Four Suits (Book 1)

Day 44-2: Uno

DAY 44-2: UNO

"Wait, wait," Leda hisses, rewinding a couple steps. "Kill who? Us?"

She doesn't receive the opportunity for an answer because when the girl holds up her stick a series of pellets comes darting towards them. Orian shoves her out of the way in time, Ro somersaulting the other way. The pellets explode prior to making contact with the deck. Leda's shoulder is knocked back from the raucous tremor. She slams onto Orian's arm and he emits a painful grimace.

It takes her a while to come to her senses but even then, her movements are slow. She uses her forearms to sluggishly rise from the ground, only to hack like a madwoman when she does. She shields her mouth with her hand, squinting through the black smoke encircling them from the attack.

It's moments after it ascends further into the sky that the two become visible again.

"Paola. Paola," Uno chortles when he sees they haven't perished. "Aim sucks. Aim sucks."

'Paola' sends him a scowl, readjusting the helmet on her head. "Shut up, Uno! Go get the one who went inside!" She holds her magic stick to eye level, squinting and handling it the way she would a gun. "We're taking their filthy heads to the Queen no matter what!"

More minuscule pellets dart almost faster than light—a multitude more detonating than earlier. As Ro takes the smoke as a screen to dash forward, Orian also reacts. He yanks Leda towards him and transports them to the opposite end of the ship—the portion that has their enemies backs turned to them.

Paola takes notice in an instant. She swerves, red from frustration. However, her firing reels to an abrupt halt as a result of momentarily losing her footing on the mast.

The ship teeters and creaks. The thick smoke circles all around them like an impenetrable void. Leda's heart slams against her ribcage as she pants for air whilst Orian from beside her does the same. But her mind has stopped working. It's a mess.

"Are you all right?"

Orian has a tight grip over his left wrist, his teeth grounded in a wince. He shakes his head, hauling himself to his feet and beckoning for Leda to follow. "I will be fine, Master."

It's because she fell on him. Her stomach flips from the guilt, her mouth running wordlessly for awhile. But then, there's a hand on her shoulder. She jerks back when Orian does, but that caution is dispelled in an instant. Ro.

"You two, back up Nixon. The round one went downstairs."

His voice barely surpasses a croaky whisper, but he doesn't lose sight of Paola who jumps effortlessly from the mast. Her heels click against the deck when she lands, face morphed in a nasty glower. But Ro's right. The other one is gone.

"Run all you'd like," Paola snaps, gripping her weapon. "I'm going to make you suffer like the scum you are!"

Leda swallows, hard. "We don't even know these people," she hisses, her breath hitching in her throat. "Do all Hearts come at Spades from the get-go like this?"

"It is extremely rare." Orian is glaring into the distance, cautions still high and alert. "They do hate Spades, but..."