Read Online Covenant's End by Ari Marmell - Free Book Online Page B

commander sighed and only half turned. “Can this wait, Constable? I'm just in the midst of something.”
    â€œUh, I don't think so, sir.” Clearly tentative, nervous, but he didn't let that stop him. “Please, sir, I just need a moment.”
    â€œVery well.” Another cursory hat tip—more of a hat nudge, really. “Your brief pardon, mademoiselle.”
    â€œOf course.” She barely waited until his back was turned before calling on her god in the faintest breath. By the time Donais had reached the young soldier who'd called to him, Shins was able to hear their words clearly, despite the distance and the low whispers.
    â€œSir, I think it's her !”
    Well, figs. That wasn't a hopeful start.
    The lieutenant, it appeared, had little more idea of what his underling meant than Shins did. “Her who, Constable?”
    â€œFrom that notice Maj—I mean, Commandant Archibeque was passing around a few weeks ago. She's wanted…”
    What? I shouldn't still have any warrants!
    â€œâ€¦for murder,” the young constable concluded.
    Shins's throat did something that, as best she could tell, was an attempt to swallow her ears in shock.
    â€œNow that you mention it—” Donais began.
    I don't think I'm going to stick around for explanations , the thief decided. “Olgun? Bang.”
    At the rear of the patrol, one unfortunate soldier's bash-bang discharged; it'd been trickier than normal, as the hammer wasn't cocked, but Olgun had long since mastered the technique. The flintlock launched itself from the bandolier, going one way, while the ball tumbled off in the other. Slightly singed by the flash and startled so severely his first child would be born quivering, the constable screamed, high and piercing.
    More than enough, the lot of it, to attract the sudden and complete attention of every man and woman in the patrol.
    Widdershins bolted like a kicked cat, her skin humming and prickling with Olgun's magics.
    Her tenth step (or so) came down on a remarkably solid chunk of nothing whatsoever. Boosted by her deity's will, she leapt from thatimpossible spot, easily clearing the first floor of the nearest building. Tucking in tight, she landed snug in a windowsill of the second floor, arms outstretched to grab the edges, toes barely finding purchase between the edge and the old wooden boards. The entire ledge groaned, and she could feel it starting to shift beneath her.
    The soldiers, of course, had turned their focus back toward her, but as of yet, between the distraction Olgun had arranged and the utter impossibility of what they'd just witnessed, none of them had managed to target her.
    â€œIf that bothered them…” she whispered. “You ready?”
    Rather than provide a stationary target for even a heartbeat longer, she jumped without waiting for Olgun's reply.
    Not up for the third (and uppermost) story; not back to earth; not even for the ramshackle house across the street. No, Widdershins launched herself sideways, paralleling the wall to which she'd just clung. Propelled by her own acrobatic skill and a helping of divine might, she would easily clear the building's corner, leaving her with nothing to grab onto, nowhere but the open street to land.
    Except she and Olgun had other ideas.
    Just as she started to clear the wall, she slapped both hands against the corner. It was an impossible grab, should have been nothing more than her futilely smacking the wall as she hurtled past. Using a variant of the same trick he'd used many times to give her an invisible leg up, Olgun braced her fingers against the stone, just enough so that—flat and straight as they were—they managed to find purchase.
    A hard yank, also augmented by her guardian deity, and Shins flipped around the corner, heels over head—a somersault turned on its ear, performed sideways in apparent defiance of gravity and momentum both.
    Even Olgun couldn't defy said forces for