“Once they hear you, you’ll have about five seconds to open that door before they’re all over us.” She stows her backpack within reach of the window beside us. Then she rolls out her shoulders and shakes out her hands. “Ready?”

“Not really.” My own hands are so cold, I can barely feel my fingers.

“Don’t worry. I’ve got your back.”

The darkness hides my grimace. Last time I showed Kai my back, she put three arrows in it. But as she rises to her feet and stalks toward the door with her bow raised, I don’t have much of a choice but to go along with her.

I creep up the porch steps. My hands feel clumsy as I kneel in front of the door, less sensitive to the feel of the pins than they should be. I listen, breath held, watching for Kai’s single sharp nod before turning the knob.

The hinge creaks as I crack the door open. Through the narrow gap, I have a clean line of sight straight into the darkened parlor.

Into the face of a Guard as she looks up from behind a desk.

I shove the door open. It swings a full four inches before it bounces to a halt, a chain lock stretched across the opening.

“Shit!” I croak.

The Guard leaps from her chair. My flashlight shines off the barrel of her gun.

I jump to my feet and hurl my shoulder into the door. “You didn’t tell me there was a chain!” The wood around the chain splinters, the sound of it drowned under the Guard’s shout as she calls out for her team. I recoil as a bullet lodges in the doorframe. I ram the door again. It flies open, and I stumble in with it.

Kai’s foot smacks into the back of my knee. I crash to the floor as something hisses over my head. There’s a thwack and the Guard holding the gun goes down, an arrow protruding from her throat.

Another thwack. A Guard at the end of the hall falls.

Kai stalks around me, bow raised, arrow nocked. She jerks her head to the side, instructing me to stay behind her as we tiptoe around the body into the kitchen. The floor shakes with the thunder of heavy boots and the cellar door flies open—

Thwack. A Guard falls through it. Kai kicks him, making sure he’s down.

She nocks another arrow and steps over him, disappearing down the cellar stairs. I pause to fish a key card from his pocket before remembering we left Kai’s backpack outside. I retrace my steps to the window, ducking as the dead Guard’s magic soars over my head. Shouldering Kai’s pack, I blink away the glare, unsure what I’m seeing as I spot a shadow moving down the hall.