fire continued to boom through the air, punctuated by sharp shrieks of pain, but most of the fighting seemed to be around the main castle. Looking and listening for any hints of danger, I raised my stormsword into an attack position, then stepped through the archway.
I crept from one corridor to the next, moving as quickly as I dared. The guest wing was eerily quiet, and I didn’t encounter anyone, not even a servant who’d ducked into a room to hide. I didn’t want to get trapped in an elevator in case the mercs cut the power, so I headed for the closest set of stairs and quietly tiptoed down them to the ground level.
The lower I went, the more signs of battle appeared. Blaster fire had scorched many of the walls, while cannon blasts had blown out big chunks of stone and glass, decimating entire rooms. The acrid stench of electricity hung in the air, mixing with the nauseating aroma of burned flesh and singed hair.
I rounded a corner and stumbled over the body of a servant sprawled across the floor. Smoke was still curling up from the blaster wound in her chest, which now resembled a slab of charred meat. Bile rose in my throat, and I shuddered and looked away from the awful sight.
I tiptoed down the corridor until I reached the Zimmers’ suites. I cautiously eased through an archway, but no mercenaries were waiting on the other side. Doubt and unease tickled my spine like hot, needling fingers, but I kept going, making my steps as soft and silent as possible, despite the broken stone, glass, and other debris that littered the floor.
“ . . . no . . . please . . . wait . . .” a man’s voice said, the muffled words coming from up ahead.
I quickened my pace, eased up to an open door, and peered into the suite beyond.
A Serpens Corp mercenary was in the sitting room. The merc’s cannon was pointed at Wendell, who had his hands up and was backing away. But the mercenary followed Wendell step for step, as though the two of them were doing a painfully slow dance.
“It’s nothing personal,” the merc said. “You’re just being used to send a message.”
Wendell kept easing backward. “What message?”
“No idea. But I have my orders, and I get a bonus for killing you, so it’s time to die, Lord Zimmer.” The merc grinned, his finger curling around the trigger.
White-hot rage roared through me, blotting out everything else. I churned my legs, sprinted across the room, and barreled into the merc’s side.
Boom!
The cannon blast went wide, slamming into the stone fireplace instead of Wendell’s chest.
“Vesper! Look out!” Wendell yelled.
The mercenary swung his cannon toward me, but I lashed out with my stormsword, driving him back. The man tipped over a low table and fell on his ass. His hand banged into the floor, and the cannon slid out of his grasp.
I snarled, raised my sword, and charged forward, but the merc kicked out, sending the table skittering across the floor. I tripped over it and went down on my hands and knees. My stormsword slipped out of my fingers, and I scrambled forward, still on my hands and knees, trying to reach the weapon.
The merc grabbed my ankle and yanked me back toward him. My hands squeaked across the floor, but I couldn’t get a grip on the slick stone. I kicked and flailed, but the merc must have had a strength enhancement, because he easily dragged me over to him.
