The Treasures of Saint Germain

CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE

The team exploded from hiding, engines revving and runners skidding. The robed men heard them coming and formed a cordon around the 4x4s, but Dahl had no intentions of slowing down. As the line came up he blipped the throttle, and saw the looks of fear flash into his enemies’ eyes as they saw his intentions.

“Don’t fuck with me,” he growled.

Smashing men aside, he threw the handlebars sideways and the vehicle into a slide. Kenzie slashed down with one hand whilst holding on with the other. Her sword clanged once, twice, then cleaved through bone. Men went sprawling. Dahl lifted his gun as the snowmobile slowed, squeezing off three shots. From the right came Yorgi and Lauren; Kinimaka and Smyth laying down the fire. The robed warriors ran at the slewing snowmobiles, fanatics to the last, some striking at the metal with their swords, others falling as they slashed at those aboard. The car engines roared as their drivers saw what was happening.

Dahl leapt from the footrests, came down on two feet and blew the side window from a high black vehicle. Blood splashed and a figure slumped, the engine note withering away. The second 4x4 shot forward in a gravel-churning skid.

A sword swung at Dahl. He skipped back, letting the blade pass an arm’s width away. He kicked the owner, seeing the sword fall, and then rendered him unconscious. Another attacker screamed in from the right but Kenzie caught his plunging sword with her own, jerking the man’s weapon free and almost breaking his wrist in the process.

Dahl saw a gap to the bloodied 4x4 and clicked the comms. “With me,” he shouted out. “Fast.”

They ignored their few remaining opponents and ran hard for the 4x4. Dahl jumped through the open front door and kicked the dead driver aside. The engine was still running. A robed figure came at him and he closed the door against the man’s face, wincing as metal struck bone with an ungiving crunch.

Kenzie remained by the passenger door, fencing with two men and keeping them at bay. Smyth shot one as he jumped into the back. Yorgi and Lauren jumped off their perches and dived in lengthways, tangled and sprawling in the footwell. Dahl pressed the accelerator hard.

Kinimaka bounded into the back.

The Swede set off in a black cloud of rubber, racing hard into the heart of Zurich.