Magician's Touch (Deadly Touch book 3) Chapter 22: 22: She's Alive

Read chapter 22 of Magician's Touch (Deadly Touch book 3) by Deb E Howell on NovelPedia.

“How many?” Jonas asked. “I don’t know. Twenty?” Karlani shrugged. “It can’t be known that I’m here.” Gaemil, stood. Grim. “If I get involved, there can be no Turhmos witnesses.” “There won’t be. There can’t.” Jonas pulled two knives from his vest and held them out to Karlani. “You with us?” She hesitated a moment, like she thought she had a choice, then she took the knives. “You’re gonna have to get in the middle of it. It’s the only place you’ll make a difference.” Lips pressed tight, Karlani nodded and headed back out the door. “We were meant to build defenses,” Llew muttered. “And have you fixed. We’re not ready.” She stood, rested a hand on a knife handle. She was as ready as she would have to be. “We haven’t even—” “We’re ready,” Jonas assured her. Anya let slip a strange mix of a gasp and denial, and Jonas fixed his attention on her and Elka. “You two stay put. They won’t hurt you if you’re hunkered down in here.” Of course, such proclamations relied on the other side following the rules. It wasn’t a perfect reassurance, but it was all they had. Elka nodded solemnly. Anya’s usual must-do-something stress response had her eyes darting around, but she conceded, relaxing a little at having a clear instruction to follow. To Gaemil, Jonas said, “Keep to the rear. Let Llew, Karlani, Alvaro, Rowan, and your guards lead the fight. I’ll support where I can.” He grabbed his crutches. By the time he, Llew, and Gaemil stepped outside, Rowan, Alvaro and Gaemil’s guards had reached the house. Alvaro darted inside for his sword. Rowan had grabbed a rust peppered machete from a shed. The Turhmos riders gathering at the gate hesitated. Likely they had expected a weakened Jonas and Llew, maybe Rowan and Elka. Jonas couldn’t recall Braph’s cognitive connection in the presence of Karlani, and certainly not since Gaemil had arrived. These soldiers wouldn’t have expected a fight at all, never mind near even. As far as Jonas could see, the Turhmos soldiers carried only swords, ready for a close battle, which best suited their Aenuk soldiers, but he wondered how many, if any, Aenuks were in this rank. Surely, their numbers were too low to risk sending them out. Well, they would find out soon enough. He jumped down from the deck, catching most of his weight on his good leg and accepting the shooting pain up his missing shin as well as his still present thigh, steadied himself. Llew followed, and placed herself to the side and in front of him. Rowan flanked his other side. Karlani and Alvaro joined their posse, leaving Gaemil to command his guards at the rear. Jonas pulled a knife, hefted it in his hand, getting a sense of its weight. It was the same style and weight he’d been throwing for years, but it felt different in his unenhanced grip. Still, he reckoned he had the same eye he’d always had. He flipped the blade, caught it, flipped, and caught again, letting his subconscious do the necessaries to make each throw count. Their small posse edged forward, helping make Jonas’s throws more likely to count. The Turhmos soldiers kicked their horses forward. Jonas threw the knife. One of the front riders grunted, but it was only a glancing blow to an arm. Jonas drew another knife, same style, same weight, flung it. The front rider slumped in his saddle, slipped to the side. Other riders had to go around him, their confidence shaken some. “Go, go!” He nudged Karlani with his elbow. She complied, dashing forward, pulling a rider from his horse, and plunging a knife into him, and continuing onward to find her next victim. Untrained as a soldier, she’d practiced a few mock battles with Jonas at full strength. She knew enough to face these unprepared soldiers. Llew must’ve thought he meant the command for her as well, for she surged into the fray. Jonas clenched his teeth. She was Syaenuk, she would survive. Rowan and Alvaro followed the women, soon overtaking Llew, much to Jonas’s relief, but it didn’t keep her from the midst of the fight for long, and