Page 119 of Suffer No Fools
"Oh, sure." Klaus scoffed. "Now he wants a plan."
Hugo laughed at his tone, and then Nola, Efren, and Vadim put their heads together.
Ten minutes later, Hugo regretted the plan already. He, Yvette, Klaus, and Niall waited in the tunnel beneath the throne room for a telepathic signal through their bonds. It was dark and cramped, and it stank of undead corpses. Rather, Hugo and the others stank after their battle. He wondered if the smoky putrid rot would ever wash out of his clothes or leave his skin.
Klaus was the first to speak. "They're on the move."
Stan and Tovey were fine, Hugo kept reassuring himself. They weren't ship's captains, and Coryn had never siphoned power from them. They were the least likely to be attacked, and yet, Hugo dreaded it. His heart ached with worry for them.
Hugo hadn't realized how lucky they'd been to avoid bites or scratches from the nasty undead creatures. Fanidra had died before his eyes, and he couldn't unsee her gasping for her last breaths as the rot crept over her body. He didn't want that for anyone, but the thought of Stan or Tovey dying that way made his eyes water so much he couldn't see, not that there was much to see in the dim light from the water globe they'd borrowed from Nola.
"Follow Klaus,"Stan said through their bond."Now."
Klaus's seeking ability made it easy for them to mirror the path of their counterparts above. They were fortunate that the tunnel ran below the corridor outside the throne room and adhered to the most direct path from the door to the throne itself.
When they arrived at the throne, Hugo understood why the passage had been designed this way. This was a place for the emperor to hide to avoid assassins. Flanked by two fireweavers, it would be difficult to tell which was the emperor and which were the decoys, especially if the emperor hid below in the tunnel. The tunnel was also an echo chamber. At first, it was overwhelming, but there was a fire symbol on the floor beside an imprint of two shoes. When he stood on that spot, the echoes converged, and he heard clearly.
"Where is Hugo?" Coryn asked above. "I thought he was with you."
"She's using the seeking enchantment,"Tovey confirmed.
Hugo wished he had a line of sight. From below, he had to sense the usual places one would wear an enchantment. She didn't have anything around her neck or her ankles, but there was one around her wrist. He heated it with a burst of fire, and then froze it, snapping the metal in two.
"Ouch!"
"You've spooked her,"Stan shared through their bond.
"Is he invisible? Where is he?"
Klaus pointed up above their heads, the signal that Coryn had moved away from the throne. Hugo activated the weave for balance beneath the chair's platform, and it shifted backward along its ancient track, the scraping sound filling the room.
"Fuck!" Coryn scrambled behind the throne, keeping the heavy object between them as Hugo and the others rushed into the room. The giant chair was affixed to its platform, but Stan's earth weave shifted it backward and sent it toppling over, almost crushing Coryn.
"Oh, you'll pay for that." With a grunt, she lashed out at Stan with air, only to be repelled by an air weave she wasn't expecting.
"Another fucking bonded pair. You pirates have been busy," she said.
"We're a throuple," Stan said. "Thanks for asking."
"I do not fucking care how many are in your little group," Coryn groused. "Who's your third, the little earth weaver you stole from me? Where is she, by the way? Not that it matters now. You've ruined everything."
"We've got you surrounded." Hugo chased her around the side of the chair, leaping between her and the door to the armory.
"I'll deal with them later." Hugo felt the breeze move past him, picking up his friends and shoving them against the wall with an air weave. He sensed Tovey and Stan fighting against it, but she was too strong.
She lunged for Hugo, and he feinted back too far, allowing her to dart past him and force the door open. There was no way out, but the room was filled with martial weapons.
Hugo put his hand around the corner, reaching for his father's rapier, and nearly lost his hand when Coryn tossed a throwing star at him. He left the rapier and drew the sword he'd almost forgotten was strapped to his hip.
Her air weaves didn't stop Stan's earth. He shifted the wall behind Coryn, encasing her in stone until she pulled on the weave and siphoned it into herself. Hugo couldn't believe his eyes. What she'd done should have been impossible, but Hugo felt her tear the weave away from Stan as surely as she could siphon his power.
"Keep it coming," she said. "The more power you spend, the more I'll have."
Thankfully, their enchantments from Elder Allora worked to keep Coryn from siphoning power from them directly. Still, Hugo had limited options to fight her, and he was furious.
"You knew this would happen,"Hugo accused his lovers through their bond. He danced backward and over the fallen throne and parried blow after blow from the thick broad sword Coryn had stolen. The thing was longer than Hugo's arm, andshe was using earth and air weaves to bash it against his sword. Somewhere along the way, she'd also grabbed a shield.
Stan chuckled out loud, and Hugo's face burned. He should not be thinking about Stan's sexy laugh while he was fighting for his life.
