I peek back around the corner. How do I get in there without letting Shaun know something’s up? I have no choice… I have to fight them. My own people. I let out a huge breath and round the corner, stepping out of the shadows. The shock doesn’t register at first on their faces. After a moment they reach for their blades, but their hesitation is the split second I need. The closest Beerchi heaves his over his shoulder with a grunt to swing.

“Surpizah!” A coil of light shoots from my fingertips, attaching to his mouth like a sticky bandage. He stumbles backward, the spell gelling his mouth shut. He tries to talk, but it’s all muffled, his mouth zipped closed, magic fizzing on his lips. The bigger guy raises his hands to full height, his blade grazing the ceiling. He brings it down over me, but I jump out of the way and aim for his weapon.

“Feey’l!” My magic slams into his curved blade. The force of it shoves his blade backward into a notch in the wall. He yanks it out and bits of rock go flying. He swings. I twist out of the way as sharp metal whooshes past, nicking my arm. Shit! I stumble backward into Julius, who’s swinging left and right hooks between blade swipes at his neck from the other Beerchi.

“Yo, this dude ain’t playing,” he says, ducking. For his lack of fighting skills, he’s doing alright. The curved blade swooshes over his head. “Bruh…” He jumps, the blade swiping under his feet. “I just wanna…” The blade comes down over him. But he sidesteps and it grazes past his arm. “Talk!”

The Beerchi growls, bringing his weapon down hard. Julius pushes me out of the way, and it sticks in the ground with a thud. He tugs on the handle of his weapon with both hands, trying to free it from its wedge on the floor. Magic coils like rope from my fingers and loops around his wrists.

“Tight,” I whisper, and my magic obeys, cinching. “Tighter.”

My magic binds his arms together from wrist to elbow. He howls in pain as he topples over.

“Quick, get his blade,” I say. Julius dashes for it. The other Beerchi claws at his bound lips before rushing at the double doors they were guarding. The door rattles under his fist.

Shit! So much for the element of surprise.

“This shit is stuck, like for real,” Julius says, arm wrapped around the weapon handle, pulling. “Aghhhh!” He tugs harder. The blade gives, throwing him backward. He lands hard, but the weapon is in his hand.

“Get that smirk off your face, we ain’t done,” I say.