“Probably your friends,” Beq put in. “The ones you had following us.”

“I didn’t have anyone following you,” Sarah said, her brow furrowing. Then her eyes went wide, and she dove off the rock, at almost the same moment Maya threw herself against Beq.

They crashed to the rocky ground in a tangle, and Maya heard the snap-hiss of crossbow bolts passing overhead. Sarah’s guards were both down, the woman clutching her throat, the man slumped over a piece of rubble with a pair of bolts in his chest. At the entrance to the tunnel, a half dozen bright lanterns came on, filling the space with crisscrossing beams.

Sarah, who’d dropped behind her boulder, emerged for a moment and hurled something in a high arc. It dropped among the advancing lights and exploded with a crack and a burst of thick smoke. More crossbows twanged, the bolts zipping past and ricocheting off the rocks with bright sparks. Maya pushed herself up, helped Beq to her feet, and ran for it, ducking behind the nearest boulder. They found themselves across from Sarah, hunkered down as another volley shredded the roiling clouds of smoke and clattered off the stones.

“Not friends of yours?” Beq said.

“Auxies,” Sarah muttered. “No idea how they found me.” She leaned out to look, then jerked back as a bolt sparked off the stone just beside her. “Listen, if you are Order, I don’t suppose you could—”

Maya shook her head. Not without pulling out my haken, anyway, and that’s a last resort. Revealing herself would put paid to any chance of getting the information they needed.

“Of course,” Sarah said. “Well, in that case I’m open to suggestions.”

Maya risked a peek around the boulder. A dozen helmeted Auxiliaries were working their way slowly forward. Reaching out to Sarah’s dead guard, Maya grabbed his crossbow and fired into the air. The bolt caromed off the ceiling, the sound making all the Auxiliaries duck for cover. Maya ducked back as they returned fire.

“Is there a back way out of here?” Beq said.

“There is, but I don’t think we can get there,” Sarah said. “That little surprise was the only one I brought with me.”

Inspiration struck, and Maya grinned. “Fortunately, my friend has a little surprise of her own.” Beq gave her a quizzical look, and Maya waggled her eyebrows. “Get ready to run.”

“What exactly do I have?” Beq whispered, when Maya bent close.

“Just throw something,” Maya said. “I’ll do the rest.”

Understanding spread across Beq’s face. She surreptitiously grabbed a chunk of rock, hefted it as though she’d pulled it from her pocket, and tensed. When Maya gave her the nod, she hurled it at the Auxiliaries.