Page 84 of A Touch of Treachery
Steig’s face appeared over the guard’s shoulder, and he yanked his hunting knife out of the man’s back, then shoved it right back in again.Blood bubbled up out of the guard’s lips, and he let out another strangled sound, as if asking for mercy.
But Steig wasn’t in the mercy business.The assassin yanked the knife out of the guard’s body, then wrenched the other man’s head back and cut his throat.Blood sprayed everywhere, looking like a ruby fountain gushing down onto the snow.The guard thrashed around, but he was already more dead than alive, and Steig casually tossed him aside like a piece of trash.
The assassin’s pale blue eyes fixed on me, and his lips drew back into a feral snarl.“Henrika might have escaped, but you won’t be so lucky, spy bitch,” he hissed.
Steig jumped over the guard’s body and lunged at me.His hand clamped onto my shoulder, and his knife headed straight toward my throat—
Tink.
The tip of the blade cut through my thick scarf, but instead of stabbing into my body, it skittered away.
Steig growled and tried again and again.
Tink.Tink.
“What the fuck?”he growled.
He ripped the scarf off my neck, revealing the Grunglass Necklace.I had never been so glad to be wearing it as right now, as it was the only reason I was still alive.
Steig growled and raised his knife again, but I shoved him back and spun away.My gaze snapped left and right.All the weapons the guards had taken from Desmond and me were still lying in the snow, but I couldn’t reach any of them.
Desperate, I bent down and yanked the two pom-poms off the side of my right boot.I dug my fingers through one fluffy piece of fabric until I found the hard plastic knot in the center.I hit the embedded button, arming the small hidden explosive.Then I whirled around and tossed it at Steig, who stopped in his tracks.
I was actually pretty good with ranged weapons, since my synesthesia usually told me exactly where to aim a gun, throw a knife, or hurl an axe.But the fuzzy pom-pom was no balanced blade, and the fluffy ball hit Steig’s chest, bounced off, and plopped into the snow.
I backed away from him and started counting off the seconds in my mind.Ten ...nine ...eight ...
Steig bent down, picked up the pom-pom, and waggled it at me.“What were you going to do with this?Tickle me to death?”
I backed up a few more steps.Seven ...six ...five ...
“Quit messing around and kill her, you idiot!”Oriana snapped.
Four ...three ...two ...
Steig ignored her and frowned down at the pom-pom.“Why does it feel like something is hidden inside this—”
Boom!
The pom-pom exploded.A bright burst of flame erupted in Steig’s hand, as though he was a combusto clutching a fireball in his palm.The assassin screamed and screamed, his eyes bulging as he stared down at the mass of burned skin and bloody, stubby fingers that used to be his hand.
Steig screamed again and clutched his mangled hand to his chest.I tried to dart around him, but the assassin was blinded by pain, and he kept staggering back and forth, blocking my path.A frustrated growl tumbled out of my lips.
Crack!
A shot rang out, and a bullet punched into Steig’s back.He staggered forward a few more steps, then his eyes rolled up into the back of his head, and he crumpled to the ground, landing right on top of the guard whose throat he’d cut.
Niles stepped forward, the gun in his hand still pointed at the other paramortal’s body.He must have grabbed the weapon while I’d been blowing up Steig.
“Arrogant idiot,” Niles muttered.“He squealed like a stuck pig.”
I sidled to the left, hoping I could make it to the trees before Niles regrouped, but he leveled his gun at me.
“If you really are a Section spy, then you’ll make an excellent hostage.”
A bitter laugh spewed out of my lips.A few months ago, Miriam Lancaster had taken me hostage in the third-level bullpen at Section headquarters after I’d exposed her as a mole.Desmond had shot Miriam to save me, and the fact that he wasn’t here to help me again was not lost on me.
“Why are you laughing?”Niles asked.
