“Most of them,” Madame Duvoir said, cutting across her large flat. “Maybe not all.”
I grabbed Carrow’s hand, and we raced after her.
“Do you have one of those transportation charms you took off the demon back at the Crescent Hotel?” I asked Carrow.
I needed to know she had a quick and safe way out of this. I could cover her until she was through to Guild City.
“Yeah,” she said. “I keep one on me, just in case.”
“Won’t work here,” Madame Duvoir said. “The boss has this whole section blocked off. There are no easy escapes from his turf.”
Clever bastard. I’d done the same at my tower.
“This way.” She led us down a wide corridor.
We crept along the wooden boards, heading toward a part of the building we hadn’t been in before. Outside the brick walls, I heard men running along the alley.
“Some of them know about the back exit,” Madame Duvoir explained.
“We just need to get to the boat,” said Ms. Cross.
The Curse Diviner muttered, “They probably know about that, too.”
Ms. Cross winced. “Captain Bernard is going to be so pissed.”
“I’ll get him another boat,” I said.
I
couldn’t allow her to encounter trouble on our behalf.
“If you can get to the old streetcar at the end of the dock, it will take you out of The Dens,” Madame Duvoir said. “It’s not technically part of the boss’s holdings, so it’s a safe space. Get there, and you’re fine.”
She hurried down a narrow spiral staircase constructed of wrought iron. I followed, my footsteps rattling against the metal. When we reached the ground floor, she gestured to a small door. “That’s your out,” she said. “Follow the row of buildings all the way down to the city, and you’ll see the streetcar. Good luck.”
I reached it first, turning back to Ms. Cross and Carrow. “I’ll take out the first wave of men. You run for the streetcar.”
Both women gave me skeptical looks, as if they weren’t going to run while I watched their backs.
“Just be careful,” I said.
“Of course,” replied
Ms. Cross as she drew a wickedly curved blade from a sheath on her hip, a bloodthirsty grin on her face. The formerly reserved researcher looked ready to skin a demon alive.
“Badass.” Carrow grinned.
“It’s a khanjar blade from Oman. A gift from an old friend.” Ms. Cross flipped the blade and caught it. “Now, let’s get a move on.”
Carrow reached in her bag and withdrew a potion bomb. “Courtesy of Eve.”
I nodded, then turned to the door.
Madame Duvoir stepped up beside me. “Let me give you a head start.”
I nodded.
She reached into the pocket of her flowing dress and withdrew a glass orb similar to Carrow’s. Gray smoke swirled within the little globe. She pushed open the door and, without leaving the building, chucked the potion bomb outside.