The flame splashed over one of the eunuch’s men, sending him screaming, running into the street. The pillar grew longer by the second, extending into the street and completely enveloping Privileged Borbador.
Adamat felt his heart leap into his throat. If Bo died, Vetas’s Privileged would kill them all…
The flames abated, leaving Bo standing unhurt, like a rock that had been pounded by the surf. Bo advanced, his hands held out in front of him, fingers plucking at invisible strings.
Wind tore at Adamat’s coat and buffeted through the innards of the building, knocking men from both sides off their feet before slamming through the wall and pushing back the pillar of flame. Bo raised his hands above his head and was suddenly running forward, his jaw locked and determined.
Lightning shot at Bo. He batted it aside with one hand as he scaled the rubble into the building, then leapt through the inner wall with a roar.
The house shuddered and shook as the two Privileged locked in battle. Adamat stopped in his tracks as he realized they could all be killed by the slightest mistake by either of the Privileged. One finger twitched the wrong way, one hand pushed aside accidentally, and every one of them would be dead.
The Privileged’s flames had lit curtains on one side of the house. The fire spread to the table, quickly, and black smoke filled the ruined building.
He had to find Faye.
A man with a scar cutting across his lips stumbled toward Adamat, half blinded by the smoke. He swung a small sword wildly, crashing into a chair. Adamat leapt back, blocking a second swing with his cane sword, then a third. He felt the handle of his cane shift beneath his fingers — it was not meant to block the flailing sword of a man this big, and would splinter from the shock.
He leapt inside the scarred man’s guard and drove the cane sword between his ribs. The man lurched back, bellowing in pain, and Adamat let him go.
“Faye!” he yelled. “Faye!”
The smoke was getting thicker. Where would Vetas have kept her? The basement? Did he have other prisoners here? The boy had been on the second floor when Adamat saw him in the window weeks ago, but the boy was not his concern.
Adamat heard a woman’s scream. It was coming from upstairs.
The building was being quickly abandoned. Men ran past Adamat, some of them fighting the flames, some of them fighting each other. Adamat blinked through the tears brought on by the smoke. There, the staircase.
He made his way to the stairs. The house creaked. The flames were moving quickly now, spreading across the furniture at alarming speeds. There was paper everywhere, even in the foyer. Parchments and books, tables against all the walls. It looked more like a clerk’s office than a place where Lord Vetas planned whatever campaign he was waging.
What if he wasn’t keeping Faye here? What if she was somewhere else and the scream Adamat had heard was another?
Smoke filled the staircase as Adamat made his way up it. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, pressing it over his face. He stood dismayed at the top of the stairs, staring down a long hallway and a row of at least a dozen doors. The heat from downstairs was growing. It would spread up the stairs at any moment — if the smoke didn’t kill him, the flames would. It would take too long to search the place. How could he find Faye in time?
“Faye! Faye!”
Adamat tried the first door. Locked. He kicked it open. A small room with two soiled beds and a nightstand. Empty.
He drew his foot back to kick open the next door when a scream came from farther down the hall. He rushed toward the source of the sound. One of the doors was open. He swung around the corner, cane sword raised.
Faye stood over the body of a man, a bloody candlestick in one hand. On her face she wore a look so vicious that Adamat scarcely recognized her. Adamat saw the face of a small boy peeking out from behind a curtain on the other side of the room.
“Faye!”
She looked up and nearly collapsed when she saw him. She dropped the candlestick and might have fallen had Adamat not caught her.
They stared at each other for one long moment, and Adamat wondered if it was perhaps she who was supporting him and not the other way around, as his knees felt like so much jelly.
“Where’s Josep?” Adamat asked.
“Gone. They took him.”
“I’ll get him back,” Adamat said. He looked at the boy. “That’s the Eldaminse child, isn’t it?”
“It is,” Faye said. “Come on.” She held out a hand to the boy. “Don’t be afraid, this is my husband.”
Adamat stared at his wife. “I…” he said.
“Shh.” She pressed a finger to his lips. There were tears in her eyes. “We have to go.”
