The soldiers aimed their guns at us. I lifted my coat up to shield my face as the world turned into a storm of flashing lights. Bullets hailed down as I activated Burst and threw myself forward. Several punched into my armor, a few stung as they cut into my legs.

  Tearing Jackpot from my back with one hand, I aimed and fired at the soldiers cresting the roof’s lip in one motion. Stone exploded and pelted the surrounding buildings and rained down to the ground like grey hail.

  I pressed myself close to the building and willed Jackpot away. My vision pulsed red in sync with my throbbing back.

  Silhouettes rippled through the haze of smoke as the soldiers reorganized themselves. The steady chime in my ears faded in time to hear Quinn’s frantic shouts. “Don’t shoot! We’re COBA! Your allies!”

  I glanced back at her. She huddled behind the opened door, eyes wide with fear. I couldn’t blame her; a rapier wouldn’t help her much when under fire. And Whispered weren’t really bulletproof, nor were Unsung. The sting in my legs was a constant reminder of that.

  I glanced up the wall and grabbed Silent Scream, unfurling the thread I tied around its tip in place for a sheath.

  The car’s engine rumbled, but something was wrong. It coughed and wheezed before the sound died down. Over and over. It wouldn’t start.

  “Shit,” I muttered. “I’ll handle them!”

  With a Burst, I dashed away from the wall and threw the dagger toward the lip of the roof. Silent Scream tore through the air and slammed into stone with a dull thud. I bit into Stoneflow’s leather handle and looped the thread around my arm, pulling at it as I ran vertically up the side of the building.

  The cloud of dust settled and a muzzle flashed as I crested the edge. Uncaring confusion colored the soldiers’ eyes as they registered my sudden appearance. They turned with mechanical precision and aimed their muzzles at me. Something was wrong.

  “Cal, don’t!” Quinn screamed.

  But I was already in motion. I Burst forward and grabbed Stoneflow from my mouth, resigning myself to bear the weight of their deaths. Fighting humans had never been my favorite thing to do. The Stumblers were one thing, but regular people always struggled and screamed. They begged and they cried.

  With a quick glance I concluded that there were three on the central roof with me and four each on the two adjacent rooftops. Three sizzling bodies lay scattered over the roof, among them the one who’d shot me with a rocket launcher.

  Stoneflow tore through the wind like the reaper’s scythe in a diagonal cut at the closest soldier. It severed both the barrel of his gun and his arms by the wrists. He stared silently at the change in his physique. With a dash, I pushed close and grabbed him by the throat. He weighed next to nothing in my empowered hands.

  A smattering of gunfire enveloped my surroundings. I used the quiet soldier as a shield and dashed at the remaining two. Their bullets ripped into his body and showered me with his blood.

  In a moment’s time I was upon them and threw the body with inhuman ease. It spun through the air before striking one of the soldiers square in the chest, and toppled him. He tumbled down the side of the building with his now Swiss cheese comrade. I used a Burst enhanced kick to send the last down to join them.

  Even before they smashed into the ground I dashed to the next rooftop, crossing the gap with an effortless hop. Bullets tore at me from all sides when I touched down on the other side. I used Burst to kick against the floor and slid forward on my knees. My poor mundane pants ripped to shreds at the knees and left my skin to fend for itself. The pain was nothing compared to the rocket blast.

  The world quieted for a moment as they reloaded.

  I shot toward the middle of the soldiers’ formation. When I passed the first of them, I lashed out with Stoneflow in a spinning slash. Steel bit into leg after leg and I shot back to my feet after completing the spin. All four of them lay on the ground, clutching at their weapons to retaliate. I’d bisected their legs above their knees. And even still, they chose to fight without a sound.

  Something definitely wasn’t right.

  I didn’t linger to finish them. They would bleed out in a minute anyway. The femoral arteries in their thighs had been severed and gushed massive amounts of blood onto the roof. Red footprints tracked my path as I dashed toward the last building.

  The gap was vast but it was nothing to me. I used Burst and kicked off the roof, rocketing through the sky with my coat flapping wildly behind me. Midair, I resummoned Silent Scream and threw it in the same motion. It crossed the distance to the closest soldier in less than a moment, embedding itself deep into his throat.

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  The others moved with unearned calm as they reloaded their weapons. They didn’t make it before I was upon them. I slammed down on top of one soldier, planting both of my feet on his torso. His ribs crunched and cracked under my weight amplified by the frightening momentum. Death came instantly for him.

  Two muzzles pointed at my face. I slapped them aside and relieved one of the soldiers of her head with a quick cut. She stood stock still as her head slid off her neck.

  I relieved the last soldier of his weapon and grabbed him by the collar before throwing him to the ground. I sheathed my blade as he scrambled toward the closest gun.

  I tilted my head and watched. “What’s wrong with you?”

  No answer came, and he crawled awfully close to a rifle. I pulled him away by the collar of his shirt. With a kick, I turned him on his back.

  He stared wildly at me and kept trying to crawl away. So I stomped on one of his legs, shattering his kneecap. His eyes bulged out, but still he tried to get to the rifle. So I broke his other knee… and then both arms.

  With his limbs shattered and pointing in awkward directions, he couldn’t do much crawling.

  I squatted down next to him and gave him a soft slap with my brows knit. “Hey. I asked you a question.”

  His eyes flitted from side to side, as if looking for a way to hurt me. I grabbed his face and forced him to look at me.

  The veil around him warped slightly. He wasn’t the Blessed that caused a stir, but he was connected.

  “Where is the Blessed?” I asked and leaned closer.

  His eyes grew still focused on mine. They were a deep brown, but brightened gradually.

  The legion. Sera’s voice rang out inside my head.

  The soldier’s eyes continued brightening until they shone a radiant gold. The warping veil shuddered and his emotionless face twisted into a broad grin.

  “Impressive,” he said, voice rumbling with a dissonant screech. “I did not expect you to be so… cold. Killing your own kind indiscriminately… Shame on you.”

  My face fell. “I thought we were on the same side. Why did you attack us?”

  He scoffed. “That is rich. You sink your parasitic teeth into a Resplendent Deity, yet expect cooperation.”

  Color drained from my face. “The cobbler?”

  He looked at me with disbelief then burst out laughing. “To use such lowly monikers… I am not, the Resplendent. Why would someone like He ever lower himself to deal with an ant like you?”

  I bit my lip. Confidence returned. This was no god, just a simple messenger. “Then why are you here?” I asked. “I thought only the Scourge would come.”

  “Does a door care who turns the handle?” He shook his head and clicked his tongue. “I was simply curious as to how a little insect could cause such a stir in the City of Gold. I wanted to see their world for myself. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I would actually run into you, who is practically dripping with his radiance. But now that I have, I think I would like to earn myself the favor of a Deity. This information alone will earn me a fortune. But just imagine the boon if I were to capture you?”

  Disgust coursed through my veins, fueling an ember of rage at his greed. I thought we were on the same side in the fight against the Scourge. I knew the Cobbler wouldn’t take lightly to me tapping into his divinity. But this? Having legionnaires mix with Scourge and threaten the people I care about? That I hadn’t expected.

  My voice rumbled in my throat. “You would go this far?” I pointed at the corpses littering the rooftops.

  He smiled. “Oh, little insect. I would go much, much further.”

  “Then this conversation is over. Enjoy the last stretch of your life. I will end it soon,” I said and stood, unsheathing Stoneflow.

  “I look forward to it, little leech!” he said and giggled.

  I cut the soldier’s head off, and with it the connection. All lingering traces of magic dissipated into the veil. I sheathed the sword and cast a last look at the mayhem I’d created.

  Their deaths already weighed heavy on my conscience, but knowing that I was the root cause made it worse.

  “I propose we add this fucker’s name to the hit list,” I said aloud.

  I accept this proposition and will name him the puppeteer. Sera spoke into my mind. He will make a fine first target.

  I nodded and gave his puppet one last look. As long as I paid attention to the veil, I was certain he couldn’t sneak up on me. The question was how he chose who to control. And how he asserted said control.

  “Is he strong?”

  That is subjective. He is stronger than you, and sly.

  Time was running out. I needed to grow stronger quickly, or risk the others getting dragged into my mess. I rubbed my eyes and felt the warmth of blood caking my face. “What a mess,” I muttered.

  I couldn’t wait to explain this to Nyla—barring a few details of course.

  The others had barricaded themselves inside the car. I heard them scramble as I opened the door at the bottom of the building and exited.

  “It’s me,” I declared.

  Two faced peeked over the armored door before it flung open. Quinn rushed at me. “What the fuck was that?!” she demanded.

  She tried to push me but I stood firm as a mountain. Gabi joined her outside and pulled her back as best as a mundane person could hold back a Blessed.

  I furrowed my brows. “They were lost causes. A puppeteer controlled them.”

  Quinn’s lips quivered. She hadn’t reacted this way when her friend died. I couldn’t see the issue in what I had done. Even though I was the cause, it had been necessary for our survival.

  She wiped her nose and stormed back to the car.

  Gabi watched her leave, then turned to me, her eyes filled with worry. She stepped forward and raised her hand toward my cheek but stopped herself just a bit shy of touching me. “Are you… are you okay?” she asked.

  “I’ll be fine. You?”

  She nodded.

  “And the car? Can you get it running?”

  “I think so. You probably just knocked something loose when you—you know.”

  Smashed the hood. I filled in the gap.

  “Alright, get to work right away. We can’t stay here any longer.”

  There was no telling who or what had heard the commotion. But if we decided to laze around, we would soon find out.