Trapped

flames were out, my skin was still cooking and dying, and I couldn’t seem to catch my breath. That magic had been the only thing keeping me functioning.
    » Move! « Granuaile said, pulling at me, and I staggered after her, much slower than before. The dark elves would have no trouble catching up, I could tell, and they’d have us at their mercy long before we got to that greenbelt.
    At least my aura was proof against their knives. Granuaile didn’t have any defense against them.
    » You go ahead, fast as you can, « I said.
    » No. «
    » Get to the trees, buff up your speed, and then you can take them out when they solidify. «
    » You’re coming with me. Let’s go , sensei! «
    » They can’t hurt me, « I explained, still unable to manage much more than a rolling stagger. The faint breeze this generated against my skin was unspeakably abrasive. » They have nothing but their stupid black knives, and I’m immune. You go and I’ll catch up. We’ll take them together. «
    Granuaile was on the verge of objecting again when a gurgling cry behind us demanded our attention. She was quicker to process what was happening than I was.
    » Shit. It’s him! «
    Him again. Leif Helgarson had caught one of our pursuers in the second he turned solid, and then the vampire had simply torn the creature in two. Two seconds later, even as we watched, another dark elf became solid, Leif blurred, and a startled cry was all the death song the Svartálf could manage before one half of his body was forcibly shorn from the other. We stopped trying to run and faced Leif. He waved cheerfully, then tore apart our final tail. I wondered if any of the street’s residents were watching this from their windows. Perhaps it was a really good night for Greek television. Leif called to me while standing between still-twitching halves of his last victim.
    » May we speak for a spell, Atticus, or will you destroy me now? «
    » You know you’re safe, « I rasped. » I’m out of magic. «
    » Even so, « he said. » I always suspect that you are holding something back. «
    » That’s reasonable, « I replied. » Come closer and we won’t have to shout. «
    I turned to walk toward Vizyis. By the time Granuaile spun around to keep pace, Leif had zipped up to walk on my left. He glanced at my ruined features.
    » I am sorry, « he said. » I did not think they would manage to do you any harm. «
    » Eleven or twelve smoky bastards against two and you thought we’d walk out without a scratch? «
    Leif shrugged a shoulder. » I have seen you lay waste to fields of opponents. «
    » Field is the key word there. There was no field in that store and therefore no magic. «
    » It is magic I have come to warn you about. You are heading for the greenbelt, yes? «
    » Of course. «
    » Theophilus has seeded it with vampires who are searching for a human with unusual blood. «
    » Beware the puppet master, eh? «
    » Yes, but Theophilus is not the puppet master. He is more of a skilled apprentice, if you wish to extend a metaphor. «
    » Then who’s pulling his strings? «
    » Someone from your world. «
    » Ireland? «
    » No. The other one. Tír na nÓg. «
    » The Fae are behind all this? Someone there is giving orders both to dark elves and vampires? «
    » As far as I can tell, yes. «
    It was no more than I had already suspected, but to have it confirmed was a bit of a shock. But maybe it wasn’t confirmed after all. I couldn’t trust anything he said.
    » I know what you’re up to, « I growled.
    Leif’s lips turned up at the corners. » I would be intensely disappointed if you did not. «
    » You’re playing both sides and setting your own odds in Vegas, you conniving bastard. You probably have some Machiavellian shit going down on other planets. Are you expecting me to make a deal with you? An alliance? «
    The vampire shrugged again, hands in pockets. » None is needed. For now our interests are the same. That will serve as well as anything else. «
    » I will never forgive you for using me. For hurting Oberon. «
    Leif smirked at me. » How fortunate, then, that I do not seek your forgiveness. I will go ahead and dispatch the two at the edge of the greenbelt. After that, you will be on your own. What is it that the young Americans say now? ‘Peace out, brah’? «
    » No, « I said, » not unless they want to get their balls booted into their stomachs, « but Leif had already raced ahead, his amused chuckle hanging in the air and