“At least with the nichevo’ya it will be relatively quick,” David said. “I say we go down fighting. ” We all turned to look at him. He seemed a little surprised himself. Then he shrugged. He met my eyes and said, “We do the best we can. ”
I looked around the circle. One by one they nodded.
I took a breath. “David, do you have any grenatki left?”
He pulled two iron cylinders from his kefta. “These are the last. ”
“Use one, keep the other in reserve. I’ll give the signal. When I open the doors, run for the palace gates. ”
“I’m staying with you,” Mal said.
I opened my mouth to argue, but one look told me there would be no point.
“Don’t wait for us,” I said to the others. “I’ll give you as much cover as I can. ”
Another clap of thunder split the air.
The Grisha plucked rifles from the arms of the dead and gathered around me at the door.
“All right,” I said. I turned and laid my hands on the carved handles. Through my palms, I felt the thump of nichevo’ya bodies as they heaved themselves against the wood. My wound gave a searing throb.
I nodded to Zoya. The lock snicked back.
I threw the door open and shouted, “Now!”
David lobbed the flash bomb into the twilight as Zoya swooped her arms through the ai
r, lofting the cylinder higher on a Squaller draft.
“Get down!” David yelled. We turned toward the shelter of the hall, eyes squeezed shut, hands thrown over our heads, bracing for the explosion.
The blast shook the stone floor beneath our feet, and the glare burned red across my closed lids.
We ran. The nichevo’ya had scattered, startled by the burst of light and sound, but only seconds later, they were whirling back toward us.
“Run!” I shouted. I raised my arms and brought the light down in fiery scythes, cutting through the violet sky, carving through one nichevo’ya after the next as Mal opened fire. The Grisha ran for the wooded tunnel.
I called on every bit of the stag’s power, the sea whip’s strength, every trick Baghra had ever taught me. I pulled the light toward me and honed it into searing arcs that cut luminous trails through the shadow army.
But there were just too many of them. What had it cost the Darkling to raise such a multitude? They surged forward, bodies shifting and whirling like a glittering cloud of beetles, arms stretched forward, sharp talons bared. They pushed the Grisha back from the tunnel, black wings beating the air, the wide, twisted holes of their mouths already yawning open.
Then the air came alive with the rattle of gunfire. There were soldiers pouring out of the woods to my left, shooting as they ran. The war cry that issued from their lips raised the hair on my arms. Sankta Alina.
They hurtled toward the nichevo’ya, drawing swords and sabers, slashing out at the monsters with terrifying ferocity. Some were dressed as farmers, some wore ragged First Army uniforms, but each of them bore identical tattoos: my sunburst, wrought in ink over the sides of their faces.
Only two were unmarked. Tolya and Tamar led the charge, eyes wild, blades flashing, roaring my name.
Chapter 23
THE SUN SOLDIERS plunged into the shadow horde, cutting and thrusting, pushing the nichevo’ya back as the riflemen fired again and again. But despite their ferocity, they were only human, flesh and steel pitted against living shadow. One by one, the nichevo’ya began to pick them off.
“Make for the chapel!” Tamar shouted.
The chapel? Did she plan to throw hymnals at the Darkling?
“We’ll be trapped!” cried Sergei, running toward me.
“We’re already trapped,” Mal replied, slinging his rifle onto his back and grabbing my arm. “Let’s go!”
I didn’t know what to think, but we were out of options.
“David!” I yelled. “The second bomb!”
He flung it toward the nichevo’ya. His aim was wild, but Zoya was there to help it along.
We dove into the woods, the sun soldiers bringing up the rear. The blast tore through the trees in a gust of white light.
Lamps had been lit in the chapel and the door stood open. We burst inside, the echoes from our footfalls bouncing up over the pews and off the glazed blue dome.
“Where do we go?” Sergei cried in panic.
Already we could hear the whirring, clicking hum from outside. Tolya slammed the chapel door shut, dropping a heavy wooden bolt into place. The sun soldiers took up positions by the windows, rifles in hand.