Page 60 of Wicked Enemy

Tyler and Chris and all of the other battle mages that we had captured were standing in a long line. There were two constables at the head of the procession. But the two who should have been at the back were gone, presumably only for a few moments to put out that fire.

But sometimes, a few moments was all it took.

The mass of dark mages turned to face me where I stood alone at the end of their procession. Fury flashed in their eyes the second they realized who I was.

They already knew that I was a constable, since I had been one of the people who had locked them in their cells that day two weeks ago. That day, when they realized that I had betrayed them and Levi, they had cursed me to hell and threatened to destroy everything and everyone I loved. The usual dark mage stuff. But they had been locked in cells at that point. Unable to follow through on any threats. Now, there were no metal bars standing between me and them.

For a single second, it was as if the moment was suspended in time.

Then a fist cracked into the side of my face.

Pain shot through my cheekbone. I tried to suck in a gasp, but all the air exploded from my lungs as someone landed a hard kick to the side of my ribs, sending me flying through the corridor and crashing into the wall.

Shouts echoed through the hall and magic flashed as the two constables at the head of the procession tried to subdue the mass of dark mages who were now blocking the way between me and them.

“You fucking traitor,” Chris growled.

The blond wind mage slammed his fists into my stomach, making me double over from the pain.

Their hands were still locked in stiff handcuffs, preventing them from summoning magic, but that didn’t stop them from just pummeling me instead.

Grabbing the collar of my shirt, he yanked me upright while Tyler appeared next to him. Another wave of pain pulsed through my face as Tyler drove his fist into my jaw while Chris held me against the wall.

“I will fucking kill you for betraying Levi like that,” Tyler snapped, and even though he couldn’t summon his power, I could almost see his lightning magic flash in his blue eyes as he drew back his hands for another hit. “You double-crossing piece of shit, I will—”

His eyes widened as I grabbed his wrist before he could strike me again, and pressed something into his palm.

Chris, who had no idea what I had just done, used his grip on my shirt to yank me forward and then slam me against the wall again, hard enough to rattle my teeth.

“Go at exactly—” I began, but then Chris slammed his fist into my jaw, and stars exploded before my eyes.

“Wait,” Tyler hissed, low enough for only the three of us to hear, while he showed his friend what I had pressed into his palm.

Behind their backs, the other dark mages were still fighting to stop the constables from reaching me. It created a deafening noise, and I knew that the two people who had gone to put out the fire would be back any second now.

Dark spots still floated before my eyes, and my ribcage ached from the hits I had taken, but I forced myself to drag in a breath. “Go at exactly twelve minutes past eleven tonight. Use the left stairwell. I’ll make sure it’s empty.” My gaze darted towards the left, where the other two constables were now sprinting back through the corridor. Then I slid my gaze back to Tyler and Chris, who looked utterly stunned. “Now, hit me like you mean it.”

The two keys that I had pressed into Tyler’s hand immediately disappeared into his clothes. Then they started assaulting me again.

From the outside, it looked the same. Two dark mages trapping me against the wall and raining blows and kicks down on me. But they were pulling their punches now. I could feel their fists connect with my body, but there was no longer any bone-breaking force behind them.

Soon enough, they were wrestled off me by my colleagues and hit with small strikes of lightning to make them drop to their knees on the floor.

“Eve!” my colleagues yelled as soon as all the dark mages were either kneeling or lying on the floor with their limbs twitching from lightning. “Are you okay?”

I sucked in a few deep breaths. The first round of hits had been real, so pain still pulsed through my body, making me wince as I moved. Reaching up, I wiped blood from the corner of my mouth while nodding and assuring them that I was fine.

It all really looked very believable.

While pushing off from the wall and straightening, I had to fight to stop a satisfied smirk from spreading across my lips.

That had gone perfectly.

Well, more or less, anyway.

Since Levi’s people would be standing trial in less than two days, I knew that they would be allowed to clean themselves up today in preparation for that. Civil rights, and all that. And I knew that they would be coming through this particular hallway at this exact time, which was why I had also been here. They had noticed the fire that I had started a little earlier than I expected, but I could explain away the fact that I had come running around the corridor by saying that it was because I heard them yell about a fire.

Then all I’d had to do was slip the keys to Tyler and tell them when to use them.

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