Cassandra Palmer 1(61)
I sat there, stunned. «We're screwed.»
«That's the consensus. The plan right now is to have Tomas grab you and fly outta here, while Louis-Cesar and the mage stay behind and try to slow everybody down long enough for you to get away.»
«That's suicide!»
«Yeah, and the worst part is, it probably won't even work. We're surrounded, darlin'. Ain't no way Tomas is gonna make it past all of them.»
«Shit.» I thought for a second. «What about reinforcements?»
I was interrupted by Louis-Cesar yelling in my ear. «Mademoiselle, can you hear me?»
I jerked away before he could touch me. «What do you want? I'm kind of busy.»
He looked at me oddly, but he moderated his voice. «You have to go now, mademoiselle. I am sorry, but we cannot give you more time to recover.»
«I'm not going anywhere. Tomas will never get past a gauntlet like that and you know it. Two black knights, six masters and at least fourteen other vamps? Come on.»
I found out what Louis-Cesar looked like when someone had rattled his cool. «How can you possibly know what we are facing?»
«Her ghost servant told her,» Pritkin said, and I noticed that he was back on his knees, concentrating on the rapidly evaporating shields.
«You can see Billy?» I was surprised. Very few people could.
«No,» Pritkin said through clenched teeth. His jaw was tight enough that the small muscle on the side stood out. «But I was told what you can do. At least, some of it.» Sweat ran in rivers down his face, soaking his shirt, and he looked at me desperately. «If you have any more tricks, I suggest you use them. I can only slow the process; I can't stop it.»
I sighed. Why did I think I was going to regret this? «Give me a minute.»
I went back inside to find out if Billy Joe had any bright ideas. He did, but I didn't like it. «I can't possess the mage 'cause he's warded against me. But you're far stronger in spirit form than I am, 'cause you're alive. If we could duplicate what happened—»
«No! No way am I possessing anybody else! What if I can't get back? What if I get stuck? Come up with something else.» I hadn't enjoyed being Louis-Cesar and I definitely didn't want to find out what the inside of a dark-magic user felt like.
«I don't think you'll get stuck. He's a mage. Once you get in, you ain't gonna have much time before he forces you out. But you won't need that long. If you can distract him for a couple minutes, I'm betting our three heroes can deal with the vamps.»
«Three against twenty? Don't you think that's being a little optimistic?»
«You just don't wanna do this.»
«Damn straight.»
«You got a better idea?»
I swallowed thickly. There had to be an alternative. The Senate had sent three powerful operatives merely to drag me back from Dante's, so they wanted me pretty badly. When we didn't come back and nobody reported in, they were sure to send reinforcements, but there was no way to tell how long that would take. «How far away is sunrise? Maybe we can hold Tony's guys off until they have to duck for cover. Louis-Cesar should be able to handle a little sun, and I know Tomas can.»
Billy Joe laughed, but it didn't sound happy. «Sure, and you think our mage is gonna last that long?»
I glanced at Pritkin and couldn't argue the point. His eyes were bulging and several blood vessels must have popped, because it looked like he was crying red tears. But I was in no position to help him. I'd seen a lot of magic worked through the years, but I'd just performed the only bit I knew, and Billy Joe couldn't replace that kind of energy loss twice. But if I didn't do something soon, my trip to get revenge on Jimmy might end up costing three lives.
«Okay.» I gulped some air. «Do it.»
I couldn't see Billy Joe when he was inside me, but I could feel his emotions better than I could read his face, and he was skeptical. «You sure? 'Cause I don't wanna have to hear about this for eternity if you end up a spirit permanently. I know you. You'd haunt me.»
«I thought you said that won't happen!»
«I said it probably won't. I'm new at this.»
«Like you asked me, have you got another plan? Because if not—» That was as far as I got before Billy Joe crashed into me like a linebacker tackling a quarterback. He kept pushing until I would have called the whole thing off, done anything, said anything, to stop that awful pressure, except I couldn't move. It was like getting trapped between a steamroller and the side of a mountain; there was nowhere to go. A second after I decided I was going to die if the pressure didn't stop, I was suddenly flying free. It was a major relief, but the nice, floaty feeling lasted only about a second before I slammed into something that felt like a brick wall. It hurt so badly that I would have thought every bone in my body was broken, except that it suddenly dawned on me that I didn't have a body.