Page 81 of Heartless Enemy

With a questioning look in Eve’s direction, I started towards the door.

Shinji was still trying to hold back the mass of white boots closing in on both sides. They were so close to him now that I could see their white and gold leather uniforms through the broken windows. I had to help him.

I had just placed one foot on the threshold when a loud cry split the cold air outside.

“FALL BACK!”

Jerking to a halt in the doorway, I stared in shock as the constables suddenly stopped attacking and instead began raising shields to protect themselves while they quickly retreated.

What the hell?

Why were they retreating? They had the advantage. If they had just continued pushing a little while longer, we might actually have been overrun. So why would they fall back now?

“Shinji,” I said.

The fire mage turned towards me. I could see the exhaustion plain as day on his face, but he still said, “I’m fine.”

He turned watchful eyes back to the retreating white boots, to make sure that this wasn’t some kind of elaborate ruse, while I slid my attention back to the scene inside the tavern.

Jamila and Frank were standing a little closer to me than they had been before, as if they had tried to make for the door when the call to retreat rose, and then realized that I was blocking it. Eve was standing where she had been earlier, lightning crackling around her hands.

Her two colleagues cast panicked glances between her, me, and Shinji out on the street. No matter which way they looked at it, they were trapped in here unless we let them go.

“I’d heard rumors, but I didn’t want to believe it,” Jamila blurted out, staring at Eve with wide eyes. “You’re a dark mage sympathizer.”

“I’ve always been a dark mage sympathizer,” Eve replied, a vicious smirk curling her lips. “And I’m not the only one.”

Lightning continued dancing in her hands, casting flickering light over her features. It made her look like a vengeful demon.

Jamila opened her mouth to reply, but then she just swallowed, as if she suddenly didn’t know what to say. Someone else spoke, though.

“Did you kill Chief?” Frank said, though it sounded more like an accusation than a question.

“Chief is dead?” Eve jerked back in shock and the lightning in her palms fizzled out, as if she was too stunned to keep the grip on her magic. “What? How? When?”

It took great effort not to grin at the utter bafflement in her voice even though she, more than anyone, was aware of the Chief Constable’s murder.

“Last night,” Jamila answered, suddenly finding her voice again. And it was a sharp, bitter voice. “As for how, you tell me. Seeing as you or your dark mage friends must have been the one to kill him.”

“Seriously, Jamila?” Eve threw her arm out in frustration and stabbed a hand in the direction of the river. “How are we supposed to have gotten to the north side when you have a fucking siege blockade there?”

Jamila and Frank exchanged a glance, and I could tell that both of them were forced to grudgingly admit that she was right. I almost snickered.Fools.

“Yes, well,” Jamila huffed, clearly frustrated that her theory hadn’t panned out. “We haven’t even been able to investigate his death properly because everyone has to be here, fighting you. Andthatis your fault at least.”

A sharp smile spread across Eve’s lips. “Is that really the tone you want to take with me right now?”

I glanced out at Shinji. He was still keeping an eye on the eerily silent street, but I could tell that he was clenching his jaw against the exhaustion that must be washing over him after an entire day of fighting. We needed to get going so that I could check on the other teams, and also figure out why the white boots had suddenly retreated.

“Eve,” I said before her former colleagues could answer. Keeping my expression neutral, I slid my gaze back to her. “We should go. Do you want to kill them or let them go?”

Panic flashed across Frank and Jamila’s faces as they whipped around to stare between the two of us. It appeared as though, just because Eve was there, they had forgotten that they were in the presence of their most heartless enemy.

Instead of replying, Eve just cocked her head and studied them for a few seconds.

All color drained from their faces.

“Eve, wait, I…” Jamila began before trailing off.