Chapter Twenty-Eight

 

The cavern where Brazio stood was a back way to the Lazona, barely used due to the narrow and obstacle-strewn tunnel that connected the two. Terrible for commerce, but perfect for a raid. His spies had determined that the Lazona was barely defended. With the Undercity in high tension, and Drops thinking offense, they'd pulled a quarter of their guards in the last week.

Jando made a series of hand signals, asking when the Crows were due to arrive. Brazio checked his watch. They were a few minutes late, which didn't surprise him. The Crows were undisciplined gangsters with a minor talent for violence. Allying with them wasn't his first choice, but he didn't think his brother's idea had been a bad one. The only difference was that he would have used their numbers to take down the Drops right away before their alliance was well-known. Strike fast, strike hard. The tenet had served him well in the Undercity. As soon as doubt was allowed to creep in, then death was around the corner. He loved his brother, but his indecision as of late had cost them valuable momentum. The war for the Undercity would not be won with half measures.

Brazio motioned back to Jando. Stay ready. There were eight of them. Four waku. Four soldados. The Crows would double their numbers, but not the reach of their raid. He planned on using them to protect their flanks, not trusting their trigger discipline in a tight firefight. The Crows were used to wide city streets where wanton bullet spray could be forgiven.

At the edge of his amber, Brazio sensed movement towards their location through the tunnels they'd agreed upon using. He gave the signal for "soon." His warriors made last-second checks on their gear.

Brazio did the same. He adjusted the placement of the sword on his back. It'd been specially made by an alumni of Metallum Nocturne. He hated the name Reaver, but couldn't deny its effectiveness. The blade could cut through wood or thin metal sheeting as if it were paper. It'd been his preferred weapon before the stones. A quick confirmation that his twin pistols were off safety was followed by confirming the looseness of his curved blades. Finally, he checked the pouch on his hip for the little surprises that he'd brought to help create chaos.

The scuff of a shoe against the rocks announced the arrival of the Crows. Brazio had expected them to come in with headlamps as they had few ambers. He'd supplied his four soldados with elixirs that would provide the same quality of vision as an amber. He assumed that the Crows had done the same, which gave him hope that they'd sent their best to support the raid.

The leader of the Crows stepped into the cavern, a good fifty feet from their location. He was well-built with wide shoulders and wore thick armor. The rest of his team wore an equal level of protective gear, while his side wore only loose clothing. His brother had suggested body armor for the raid, but Brazio didn't like the way it slowed him down. He gave them a welcoming gesture. Brazio might not agree with the overall plan, but he'd do his best to carry out his brother's wishes, and that included making the Crows feel like equal partners.

The Crow leader returned the wave, an awkward gesture that struck Brazio as peculiar. The Crows wore coverings that hid their faces. Brazio had a few trinkets to drop during the raid to throw blame towards the alliance clans.

Their partners crossed the cavern not in single file, but in an arc. It wasn't the kind of formation one used during peaceful times, which made Brazio give a covert signal to his companions that something might be wrong. Brazio drilled his amber into their leader, sensing an alien aura reflected back.

Jando responded to his gesture, but Brazio never saw it as the tips of the Crows' automatic weapons rose in unison. He switched to Lightness, and using his topaz, he threw himself forty feet through the air towards a rocky ledge.

Gunfire erupted. Muzzle flashes hurt his eyes, but Brazio squinted through the glare, taking down two Crows with his twin pistols before he landed.

He barely threw himself behind the rocks before the Crows lit up his part of the cavern with overlapping fire. Rocks exploded all around him. Brazio kept his face down to protect his eyes as they wasted their bullets.

A brief pause gave him the opportunity to check back to where his fellow Razor members were standing. He saw only bodies. It didn't look like anyone had gotten away. Brazio ducked behind the rocks as they fired once again. Not a great position. Brazio cursed himself for not running for the exit, but he'd thought he would take a flanking position.

"Fucking Crows," he muttered.

Their leader called out. "You're trapped and outnumbered, Brazio Santos. The rest of your crew is dead. Surrender and promise loyalty to my boss and you'll have a chance to live."

As the silky voice hit his ear, he knew exactly why their leader's aura felt different.

"Maetrie are nothing but liars and thieves," said Brazio.

"That's no way to negotiate, insulting the person who can grant you life under terrible circumstances."

Brazio had no intention of surrendering, nor did he believe the city fae. The promise of submission would only get him a hail of bullets to the chest. There was no way that Gregor Anderson would agree to let the brother of the clan leader they wiped out go free.

He risked a peek over the rocks to see five remaining Crows. He'd killed two with head shots during his flight through the air. One of his mates must have gotten the other. Five against one. He'd feel better about his position if their side didn't include a city fae. They were powerful in ways that were not well understood.

"I know you're thinking that I won't honor the surrender, that I'll shoot you in the back the first chance I get, but that's not how I operate."

"That's how Gregor does," said Brazio.

"And if I was working directly for Gregor, that might be true, but the truth is I'm on loan."

"From who?"

"Gregor's business partner."

"And who is that?" he asked, hearing the echoes of his brother's arguments in his own head.

"He's not ready to reveal himself just yet."

"You're not exactly giving me fucking good feelings when you won't tell me his name."

"You'll just have to trust me. After all, I hold all the cards. But I will tell you mine. Titus Cabone."

Brazio sensed that two Crows were moving into flanking positions. Once they had him cornered on both sides, they could mow him down with ease. He rolled to his left, firing at the Crow on that side, sending him scurrying back.

"You're only delaying the inevitable," said Titus.

Brazio reached into his pouch, pulling out two small silvery cannisters with pull rings. Smoke bombs. He'd intended to use them when they hit the Lazona. Two were enough to cover the entire space, and with their superior senses, they would have been able to take out any opposition more easily.

With the rings pulled, he lobbed the cannisters at forty-five-degree angles, hoping to cover the entire cavern in smoke. They bounced amid the rocks, immediately spilling out white mist that quickly filled in the space.

"This won't work, Brazio. The right move is to surrender."

As the smoke reached his ledge, Brazio calmed his muscles, the beating of his heart, and even the adrenaline rushing through his veins. The stones worked best when the body didn't interfere, and escaping was going to require absolute perfection.

He leapt with Lightness. A trigger-happy shot barely missed his left thigh as he rotated through the air. More shots flew underneath, where they expected him to land, but he'd pushed off heavily with his right foot, spinning through the air until he "landed" on the ceiling. Holding his Lightness between his teeth like a bit, Brazio ran across the ceiling, sensing the locations of the Crows in the fog. He fired twice, killing one and wounding another, leaving the odds three to one.

The furthest he'd run inverted was thirty feet. He estimated that it'd take him sixty to reach the exit. He could land, but that would slow his escape and place him where they thought he eventually had to be. Gunfire sprayed beneath him, bouncing off rocks and stalactites, but never coming close to his location.

He sensed the hardening of focus before the shot. He sees me. Brazio lurched to the left and the bullet hit him in the back of the ribs, dislodging him from the ceiling. He crashed into the rocks, nearly knocking himself unconscious, but he'd been running his opal at the same time and his body recovered from the impact quickly.

Brazio wanted to leap away, but he had to cycle Heavy. The run across the ceiling had taken too much. A cracked pebble shattered under his foot. He leaned down and scooped up two handfuls of rocks, throwing them in a wide arc as bullets flew hot.

The obstacles deflected the wild firing of the Crows, but Brazio felt Titus focus again and knew he wouldn't miss. Brazio fired faster, forcing the maetrie to lean to the left, then, ready to cycle Light, he leapt towards the tunnel. He was sliding around the side when a shot took him in the neck.

The world went sideways. Brazio crashed to the ground. He held his hand to his neck, trying to staunch the bleeding. Lifeblood ran through his fingers as he struggled to heal himself with the opal. The efforts of escape had drained him. He managed to regain his feet and ran almost unaided by stones as he poured all his energy into closing the dangerous wound.

Brazio ran for ten minutes, sure that the Crows were on his tail, but not able to use his amber. He found himself in unfamiliar territory. The cavern had a small waterfall in back and he sensed small critters amid the rocks. He found a deep corner and fell into it as unconsciousness delayed finally caught him.