Chapter 23 · Seraphina followed his gaze. “No.” “Yes.” “No.” “You

Seraphina followed his gaze. “No.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“You don’t even know what I’m thinking.”

“You’re looking at the armory.”

“It’s a very obvious armory.”

“It’s full of breach powder.”

“Exactly.”

“You can’t siphon that much ash.”

“I’m not planning to siphon it.”

The warlord raised his axe. “Get off her!”

Seraphina shoved Raven’s chest. “Get us out of this.”

He rolled away as the axe split the stone where his shoulder had been. Seraphina caught the chain with both hands, swung around the warlord’s arm, and locked the links across his throat.

His guards hesitated.

“Shoot,” the warlord choked. “Shoot, you idiots!”

“Try it,” Seraphina said. Her knee pressed into his spine. “You’ll hit him first.”

Raven rose with the stolen crossbow aimed at the balcony. “And I’ll hit you second.”

A guard lowered his weapon. “Boss—”

“Do it!”

Raven fired.

The bolt struck the guard’s crossbow and knocked it from his hands. The man stumbled backward into two others. All three crashed against the railing.

Raven turned toward the armory.

The warlord twisted under Seraphina’s hold. “You think this changes anything? There’s no way out. The fortress is sealed.”

“Not for you,” Raven said.

He kicked open the lockbox.