Read Online Conspiracy by Lindsay Buroker - Free Book Online Page B

destination. They paused to kneel on the edge before
crossing over to it.
    “ Anyone have a plan?”
Maldynado asked.
    “ That doesn’t involve
underwear?” Akstyr asked.
    “ Preferably. We didn’t
bring any along.”
    Basilard signed, Akstyr, do you know where in the car the four
people are located?
    “ Two were sitting across
from the door, smoking.” Akstyr had sensed the bright points of
heat and been tickled when he realized he’d identified cigars. “One
was on the floor, so maybe sleeping. Another was by himself in the
back.” He waved to indicate the end of the car farthest from
them.
    “ Sleeping?” Maldynado
asked.
    “ I don’t think so. He was
sitting or maybe crouching. Reminded me of Sicarius off by himself
cleaning his weapons.”
    Maldynado grimaced.
“I hope we don’t
run into any Sicarius types with this crew, or we’re in trouble.
Basilard, do you want to charge that fellow? He’ll have the most
time to bring a gun to bear, but you’re deadly and scary, so maybe
he’ll get worried when he sees your scars.”
    If Maldynado had told Akstyr to charge some
idiot that probably had a gun, Akstyr would have told him to stuff
his fist in his mouth and gag on it. But Basilard nodded. He
probably figured he was the best fighter and the logical choice.
Akstyr was happy to be a mediocre fighter if it meant not being
assigned deranged tasks like that.
    “ I’ll take the smoking
men,” Maldynado said. “Akstyr, you get that fourth bloke and be
ready to clean up the mess.”
    Akstyr wondered if cleaning up the mess
would involve healing Basilard when he got shot.
    Maldynado shimmied across the coupling, then
reached around and grabbed the ladder. He climbed a few rungs,
careful not to clomp loudly at any point, and waved for Basilard to
come next. Basilard skimmed down and over, almost as deft as
Sicarius. Instead of staying on the ladder, he slid across the
door, having no trouble navigating the inch-wide threshold, and
perched on the other side. Akstyr couldn’t guess what tiny nubs
Basilard was using for hand and footholds. With the train speeding
across the flatlands and harsh winds whistling down the tracks, it
seemed a tenuous position.
    Akstyr clambered down and settled beneath
Maldynado on the ladder. He withdrew his sword, a sturdy cutlass
good for close-quarters skirmishes, and nodded that he was ready.
Basilard grabbed the latch and pulled the door open with one swift
motion. He and Maldynado leaped into the car as if they practiced
the move all the time. They landed side-by-side and charged into
the interior.
    Akstyr gave them a second to get out of the
way—and to make sure no bullets were flying—before jumping in after
them. He landed with his sword in hand, his feet pointed in the
direction he was supposed to run.
    Before Akstyr had taken more than a step
toward the man on the floor, an invisible force slammed into him.
It knocked him backward, then smashed him to the floor. He tried to
push himself up, but a weight kept him pressed flat. The memory of
a similar situation, at the hands of the wizard Arbitan Losk,
flashed through his mind. Against all likelihood, these thugs had a
practitioner with them.
    “ I can’t hold them for
long,” a strained voice said from the rear of the cab. “Hurry up
and kill them.”
    Out of the corner of his eye, Akstyr could
see Maldynado and Basilard flattened to the floor as well. Two of
their enemies were already down in unmoving heaps, but one remained
standing. He nodded firmly at the order and yanked out a
dagger.
    Akstyr focused on the practitioner. Already,
sweat beaded on the man’s forehead and dribbled down his cheeks to
drip off his stubbled jaw. This wasn’t someone of Losk’s caliber,
and Akstyr himself had grown a lot since the previous winter.
Having his physical body restrained did not mean he couldn’t use
his own mental powers.
    He pursued the first tactic that came to
mind. Using telekinetics, he unbuckled the man’s