Blood Codex

Chapter 26

A grin broke out across Crowley’s face. “Rose!”

“You appear to be in a bind.”

She busied herself for a moment, then Crowley’s rope dropped back down into the oubliette. He’d never been more glad to see an inanimate object in his life. He climbed up hand over hand, quicker than a monkey up a fresh banana tree. Once back out into the tower, they worked quickly, removing the rope, replacing the grill over the dungeon entrance, then hurried from the dungeons. Checking for any guards, thankful to see none, they jogged away and were soon strolling back along Golden Lane.

Crowley kept alert, scanning constantly for the bad guys. His body ached all over like he’d not only been hit by a bus, but that it had reversed and had a second go to make sure. “How did you know to come for me?” he asked, finally relaxed enough in their safety to talk again.

“Not long after we left the tower, I spotted those guys.” She winced. “I recognized them, of course. I’ll never forget those faces since they attacked me.” She flashed him a grin. “One of them is limping pretty badly though. Looks like I got him good with that kick.”

“Good for you! It’s the least they deserve.”

“I knew I had to follow them, but I also knew I couldn’t get too close. If they saw me, they wouldn’t bother with you and I’d be in trouble. So I followed them, but at a safe distance.”

“You shouldn’t have done that.”

Rose smirked. “Then you’d still be in that hole.”

“I know, but that’s my look out. They’re after you, they mean you harm.”

Rose shrugged. “We’re in this together. I wasn’t going to leave you. Anyway, I kept out of sight. When they went into the tower, I was scared for you, but had no idea how I could follow them in without being seen. And if they had gone down after you and I followed down the rope, I'd be a piñata for them.”

Crowley chuckled. “Yeah, that would have been bad. One waited at the top, so you’d never have got down probably.” He winked. “The one with the bum knee.”

“So maybe I could have taken him, after all. Anyway, not knowing what else to do, I waited outside. It wasn’t long before they came back out. I waited until I was certain they were long gone, then came back for you. Your rope was still there, just piled up on the floor by the opening.” She lifted his hand and looked with concerned eyes at his scraped fingers. “Glad I did.” She bit her lip, hesitated, then, “I have to admit, I was afraid they’d done you in.”

“I’m not that easily finished off.” Crowley gave her a wink. “I thought you looked awfully glad to see me alive and well.” He couldn’t keep the hint of flirtation from his voice.

“Only because it meant I didn’t have to climb down and haul out a corpse!”

Crowley laughed. “Fair comment.” Before he could say more, his phone vibrated. He looked at the screen before answering and smiled. “Cameron, my army intel pal.” He stepped into the shadow of a building, away from the bustling people, to answer.

“How are you, man?” Cameron asked.

Crowley grinned crookedly. There was an awful lot to tell there. Instead he said, “Still alive thankfully. You?”

“Yeah, I’m well. Might have found something for you on the Codex Gigas.”

“I hope it isn’t anything to do with Prague Castle,” Crowley said. “If it is, we’re already ahead of you.”

“Funny you should mention Prague Castle,” Cameron said. “It definitely was there once upon a time. But I think it might have been stolen.”

Crowley felt a mild surge of hope. Maybe this excursion wouldn’t turn out to be the end of their quest after all. “Stolen, you say? By who?”

Cameron chuckled. “That’s the funny part. You’ll like this.”