Lupi 04 - Night Season

than eight hours, there will be a period when we have the bed to ourselves.”
    Oh. In that case…she ran a hand up his side. “How’s your heart?”
    He didn’t answer for a moment, then said softly, “Better. It’s definitely getting better.”
    Â 
    C YNNA stirred when the bed dipped. “Go back to sleep, luv,” Cullen told her softly, and he pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Steve’s shift doesn’t start for another four hours.”
    She did. She slept soundly, too, and was dreaming of a cat-faced woman who wanted to hump Cullen. Cynna was explaining to her that Cullen’s penis was not shaped properly for feline intercourse when the door crashed open.
    Cullen rolled to his feet on one side of the bed. Steve did the same on the other. An eight-foot tusked monster holding about six feet of drawn sword bellowed and surged through the doorway. Cynna, bogged down in the middle of the soft mattress, hadn’t finished untangling herself from the quilts when Cullen flamed him.
    His scream went on and on, mixing with other screams. His blackened body fell, blocking the door, as Cynna finally got her feet on the far side of the bed, next to Steve.
    â€œDuck!” Steve cried—as a second monster replaced the first in the doorway.
    Cullen ducked. Steve fired. The first shot seemed to startle the monster—its eyes widened, and it hesitated. The second shot hit right between those eyes.
    â€œThe window!” Cullen called, heaving one of the bodies away from the doorway. Maybe he hoped to block it if he could get the door shut.
    Cynna spun, shoved open the shutter. “Shit! Two more climbing onto the roof of the porch. More—at least ten more on horseback—in the street below. Ahk,” she added, her mind catching up with events. “They’re Ahk.”
    A rumbling voice sounded behind her. Even as she whirled back to face the door, the charm was translating: “You fight bravely, but you are outnumbered twenty to one. Surrender, and we will spare all those still alive.”
    There was no one in the doorway. The speaker must have decided to lurk out of the line of fire.
    Speaking of which, Cullen sent a jet of flame it through the doorway. “And we should take your word for that? Don’t see why. I’ve got plenty more of this.”
    Rumble, rumble. The charm: “We do not kill you for that this time. You are new to Edge and do not know the Ahk. As for your fire… grieegwashabettama. ”
    Or something like that. At the sound of the last words, the ones the charm didn’t translate, the blackened corpse on the floor reached out and grabbed Cullen’s ankle.
    He yelped, seized the enormous sword dropped by one of the monsters, and swung it. Steve shot at someone outside the window.
    Obviously this dude had a charm, too. Or else he’d learned English. He’d clearly understood Cullen. “What do you want?” Cynna called.
    â€œYou,” the charm said, “if you are Cynna Weaver. We want you alive. We are willing to spare the others if you surrender now. I make this offer so you may choose life for them, if you wish.”
    Where were the others? The five remaining guards, Tash, Gan, Bilbo, Wen—all dead? Her father? God, she’d just gotten him, please…please.
    She heard fighting downstairs. But several of their party had been here, on this floor. Daniel Weaver had been here, where all was so very quiet…“Tell your men to stop advancing, and we’ll talk.”
    Her charm translated the bass gibberish as “Why should I do that?”
    â€œBecause you don’t want them to die unnecessarily. Just as I would rather my people didn’t die without reason. If they keep coming before we have a deal, we’ll keep killing them.”
    There was a pause, then he bellowed something that translated simply as “Hold!” and added in what passed for a normal voice, “You are in charge? The others will do as you say?”
    â€œWell, the councilor thinks he is, but yes, I am.” Cullen kept telling her that, anyway. She’d find out if he meant it.
    â€œThe gnome is dead.”
    Her breath caught. She looked at Cullen. What now? Without the gnome to take custody of the medallion, what was even possible? They could kill some of the Ahk, but not all. They were too few, and there was no cavalry riding to their rescue.
    Cynna shivered, and blamed