CHAPTER SEVENTY-FOUR
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Kovey Walber
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1st of Janus, 936 PC
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“You were right,” Elgar said. “It’s horrible.” He scratched at the bloody bandages covering his stump. “And I’m not even empty. I could change if I wanted to. Don’t know how you get by.”
Kovey handed him a piece of the squirrel Corbin had managed to shoot. “It gets easier.” He took a bite of his own meat. “Not much easier, but some.”
They sat near the main door of the temple, eating and making small talk that was made uncomfortable by circumstance. The Wrecker Kovey and Corbin had stolen had slowed to a crawl then stopped moving completely when they were about half a mile from the temple. There may have been a chance to walk farther north if the storm hadn’t picked back up but since it had there was little other choice but to sit and hope the Lotus didn’t find them. That’s to say they hadn’t prepared for a standoff though. Belvedere had gathered enough strength to use her new magic to tear several of the benches apart so her innate magic could barricade all the doors and windows. Crazy thing watching wooden boards adhere to stone so tight no normal man alive could peel them off. Unfortunately, they all knew they weren’t being chased by ordinary men and women. A few Lotus blasts and the boards would tear apart.
“Don’t figure I’ll have to deal with it too much longer,” Elgar said.
The gentle sound of Corbin reading to a resting Belvedere hummed in the pews behind them.
“Thanks,” Elgar said, throwing Kovey off. He’d handed Elgar the meat too long ago for such a delayed response. Didn’t sound like that’s what he meant anyway based on the somber tone he used.
“For?” Kovey lifted Belvedere’s bag full of supplies onto his lap, wondering if maybe Elgar was too proud to ask him to redo his bandages.
Elgar gestured toward his elbow. “I don’t what I’ll look like walking down the road home but I sure as the three hells didn’t want that thing dangling around while I did.”
“Don’t mention it.” He’d never used that phrase and meant it so much. He nearly gagged every time he thought about what Elgar’s wound looked like underneath those bloody wraps. Changing the bandages for the man was downright sickening but he felt some strange obligation to do so after being the one to take half his arm from him.
They didn’t talk anymore after that, just kept eating and drinking as they watched it snow through the hole in the roof. It may have been peaceful if not for the sound of Wreckers banging loudly in the distance.
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Kovey slid his arms under Belvedere’s legs and back, picking her up out of the pew as carefully as he could. Her eyes flickered open in the moonlight pouring through the roof but she was still mostly asleep.
“Kove, is that you?”
“Shh. Quiet, Bel, go back to sleep.”
A single lotus capsule had given her some strength but nowhere near enough to dismiss the possibility that she may start to dry out at any moment.
Belvedere started to understand what was happening, that she was being carried. “What’s go-”
“Shh.” Kovey shook his head.
There were Lotus outside, lurking in the trees, too unsure what lay inside the temple to waltz right in but working up the courage slowly.
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Kovey carried Belvedere into the small room that sat just off the nave. He laid her down on the makeshift bed she’d made when they’d arrived and handed her the tiny knife he’d found in the pew. As he did, he was filled with dread. “Barricade that door with everything you can when I leave and only use this if they find you. Or the stuff you got in your hands, I guess.”
“Kovey Walber, you tell me what’s going on right now.”
“There are Lotus outside.” He whispered to get a point across. “I need you to stay here and be as quiet as possible. Me and Elgar and Corbin have it covered. Don’t worry.”
Her eyes had gone from wide with fear when he started talking to narrow and angry as she looked around the windowless room full of empty bookshelves and ruined chairs. “I will not sit in here while the rest of you fight.”
“None of us are going to fight. We’re going to lead them away from here. You won’t be able to keep up. We’ll come back for you as soon as it’s safe to do so. Just don’t let them through that door.”
For a moment, she considered arguing but they both knew it was true. All she would do is make things more dangerous for everyone. “Fine. But you come right back here when it’s safe.”
“I will.” He started to stand but stopped, turned back to her. In the darkness it was hard to see how weak she’d become, easy to envision the strong, beautiful angel he loved. “Bel.”
“Kove.” There was expectancy in her voice.
“I love you.”
She stared at him through the shadows. The first blasts pounded on the windows and doors of the temple. Combine that with the fact she hadn’t said anything back to him and he panicked. Stood and rushed toward the door. “Barricade this. And no matter what happens, I’ll save you.”
“Kove, wait!”
He shut the door and rushed toward the front of the temple as more blasts beat the building like a drum. A hint of the purple lotus blasts could be seen illuminating the sky through the holes in the roof. He pressed himself to the stone wall beside the door and glanced at the ground. Corbin and Elgar lay unconscious there, hands bound behind their backs. It always surprised him how easily a few drops of Master Rellin’s Dreamweaver could knock a man out.
Another blast ripped the door open, sending splinters of wood scattering across the stone floor. “I’m here. The others on the floor beside me.” He stepped into the moonlight with his hands above his head.
Three shadowy Lotus met him with their hands raised but not nearly as pitifully. The snow was blowing horizontally with the wind behind them. He recognized the one in the middle with her long black braid that was flapping wildly in the harsh wind. Lieutenant Pallani. A reasonable enough woman if she hadn’t changed since the last time they’d worked together but only if you kept your mind focused on the task at hand. Show her an ounce of laziness and she’d grab you by the balls and twist until you got back on track.
“Walber.”
“Lieutenant Pallani.”
“Captain Pallani now.”
“One of your boys almost killed me in the ambush.” He presented the charred wound on his arm. “I expect a healer to take care of this.”
Captain Pallani swept the other two Lotus forward with a swing of her arm. “And you killed four of mine when you stole my Wrecker. Brilliant idea by the way. Practically led us right to you.”
Kovey gave a shrug full of playful modesty. “What can I say, I’m good at what I do. Still, I don’t appreciate cutting it that close.”
“He was a new recruit. Wasn’t even supposed to be there.” Kovey stood there, waiting patiently. “I’m sorry, alright… Stop bitching and let them do their job so we can get out of this weather.”
He smiled. “That’s all I wanted to hear.”
The Lotus patted every inch of his body, like always. He’d rounded up and turned in more Purists than any Lotus in Iris’ army and yet they still kept him at an arm’s length. At some point his work would speak for itself, but that day was not today.
“Clear, ma’am,” the female Lotus said.
“How many?” the captain asked.
“Two. Your new recruit killed one of the gals and the other got away. The loud mouth bitch emptied herself out when she tore some of ya up though. Not that that will stop you from hunting her down.”
“Load them up,” the captain said to her subordinates, unfazed by Kovey’s jab.
More Lotus came trickling into view from the sides of the temple.
The male Lotus beside Kovey put his hand on Kovey’s elbow but was shrugged off. “I’ve walked through knee deep snow for a week. I think I can handle these steps.” He wrapped his arm around the captain’s shoulders as they walked down the stairs. “I need a favor.”