The Binding

Chapter Thirty

If Yisu is here, then that means...  Ezra was close. I had to get out of there.

    Agnes turned to me with wide eyes and her mouth hanging slightly open. Yisu was balanced on the balls of her feet as she squatted on the ledge. She waved once and then dropped out of sight. I couldn't see where she landed, and I panicked slightly. She must have dropped five stories. Agnes watched the space where Yisu had been with a growing terrified expression. Soft murmurs and movement behind me were growing louder. The girls had begun to notice something was happening and crowded around the window. I turned to shush them and saw half a dozen wide-eyed expressions gazing back at me. They suddenly grew very still. The room had the feel of a hunted animal watching and waiting for a predator to strike.   

    Agnes' voice squeaked, "Girl. Stupid girl!" She tried to pull herself up onto the windowsill to see where Yisu had gone.

    The lock on the door clicked, and the space around the window suddenly emptied. The girls sprinted back to the chairs and sofa, lounging lazily. Agnes reclined back against the windowsill precisely as she was when I first arrived. I stood my ground and turned to the new arrival, hands on my hips.

    Özgür stepped through the door and quickly scanned the girls. He turned to Agnes and watched her for a moment. She lit a cigarette and glared back at him.

    "What are you doing?" he asked, finally turning to me.

    "Smuggling in child assassins in a massive escape attempt."

    He scowled at me and then licked his lips. It was too much, watching his tongue snake out between his lips like a snake. I snapped, and my fist slammed forward, almost on its own, into his face making the bones in my hand crack. The shock of the impact ricocheted up my arm as it connected, nearly knocking me from my feet. I felt his nose crunch and slide unnaturally to the side.

    A quivering, shivering sensation of pure satisfaction, flowed through me. Özgür reeled back stunned. Twin rivers of scarlet blood ran dribbling down to his chin. He stared at me in shock then rippled in rage. He sprang at me. I heard a soft, wet crunch, and Özgür paused. He stood for a moment, his eyes wide, and then he fell with a very quick, underwhelming collapse onto the floor.

    There was a slight smear of blood and a small dent in the back of his skull. Agnes stood behind him with one of the bronze lamps in her hand.

    "Basszon szájba a veresseggü ördög!" She was a snarling ball of fury. The lamp hung limply in her hand as she prodded him with her toe. We waited for him to move. After a few more seconds, she sighed. The room was deathly still, not a single cry, not a tremble of movement.

    Agnes sprang into action and started directing, giving orders faster than I could follow even if I could understand the language. Another woman started arguing with her. A stream of rapid-fire insults volleyed between them. The woman was terrified and livid. Agnes won the argument, and two girls sprang out of their seats. They dragged Özgür's body into the small bathroom. Another girl moved a chair back to cover the small pool of blood that had collected under his head. Agnes swiftly replaced the lamp on the table. Before I fully comprehended what they were doing, the room looked as if nothing had happened. Someone would need to search for evidence of Özgür's not-so-unfortunate demise. That is, until they found the body. There was no going back now for Agnes.      

    "Do you have a plan?" She asked me.

    I nodded. "Yes, we walk out the door."

    "Great." She made it look as if she was rolling her eyes, but didn't. "All of us?"