The Final Storm

34. Decisions, Decisions...

"Drop the weapon, or he dies!"

Adaira stared wide-eyed at the scene in front of her, the henchman's words ringing in her ears. Said henchman obviously didn't appreciate her hesitation. His grip around the unconscious captain's throat tightened and his eyes narrowed at her.

"I said drop the weapon now!" His head whipped towards the side where, Adaira only noticed now, her brother had wrestled Dalgliesh to the ground and was holding a rock above his head, ready to smash it down. "You, too! Drop that rock immediately, or I will twist this bastard's neck!"

Adaira watched as her dear brother inspected the masked man for a moment, with a look in his eyes he reserved for idiots and younger siblings. Then he opened his mouth to speak.

Knowing her brother as she did, Adaira instantly raised the dagger in his direction. "If you say 'Be my guest', I'll stab you in the foot!"

Her brother closed his mouth again.

Smart choice.

Now, if only she knew what the smart choice for her would be. A choice that would let both her and the people she loved get out of this mess alive, maybe?

If only it were so simple.

"This is the last warning," a growl reached her ears. "I said drop it!"

Time was up.

Adaira glanced down at the dagger in her hand. Then she looked up at the masked man. His face might have been hidden, but his eyes were not, and in their depths, she could see the merciless intent to kill. Slowly, reluctantly, she loosened the grip on her weapon, until—

Wham!

—a rock hit the masked man in the back of the head. Like a puppet with its strings cut, the man collapsed to the ground, revealing the grimy, scruffy, glorious figure of Lillian Linton.

"Need a hand?" she enquired, raising the one that still held the blood-stained rock.

Adaira's lips twitched. "No, I'm doing perfectly fine, thank you. I usually take part in knife fights in my spare time."

She had hardly finished those words when she noticed several more dirty, masked figures staggering up the riverbank. They looked like they'd been put through the ringer, but judging by the fierce glare in their eyes, that was not going to stop them.

"You do?" Lilly cocked her head. "How fortunate. So, I can leave all these to you?"

"You little...! Don't you dare skip out on me!"

"I think," was Lilly's laconic reply, "even if I want to, it's a little too late."

Adaira looked around, and it didn't take her long to see her friend was right. They were about to be surrounded. Yet she didn't just mean the three masked men who were slowly approaching. Oh no.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Adaira's breath caught in her throat as she stared in the direction of the marching sound at the distant dust cloud. No, Dalgliesh's goons really weren't her greatest worry right now. The real problem was the bloody army that was marching on the city!

Everyone, even Adaira's brother and his arch-enemy, froze in place as, one after another, they realised that they were about to have company. Adaira's eyes widened as she spotted a familiar flag showing superimposed red, white and blue crosses. Not something she wanted to see in the middle of an Indian rebellion while still mostly wearing Indian garb.