Lupi 06 - Blood Magic

they emerged. She wriggled - and came out of the ground.
    The two of them ended up lying in a tangle on the crumbled earth. "That was tight," Lily said. "That was way too tight. He only knows one size for tunnels, and that's his size. He saved my life."
    "You're all right." Rule ran his hands over her frantically. "You're not hurt."
    "Scraped and bruised, that's all." She stopped to cough.
    Sudden dread made him freeze. "Cynna?"
    "In the tunnel. She was in the tunnel when the ward pulled everything down. Mel says she's fine. He says gnome tunnels do not collapse. No," she corrected herself with a faint grin, "he sniffed, very superior, and said, 'Our tunnels is never collapsing. Real earthquakes is not collapsing. This bitty shake is not collapsing.' "
    Now Rule was the one blinking. "Mel?"
    She grimaced. "I can't say his whole name. The little elder who saved me."
    "I thought he was... Never mind." Rule heaved to his feet, but stayed bent over so he wouldn't provide a target. He gave Lily a tug to get her on her feet. The cavity was deep enough that she could stand straight.
    Carl poked his nose over the edge. He yipped happily when he saw Lily.
    Behind him, an explosion made the ground shake again, followed quickly by a second blast.
    Rule looked at his friend. "The ones in the house didn't surrender."
    Carl shook his head.
    Rule had a quick flash of the kind of devastation the grenades must have wreaked. He shut it away. No time for that now. "Okay. Go back to Remy. He's in charge of your group. I'm heading around front."
    "What's happening?" Lily asked.
    "My father, your grandmother, Cullen, and six clan are fighting the sorcerer and the Chimei." He gave the steep side of the cavity an appraising look, found a likely handhold, and started up. Dirt crumbled and he shifted, got close enough to get an arm over the edge, and heaved. "Five of us tackled the gang members in and near the house," he continued, reaching down to pull Lily up. "They're either dead now or very close to it."
    She helped as much as she could, scrambling with her feet. Once again they ended up tangled together in the dirt. "All of them?" She was slightly winded. "How many is all of them?"
    "Thirty-six."
    She looked at him for a moment, then gave a quick shake of her head. Like him, she'd deal with that later. "What's the plan?"
    "As soon as Remy makes sure there aren't any left to pursue, he and Carl will take you to the cars. They're a couple miles away - we couldn't risk being spotted. The gnomes know the spot. They'll take Cynna there."
    "Did you take a blow to the head? I'm not going to the damned cars."
    "You're unarmed. You're a potential hostage. The Chimei - "
    "You're not just unarmed, you're unclothed. And the Chimei is a lot more likely to kill you than me."
    "Lily, the whole point of tonight's mission is to get you and Cynna safely away. No one can leave until you do."
    "And you think Johnny - "
    "Johnny?"
    "The sorcerer. He goes by Johnny Deng. You think he and the Chimei are going to say, 'Okay, you can all go home now,' once I'm not around?"
    He scowled, furious. And unsurprised. "Come on," he said roughly.
    * * * *
    But Rule didn't lead her to the front of the ramshackle house. He took her first to the place he'd left his weapons. As they ran, he briefed her in a low voice about who was here and why.
    Charms made by the Rhej using an ancient spell. The Lady speaking. Nokolai at war. "How can you win such a war?" she asked, her voice quiet.
    "We've made plans," he said vaguely as he handed her a nice little semiautomatic Glock. It wasn't her SIG, but it would do. "There's a chance the Chimei can hear us, if she tries, so I won't go into detail now."
    She stuck the plastic knife she'd held on to all this time in her pocket. "Sam somehow lured the bad guys away, you said. How?"
    Rule stepped into his jeans. "He made it seem his lair was unguarded. He thought the Chimei wouldn't be able to resist trying to get at Li Qin. Apparently he was right."
    Lily shivered. If the Chimei hadn't been so eager to collect another hostage with which to torment Grandmother, she might have tried to force Lily's "freely made offer" already. "But Li Qin - is she all right?"
    "Madame Yu assured me Li Qin would be safe. If she believes it, I'm inclined to." He shouldered an assault rifle.
    "Where is Sam?"
    "He RSVP'd his regrets."
    "What?"
    He grabbed her hand. "Come on. We'll come at them through the woods."
    The ground was rough and it was dark among