Dangling they came, their teeth grit, and they slid toward the earth. They did not speak as they landed. Their soft-soled espionage boots touched, finally, the cobblestones, and then they looked around to see who they could grab.
The musicians lay down their instruments without a word. In their hands they had dart guns. They began to fire on the assailants.
Jasper, Lily, Drgnan, Katie, and Taylor were hidden in the shadows behind some tropical tree in a vat. They couldn’t make it to the secret door they had originally come through. They would have to sneak along the wall.
“We arrest you,” called one of the commandos to Drrok, “in the name of the Governing Committee of Wilmington and His Terrifying Majesty, the Awful and Adorable Autarch of Dagsboro!”
He winced as a dart hit his neck—then his eyes crossed, and he collapsed into slumber.
At that, all the commandos pulled out their handheld crossbows and began firing. The musicians blocked shots with their dulcimers and slapped bolts out of the air with their gootars. But there were too many commandos and not enough musical instruments. If it had been a whole symphony orchestra, maybe they would have stood a chance. But as it was, they were just a quartet, and more soldiers were sliding down the ropes.
Lily watched the events in horror. “They’re going to get Drrok!” she said.
Indeed, the soldiers had hit Drrok in the leg with a drugged crossbow bolt. He held up his dart gun, but his hand was unsteady. He was getting woozy. He shot one guard with a dart—and carefully collapsed in a head-butt, knocking out another—but then didn’t rise, himself.
The commandos clustered in to pick him up.
And Lily realized—the Ministry of Silence had probably found this safe house because of her and her friends. Either spies had followed them here, or—oh no—she didn’t even want to think about this—or they had forced the information out of Bvletch.
Bvletch!
Miserably she watched Drrok, the leader of this cell of the Resistance, get lifted up from the ground, sleeping. She watched the soldiers handcuff him.
And then she watched one notice her—and shoot a crossbow bolt right at her pale face in the shadows.