Adamat lurched forward, a curse on his lips, only to stop when Vetas pressed the stiletto against Faye’s neck.
“I promised you pain tenfold,” Vetas said. “I want you to remember that.” His forearm flexed, and Adamat closed his eyes, unwilling to watch Faye’s life blood spill from her throat.
“Step away from him.”
Adamat opened his eyes. Vetas looked slightly confused. His forearm strained, but the stiletto got no closer to Faye’s throat.
“Please,” Bo said, coming around the corner, “just step off to one side.”
Adamat snatched Faye, pulling her away from Vetas. Lord Vetas’s nostrils flared, eyes flashing anger, but it was clear he couldn’t move.
Bo’s fingers twitched. Invisible sorcery tossed Vetas across the room, slamming him into the wall beside the impaled Privileged. Bo walked up beside Vetas and took the man’s chin in hand roughly, turning his head to see the dead Privileged.
“She was good,” Bo said. “Real worthy of cabal membership. That’s what I did to her. The other one — your backup — he wasn’t that skilled. It only took a moment. And you.” Bo tapped a gloved finger beneath Vetas’s chin. “I don’t like you. I saw that room you keep in the cellar. I’ve known men like that in the cabal. I was overjoyed to hear that Tamas had slaughtered them.”
Bo stepped back and looked at Vetas thoughtfully. Vetas was still pinned to the wall by Bo’s sorcery. Bo said, “I bet you were the type of child who tortured animals for fun. Tell me, did you ever pull the wings off of insects?”
Vetas didn’t respond.
“Answer me!” Bo bellowed.
Vetas flinched. “Yes.”
“That’s what I thought. How does it feel?”
A single twitch of Bo’s finger. That’s all it took and Vetas’s right arm was ripped off by invisible forces. Adamat didn’t know who screamed louder: Vetas, from the pain, or Faye from the shock. Adamat clutched Faye to his chest, worried he’d fall at any moment, and his stomach felt like it might turn inside out.
Bo’s finger twitched again. Vetas’s other arm dropped to the ground beside him. There was a flare of fire at his shoulders.
“We’ll cauterize those wounds,” Bo said. “Wouldn’t want you to die too quickly. That’s the point among you types, isn’t it? To keep them alive as long as possible?” Bo smacked Vetas once, then again. “Isn’t it? Tell me! Isn’t it?”
Adamat lurched forward and grabbed Bo’s arm. Bo whirled on him, hands raised, fire in his eyes. Adamat did his best not to shy away. “That’s enough, man! Enough!” He couldn’t believe himself. Dashing forward to spare Vetas. An hour ago, Adamat was ready to do every pain in the world to Vetas. Now, he just felt ill.
Bo lowered his hands, nodding, muttering to himself. “Take them,” he said, pointing to Faye and the boy. “Vetas isn’t going anywhere. Get them out of here.”
Adamat put an arm around Faye’s waist, letting her take the weight off her ankle as he led her out of the smoldering ruin of a building.
The street was filled with people. Onlookers stood well back, a hundred paces at least, their curiosity warring with their fear of the sorcery. Immediately in front of the building, the eunuch’s men had gathered with their wounded and prisoners, and some were heading inside now that the fire and smoke were gone. Adamat saw Sergeant Oldrich and Riplas, moving among them, giving orders.
Adamat gestured Riplas over. “The eunuch is dead,” he said quietly.
The eunuch’s second-in-command rocked back a step, eyes wide. “What? How?”
“It was Lord Vetas. He must have gotten away from Fell. Speaking of which…”
Fell emerged from the groups of onlookers. She held her arm carefully to one side, her body covered in cuts. She limped over to him.
“Vetas, he…”
“He’s inside,” Adamat said, choking back anger. Fell had told him she could hold Vetas. She had obviously been overpowered. Oldrich’s soldiers had probably been killed as well. He didn’t trust himself to say more.
When Fell returned, her cold demeanor was somewhat sobered.
“What are you going to do with him?”
“I want to know what he did with my boy… other than that, I don’t care.”
Fell and Riplas seemed to size each other up for a moment. “You’re the eunuch’s second in command?” Fell asked.
“Yes.”
“Let’s talk.” Fell jerked her head, and the two women moved aside for a private conference.
Adamat squeezed Faye, as if to reassure himself that she was still there. She nestled against his chest, her eyes closed, her face wet with tears.
“The children?” she asked suddenly.
“Safe,” Adamat said. “I’m sorry I couldn’t come sooner.”
“You came. That’s all that matters.”
Adamat fell to his knees beside her, pressing her hand to his lips. “I could die now. I have you back.”
“Please,” Faye said. “Not yet. My ankle hurts quite a lot.”
