Screams erupted throughout the elegant living room. While everyone whirled towards the main doorway and summoned magic to defend themselves, I slipped in through the side door that Elise had so helpfully told us about.
Callan was standing in the doorway, providing them with a clear target. Water and wind and lightning magic twisted around several people’s hands, but he easily parried their attacks. Another large portion of the crowd tried to bolt. I swept my gaze over them.
Paige, Henry, and Levi had spread out around the room so that the five of us circled the whole crowd. We exchanged a glance.
As one, the four of them shot their magic towards their side of the group. Force magic, a large sheet of metal, and wind blasts from Paige and Henry slammed into the panicked guests and shoved them all back towards the center of the room.
While they were too shocked, and too focused on the others, to see it coming, I hurled a massive poison cloud into the room.
Within seconds, glittering green mist enveloped the entire cluster of people. I increased the poison levels enough to make sure that even the strongest members lost their grip on their magic. It made the weaker half crash to their knees. To my surprise, Elise Dawson was one of the people who managed to remain standing.
“Sorry to crash your party,” Callan said over the sound of choking people. “But we’re gonna need you to come with us.”
Fear washed over their faces as they looked between the five of us. Carl was on his knees, dry heaving on the rich blue carpet, while Elise squeezed his shoulder where she stood next to him.
“Here’s what’s going to happen,” I said. “I’m going to remove this poison cloud and then we’re going to give you a series of instructions. Obey them without question, and you’ll live to see another sunrise.”
It was difficult to tell since most of them were coughing their lungs up, but I was pretty sure that they nodded.
I let my mist dissipate.
Lightning zapped through the air. I only had time to blink in surprise as the white bolt shot straight towards my chest.
Right before it could hit, it crashed into a thick sheet of metal.
The resounding boom it created echoed throughout the white marble room.
I dragged my gaze to Levi as the metal shield disappeared. My pulse thrummed in my ears. If Levi hadn’t blocked it for me, that lightning strike, aimed straight at my heart from close up, might actually have killed me. I gave the King of Metal a slow nod.
Out on the floor, people had drawn back from a short man with a thick mustache, as if they were afraid that just standing near him would make them guilty too. The man in question shot a panicked look between me and Levi while raising his hands.
“I’m… I’m sorry,” he stammered.
“Elise,” I said, keeping my eyes locked on the man. “Who is he? Is he on the list or is he a plus one?”
“He’s a plus one,” she replied.
“Good.”
A thin tendril of poison shot through the room and forced its way down the man’s throat within seconds. He collapsed to the ground immediately. Shock still twisted his features while his lifeless eyes stared up at the pale ceiling.
Two steps away, a woman let out a raw scream. Presumably the person who had brought him as her plus one.
I spread my arms wide. “Anyone else want to try their luck?”
They shook their heads desperately and edged a few steps back. That only put them closer to Levi, which they realized when they glanced over their shoulders, so they tried to shift again only to run into the same problem on Callan’s side. It created a weird shuffling motion that only stopped when Henry pulled out a large bag that we had stashed inside the house before the guests arrived. Metallic clanking filled the air as he tossed it onto the floor a short distance from the group.
“Elise,” I said, meeting the blond woman’s eyes from across the room. “Separate them into list people and plus ones. Put the plus ones on their knees by that wall.” I pointed towards the one that Levi was standing in front of.
“No, please,” another woman blurted out. “Please, we don’t want to die.”
“Have you already forgotten what I said earlier?” I shook my head at her in exasperation. “Do as you’re told, and you’ll live.”
She didn’t look convinced, but I didn’t particularly care so I just slid my gaze to Elise and spun my hand in the air. Elise held my gaze for a few seconds before she turned around and began steering people away from the group and towards the wall.
Most of them outright trembled as they staggered over to their place and then dropped to their knees. We made them face the wall and leave their unprotected backs to us in order to discourage any other futile attempts to be heroes.
When Elise at last nodded in confirmation, thirty-five people were left standing huddled together in the middle of the room.
Callan, who was still blocking the doorway, slid his gaze to Henry before returning it to the group and announcing, “Now, you’re gonna put on some handcuffs. Walk up to him,” he nodded towards Henry and then to Paige, “when she calls your name. Don’t try anything stupid because it won’t work. All it will do is get you hurt. Understood?”
No one dared answer.
The faint rustling of paper sounded almost deafening in the dead silent room as Paige pulled out the list and began reading names off it. A few steps away, Henry bent down and pulled out manacles from the bag before snapping them shut around the approaching people’s wrists. Callan, Levi, and I watched them all with sharp eyes. Thankfully, no one was dumb enough to try another attack.
Once they were all restrained, we separated them into groups of five.
Elise and Carl remained standing on the floor next to one of their expensive blue couches. Dread and regret swirled in their eyes, but all they could do was watch as we rounded everyone up.
“You five,” Callan snapped, and jerked his chin at the closest group. “Let’s go.”
They cast worried looks back at the others, but followed Callan into the corridor. Levi and Henry joined them too.
Hope sparkled in several people’s eyes when the three of them had disappeared out the front door with their captives. I blew out a sigh and brushed my palms together.
Glittering green magic immediately shot through the air above their heads.
“Don’t even think about it,” I warned. “You can either be conscious or unconscious while you wait. It’s all the same to me, so it’s your choice.”
No one moved. They all just stared up at the poison mist with wide eyes. All except the people still kneeling by the wall, since they couldn’t see what was happening behind their backs. But a lot of them hunched forward as if trying to make themselves smaller.
“Excellent,” I said when the silence had stretched for a while.
While letting my magic fade out again, I walked around the dark blue and golden couch and sat down in the middle of it. By the other wall, Paige pulled out a chair and sat down as well. This was going to take a while, after all.
Since we couldn’t very well transport thirty-five handcuffed prisoners through the streets of Eldar without drawing attention, we had to walk them over to our secure location in smaller groups. Callan and Henry would remain at the target building to watch the groups as they arrived while Paige and I kept an eye on the people still here. Levi, whose face was not plastered on wanted posters and who was lethal enough on his own, would walk the groups between this house and the other one.
It was going to take longer than I would have liked, but it was still the most efficient method to get everyone where we wanted them without risking our mission.
I slid my gaze to our two hosts. Elise and Carl were standing side by side in the exact same spot as before. Carl had wrapped his arm around Elise’s back and was holding her close to him, while she only stared unseeing at the gilded painting on the opposite wall.
“You can sit down,” I said.
They snapped their gazes to me. I nodded towards the couch positioned perpendicular to mine.
For a few seconds, they didn’t move. Then they exchanged a glance and carefully moved over to the indicated sofa. Sitting down, they positioned themselves as far away from me as they could get.
“Are you going to kill them?” Elise asked.
Light from the oil lamps danced across her beautiful features and glittered in the expensive-looking gold jewelry around her neck and wrists. She kept her back straight and her chin slightly raised as she looked back at me.
“As long as we get what we want, all of them will be released unharmed,” I answered.
Out on the floor, about a dozen people let out shaky breaths of relief.
“And if you don’t?” she pushed.
Saying nothing, I simply looked back at her.
She swallowed. Her hands were trembling a little, so she shook them out and then clasped them in her lap.
Silence descended on the room again. It was only broken by the occasional whimper or sniffle from the people kneeling by the wall. I studied Elise and Carl while they tried their best to pretend that they didn’t notice.
Amusement bubbled up inside me. Damn, they must be bitterly regretting the day that they invited us into their home and offered us tickets to the ball. I wondered how much trouble they had gotten into for that. After all, they were the reason that Callan and I had even been able to get into the ball and kidnap Lance in the first place.
“Why are you doing this?” Elise asked suddenly, pulling me from my musings.
I cocked my head and watched her in silence for another few seconds before replying. “Because people like you refuse to even consider that the way you live your lives is not the only way to live.”
“And that justifies kidnapping? Blackmail?” She stabbed a hand towards the body of the man I had killed earlier. “Murder?”
“It does to me.”
“There is something seriously wrong with you.”
“If you truly can’t understand why we dark mages are fighting back when you people declare war on us, then I would say the same to you.”
Pressing her lips together, she tore her gaze from me and went back to staring at the painting across the room. I rolled my eyes. Why did almost every single person in this entire city only see the world in terms of black and white?
After a while, the front door was opened. It was forceful enough that it could only be Levi, so I remained where I was.
Just as I thought, a moment later, the metal mage stalked into the living room. Dragging his hand through his black hair, he met my gaze. I nodded to confirm that everything was under control. He barely dipped his chin in response before snapping his gaze to the next group and twitching his fingers.
“Let’s go,” he commanded in a voice that left no room for argument.
Clothes rustled and shoes thudded against the polished floor as they shuffled after him.
I settled back against the cushions again. Across the room, Paige stretched her arms above her head and then leaned back in her chair as well.
The rest of the time passed in silence as both Elise and the other people with us kept their mouths shut while Levi appeared and disappeared several times.
When there was only one group of five people remaining on the floor, Levi paused before ordering them forward. His gray eyes slid to me but he jerked his chin towards Elise and Carl.
“And the hosts?” he said.
The Dawsons tensed. Carl’s worried gaze flicked between me and Levi, and after a few seconds Elise dragged hers to me as well. I let the silence stretch because I was a vicious bastard and I enjoyed making them nervous.
“They kept their end of the bargain.” I lifted my shoulders in a nonchalant shrug. “So I say we let them live.”
Levi shrugged too. “Fine by me.”
On the couch, Carl let out a shuddering breath while Elise sucked one in.
I pushed up from the cushions and strode towards the other wall. Wood groaned faintly as Paige rose to her feet as well. The people on their knees next to her whimpered and crouched down even more as I approached them from behind.
“After we leave, you are going to stay here in this room for one hour,” I began. “Once an hour has passed, you’re going to take the fastest horses you can find and ride straight to Chancellor Quill’s army and tell them exactly what we did tonight.”
Several heads snapped up. A few of them even turned to stare at me over their shoulders. Disbelief shone on their faces.
“No, this is not some kind of trick,” I said. “One hour. Then you ride for Quill’s camp.”
Some of them nodded while others just continued staring into the wall.
Since their response was rather underwhelming, I added, “If you don’t, we’ll track you down and kill you. Got it?”
“Got it,” half of them mumbled while the rest nodded.
“Great.” I turned back to the Dawsons. “Elise. Carl. Thanks for hosting. I knew we could count on you.”
Both of them stiffened and cast panicked looks towards the remaining guests, who now shot a few accusatory glances at them. I let out a dark chuckle under my breath. This was going to damage their social standing quite a bit.
Was it a dick move? Yes.
Was I a petty bitch who just wanted to watch their world burn? Also yes.
After giving them a mocking wave, I sauntered towards the doorway. Paige fell in beside me while Levi took the lead, the five hostages stumbling after him.
This had gone surprisingly well. We had our leverage.
Now, all we needed to do was to wait for our blackmail victims to show up.
