Page 10 of Heartless Enemy
After some careful maneuvering, we straightened on top of her roof.
The north of Malgrave spread out around us like a dark sea. White light from the oil lamps along the streets broke up the blackness of night, and every once in a while, light flickered inside a window as well. But most of the city was fast asleep. Or at least, onthisside of the city, people were asleep.
Brushing my palms together, I summoned a sheet of metal and used it to bridge the gap to the next building.
“Convenient,” Eve commented.
“I know.”
She huffed out an amused breath, but then started across the makeshift bridge.
Cool night winds swirled around us and ripped at our clothes as we made our way across the city and towards our target. I glanced at Eve again as we crossed the roof of yet another building.
“How did it go with Wright today?” I asked.
The starlight that had been glittering in her eyes disappeared immediately and was replaced by dark storm clouds. She clenched her jaw for a second before answering.
“I had to kneel at his feet and beg and grovel,” she ground out. “Just as I suspected.”
Fury seared through my veins. I had never even met Captain Wright, but I still wanted to break every bone in his body and make him beg me for mercy.
“But I’m back in the South Side Department,” she finished, casting a glance at me over her shoulder as she jumped down from the narrow metal plank and onto the next roof. “So part one of the plan is in motion.”
“Good. Any news about the invasion?”
“No. I had to finish out my day in the archives today, so I haven’t been able to check. But I’ll do that first thing tomorrow.”
I nodded.
We closed the final distance to the parliament building in silence.
Once we reached the last house, we crouched down as we made our way to the edge and then lay down on the cold stone roof. Resting our elbows on the hard surface, we studied the massive structure before us.
The parliament building was made of white stone, just like most of Malgrave’s north side. Thick pillars stood proudly in two rows on both sides of the front doors, neat hedges had been planted around the property in order to form a barrier between it and the rest of the city, and the whole structure was topped by curving domes. Light from the brightly burning oil lamps set onto tall poles around the area cast shimmering reflections in the windows.
It was impressive, if a little pompous.
“Are you sure you still want to go with this approach?” Eve asked from beside me.
Keeping my eyes on the massive building ahead, I heaved a long sigh. “It’s not that I particularlywantto go with this approach. It’s more… this is the only approach that has even the slightest chance of working.”
“Which tactic would you have preferred to go with then?”
“Kidnapping their loved ones.”
Flicking a glance at her from the corner of my eye, I waited for her to protest. She didn’t.Interesting. So threatening the safety of family members, even completely innocent ones, was not one of her limits then.
Instead of telling me how evil that was, she simply asked, “So why don’t you?”
“I don’t have enough power on this side of the river.” I sucked my teeth and then clicked my tongue in annoyance. “If they lived on the south side, where I have people on every corner who could ambush them and civilians who wouldn’t dare to protest or get in the way, then I could kidnap them without any problem.” I flicked my wrist to indicate the area around us. “But here? I don’t have enough control over my surroundings to pull it off.”
“True.”
Silence descended over the roof as we just lay there for a while, watching the building and making note of the guard movements. Eve had told me that she could get more information about that once she was back on the constable force, but I had still wanted to see it with my own eyes. It was one thing to study the layout of a building on a map, and quite another to see the building in real life. Sometimes, there were opportunities and hiding places that couldn’t be seen on a flat map. Though, as I watched the parliament building ahead, I couldn’t actually find any of those.
I drummed my fingers on the cold edge of the roof. If I was going to force the parliament to cede the south side to me, I needed to get to them when they were all gathered in one place. And the only occasion when they were all in the same place at the same time was when they met in this building to discuss laws and current affairs. Or whatever it was that people did in a democracy.
Irritation flickered through me. I couldn’t threaten them one by one, because it would give them too much time to counteract my moves. I needed to take them by surprise. One quick strike that would force them to do what I wanted. But the only question was of course how to accomplish that.