But there was no time to celebrate my victory, because I could feel the air crackle around me and I figured that Luther was about to use his stolen electricity spell for the first time since he’d crashed in our hideout.
Stolen? Or gifted?
Again, yet another thing that didn’t really matter right now. I slid the ties of the garbage bag off my arm and hooked one of them around the many prongs of the chandelier, then dug around inside. Unfortunately, both sides were now in such close quarters that I couldn’t use bleach and vinegar to make chlorine gas, nor bleach and ammonia to make chloramine gas without hurting the VanMarches just as much as the enemy. No, I needed something more targeted, and while peracetic acid was possible, I also needed to make sure that it didn’t splash onto Jackson or Paul. Although I knew they would heal, they didn’t need to be distracted by the chemical burns.
So, I grabbed the dish soap. Not exactly what someone would expect to be used in an offensive capacity, but I was doing thebest I could with my rudimentary knowledge and addiction to falling asleep to YouTube science channels.
Dumping out half the water in one of the sparkling water bottles, I squeezed a good amount of the dish soap in, then rooted around inside the bag for something else. It took me a couple of tries, but eventually I managed to get my hands on the olive oil, and I poured a good amount in there too.
This time I shook it for several seconds, making sure it was really mixed. With the neck of the bottle clamped between my teeth, I slowly clambered down toward the base of the chandelier.
I was a bit too far to be useful, though. I could try throwing it, but I didn’t think my mixture would really do all that good with that application. It needed less chucking and more dumping. So, I carefully locked my legs around two of the largest arms of the chandelier and let myself slowly tilt until I was upside down.
Talk about a head rush.
Calling upon old skills I hadn’t used in ages, I used my core to swing myself back and forth. Small movements at first, barely enough to make the attachment point of the light fixture squeak. But after a few tries, I managed to swing far enough until I was close enough to grab onto another rafter.
Batting a hundred!I mused to myself, shocked. It really was amazing what a body could do in a life-or-death situation.
I slipped a little, enough to make me gasp, but I modified my hold and hauled myself onto the rafter. I settled into a seated position with my legs on either side of the large, wooden beam. Not too different from the one that had almost killed Jackson before I joined in on the murder-investigation festivities.
Finally, I was in the right position. Chris and Jackson were down, but Penelope had rejoined the fight, and she and Paul were doing their best to make sure none of them werepermanentlydowned.
It wasn’t an ideal situation, but Lutherwasslightly separated and looked like he was about to charge Paul. Perfect timing.
I upended the bottle in the space between them, the liquid spreading everywhere. My timing wasn’t exactly perfect, so some of it splashed uselessly onto Luther’s head, but it was enough that his feet slid out from under him when he hit the wet patch. He flailed, one arm pinwheeling, and then he was flat on his back.
I can’t believe that worked! Summer slip-and-slide science for the win!
Ooooh, alliteration!
As much as I would have liked to safely stay on my perch, which possibly was the most stable thing I’d been on since the kitchenette counter, I’d left all my supplies on the chandelier. Standing, I forced myself to leap back to the hanging light fixture, then climbed up to where I’d left my chemical arsenal.
From what I could hear, Paul was not wasting the opportunity I’d caused for him. Maybe I was high on my own supply, but I couldn’t help but feel like the VanMarches and I fought together super well for a group who had never trained together. It wasn’t like we were Tadgh sparring with his employees to make sure they were a cohesive unit. Although, now I couldn’t help but wonder if it would have been prudent for us to do so. There was that whole hindsight being twenty-twenty again.
I didn’t have many tricks up my sleeve, at least none that worked for such close quarters, but I still dug through the bag. I was down to two more bottles, so that was my hard limit no matter how inventive I tried to be.
What can I do to help from all the way up here?
My hands landed on some of the smallest items that had sunk all the way to the bottom of the bag, and I pulled out chili flakes, cayenne pepper, and hot sauce. Oh right, that hadn’t beenunder the sink, but they’d been sitting on the counter from when Penelope had cooked. I’d just scooped them into my supplies just in case they would be useful.
Well, time to see if they were worth their weight.
I grabbed the bit of sugar I had as well, figuring that might help it stick, and mixed it in yet another bottle that I only half emptied. The mixture was meant to irritate, maybe even temporarily blind, but unlike all my other concoctions, I didn’t think it was useful at long range.
Shit.
Although I wasn’t a brilliant military strategist, I didn’t need to be to know I’d have to change tactics entirely or get in close quarters. As much as I would have loved to just drop down and pummel the absolute crap out of Luther, I also knew that had to be the last resort. A Hail Mary. Because once I was down, it was very unlikely that I would get a chance to go back up.
Man, I’d never so fervently wished I had some of the more physical abilities of magic folks. What I wouldn’t give to have the speed, accelerated healing, or power of the wolf shifters. And sure, I was quite strong for my size, but I had nothing on the behemoths fighting below me.
So, I had to use my brains, and my brains told me to shove the bottle down my shirt in case I could use it later, and look for something else I could use while I was up on the ceiling. Not exactly the stuff of action thrillers, but the longer I could stay out of danger, the longer I could help.
Maybe more of the slip and slide? I didn’t want to turn the entire floor into a death trap, but last I had checked, Chris and Jackson were still trying to get the upper hand with the assassin they were dealing with, so if I could get them free of him, the fight with Luther would be four-on-one instead of two-on-one like it was now.
Technically, four-and-a-half-on-one.
I filled my last bottle, then jumped back over to the closest rafter. This time, however, I couldn’t just stay where I landed, as Chris and the assassin were fighting several feet over. The way I looked at it, I could crawl, which would take a lot longer, or I could get up and risk running across the rafters.