Blackbird staggered, toppled sideways, and fell.
When she came to she was looking up into Lesley’s face. “William. The baby…” she said. “Is he…?”
Lesley passed William to her, and she wrapped herself around him. She stank of smoke, and reeked of the foul smell of burned flesh, but she had her son. He cried in her arms while she rocked him, whispering small words of comfort.
“Dave?” Blackbird asked.
Lesley shook her head. “Something broke when he hit the wall,” she said. “I tried to move him, to make him more comfortable, but… no.” Her eyes filled with tears.
“I’m so sorry,” said Blackbird, reaching for her hand. She winced where the wheals left by the iron poker had blistered her hand, but held on anyway. “If he hadn’t distracted Altair…”
“I know,” said Lesley. “I can’t think about it. It hurts…”
“He was protecting us,” said Blackbird. “Both of us.” She let go of Lesley’s hand and reached around her shoulder, pulling her close.
There was a low sound, like a rhythmic thumping. It built until they could hear the wine of the helicopter’s motors as it banked over the house.
“What now?” said Blackbird.
“I just want to curl up,” said Lesley. “I want it to stop.”
“We have to get out,” said Blackbird. “Come on, help me up.”
They reached the doorway. Lesley couldn’t look at the broken body of Dave where it sagged against the wall. His eyes were open but they no longer saw. When they reached the door it became obvious the house was alight. Flames ran down the curtains, and smoke was pouring from the other rooms.
“Where’s Niall?” asked Blackbird.
“I don’t know,” said Lesley. Maybe he got out?” She didn’t sound as if she believed it.
Blackbird handed William to Lesley, who immediately started yelling. “Take him outside. Get him away from the fire and the smoke.”
“You have to come with us,” said Lesley. “We can’t make it alone.”
“Do it!” ordered Blackbird. “I can walk through the flames and survive, but you can’t and neither can William.”
“Then come with us,” said Lesley.
“I have to find Niall,” said Blackbird.
“I’ve looked forward to this for so long,” said Raffmir as he drove me back through the house, away from Blackbird and Altair. He moved in fast, ringing blows onto my guard, then drifted through the hanging coils of smoke like a phantom. Somewhere the house had caught fire. I could hear pops and bangs above me as it spread.
Raffmir’s magic blossomed out around me, only to be met by my own. Purple light flared in the smoke where our power met, illuminating the room with unearthly light. Flickering moonlight rippled in the smoke.
“You’re forgetting,” I goaded him. “You’ve already tried to kill me once, and you failed. So did your sister.”
He launched into a series of punishing strikes, putting pressure on my weak side, making me parry his blows in painful repetition. The concentration of meeting his attacks while holding back his power was telling on me. I whirled aside and spun back on him, trying to push him back, but he danced lightly away into the smoke, laughing at my clumsiness.
“You can’t provoke me, I’m in too good a mood,” he said. “I don’t know what I’m going to do with myself after you’re gone. No one is as much fun to taunt as you are. You really should avoid gambling games,” he said. “Your face is too open, too readable.”
“What makes you think I’m going anywhere?” I asked him.
He stepped into my next cut, whirled around and struck me again, exploiting the same spot as before. “Ooof!”
He skipped backwards as I made a clumsy sweep to try and catch him out. He grinned at me, actually waiting until I recovered.
“I’ll give you this,” he said. “You have been practicing and you’re better than you were, but you’ll never be a great swordsman. You lack the willpower, the grace, the poise.” He gestured expansively.
I regained my feet, wishing that I hadn’t had two of Sam Veldon’s bullets dug out of my side. Immediately, his power pressed against mine and he resumed hammering at my defences, testing the strength in my arms until the muscles burned with effort, and using light swift blows to force me into positions that made me unbalanced and vulnerable. That wasn’t what worried me, though.
Raffmir’s favourite technique was like a flourish at the end of a signature, a whirling motion where his sword arced around him in a spiral, protecting him from incoming blows, but somehow the blade emerged in a low thrust designed to punch straight through the opponent’s defences. He’d used the same move twice, now, but only with the pommel of his sword, and each time I’d seen it coming and not been able to do a damned thing about it. He knew he could have me any time he wanted.
He forced me back into the moment by raining cuts on my head, making me lift my sword to deflect them away. I skipped backwards and came back at him with a horizontal slice that would have parted his head from his shoulders if it had been there. Instead he laughed at me.
“You’re such a bore,” he said. “That’s your problem. Everything’s life and death with you. You never have any fun.”
“It’s only life and death when you’re around,” I told him. “Have you considered that you may be part of the problem?”
He swept in again, testing my guard, making me sweat. The air was getting bad, filled with acrid smoke, but it didn’t seem to bother Raffmir.
“I’m doing you a favour,” he said. “You should thank me for lifting the burden from your shoulders.”
Somewhere in the house, something collapsed, and there was a whoosh as the flames caught and spread. I could hear the fire now. We didn’t have long before Raffmir wouldn’t need to skewer me on his sword, I would be roasted instead. I edged back towards the doorway.
“Oh, no,” said Raffmir. He danced in, stepping in with rapid thrusts and short sharp cuts, so that I was driven back from the doorway. “You’re not leaving me, the party’s only just started.”
Over the whistle and pop of the fire, another sound came. There was a rhythmic thumping and then a whine as a helicopter banked over the house.
Raffmir listened attentively. “Do you hear that?” he said.
“A chopper,” I said. “Military by the sound of it.” I was getting tired, and I knew it. I didn’t have the stamina he had. He was rested and prepared. I wasn’t.
“It’s the sound of the cavalry arriving too late,” said Raffmir. “It would be great if they would help you, but they won’t. That’s what you fail to understand. I told you before, they will never accept you. No one will. You’re a misfit.”
“No,” I told him. “You’re the ones who don’t fit. You tried to pull this off before and you messed up. You got your arses kicked and you had to run. That’s what really gets to you isn’t it? Then you and your mad sister failed to kill me. Then I stopped you infecting the world with your mad diseases. Every time you’ve failed.”
“You know, I tire of the whiny tone of your voice.” He slowly circled me.
“Niall?” said Blackbird from the doorway. I could see her outline through the smoke.
“Hasn’t Altair shut you up yet?” asked Raffmir.
“Altair’s dead,” said Blackbird. “I killed him.”
“Ah, then it’s all to play for,” said Raffmir. “There will be a new Lord of the Seventh Court, and I fancy I may be up for the part.”
“Get out while you can,” I told her. “Get people out.”
“I’m not leaving you,” she said.
“You hear that?” said Raffmir. “She’s not leaving you. That means that when I’ve killed you I can kill her too. That should be enough to secure my position on its own.”
“You?” I said. “You’re not capable. It’s just one failure after another. You know what? You couldn’t even best my daughter. A fifteen year-old girl and she had the better of you.”