An open door, and there he was. Waiting.
For a moment Karou couldnt move. This was the nearest shed been to himand the first time theyd been alonesince since when? Since the day he came to her glamoured, beside the river in Morocco, and gave her the thurible that held Issas soul. Shed said terrible things to him that daythat shed never trusted him, for a start, what a lieand she had yet to unsay them.
Still glamoured, she went through the door and saw him raise his head, aware of her. A flush crept up her neck as his searching look swept over her, even if he couldnt see her. He was so beautiful, and so intent. She could feel the heat coming off him.
She could feel the longing coming off him.
Karou? he asked, very softly.
She pushed the door closed and released her glamour.
It was almost a relief to have her anger vindicated. Even on her knees, sick from the sustained assault of close-range hamsas, Liraz was able to think, without passion or triumph, that the world made sense again. This was why the beasts had left her alone that night in the open, when shed stayed behind with them of her own free will. Because theyd been biding their time.
There were four of them. Three stood with hamsas upheld, assaulting her with magic. The fourth hefted a big, double-sided ax.
Of course, that didnt include the three who lay dead between themso freshly dead their hearts didnt know it yet and their blood was still escaping in arterial spurts, like water from a hand pump.
You shouldnt have done that, said the leader of this little band of assassins, stepping over the corpses of her comrades, her wolfish grin unwavering.
Ten.
Liraz didnt know why she should be surprised that Thiagos she-wolf lieutenant was her attacker, but she was. Had she actually begun to believe that the White Wolf had found honor? What idiocy. She wondered where he was now, and why he was missing out on the fun. Believe it or not, drawled Ten, we werent going to kill you.
I have to go with or not on that. Theyd stalked her in the dark, and Liraz had no doubt that her life was at stake.
Ah, but its true. We just wanted to play your game.
For a beat, Liraz didnt know what she was talking about. It was hard to think through the thrum and drub of magic, but then it came
to her. Her getting-acquainted game. Which of us killed which of you in previous bodies. The sickness in her gut deepened, and it wasnt just because of the hamsas. Of course , she thought. Wasnt this exactly what shed imagined would happen? This had been her point, imagining the game, which shed certainly found no humor in. Dont tell me, she said. I killed you once. Or was it more than once?
Once was enough, said Ten.
So what now? Am I supposed to apologize?
Ten laughed. Her smile glittered. You should. You really should. However, since I cant imagine you give apologies, Ill just have your trophies instead. You might still live a long and happy life without them. Probably not, but thats your own affair.
Her hands, she meant. They were going to cut off her hands. Well, they were going to try.
So come do it, said Liraz, spitting derision.
Theres no hurry, was Tens reply.
Not for them, maybe. Liraz was getting weaker with every second they held their hamsas out to her, and that was the point. Damned devils eyes. This was their coward plan: weaken her before they hacked her up.
It wasnt their original plan, but three dead in under a minute had prompted them to reconsider.
Three bodies. A stupid, bloody waste. The sight of them made Liraz want to scream. Why did you make me do this?
Ten closed in. Flanking her were two Dracands, lizard aspect, with great ruffs of scaled flesh flaring from their necks like grotesque courtiers collars. Their hands were upheld, hamsas pounding misery into the base of Lirazs skull, and it was taking all of her focus to keep her trembling from entirely overtaking her. She knew she wouldnt be able to for very much longer. Soon, the magic would have her juddering like palsy.
The powerlessness was infuriating, and humiliating, and dire. Now , she told herself. If she was to have any chance of getting out of this, she had to act now. The magic of the three pairs of hamsas pulsed at her like sledgehammers.
A single clear thought filtered through her pain: My hands are weapons, too.
She lunged.
Ten blocked, catching her by one wrist, and the magic, it shrieked into Liraz from the point of contact, screaming sickness into her sinews, her flesh and bone and mind. Relentless. Crashing waves of shuddering. White-hot as flaying. Weakness like a scouring wind. Godstars. Liraz thought it would eat her alive, reduce her to ashes or to nothingness.
Ten held her wrist, but Lirazs other hand made it through. She pressed her own palm flat to Tens chest, screaming back, a wordless roar right in the chimaeras face as the fire stoked. And smoked.
And charred.
The lank gray fur at the she-wolfs chest caught fire. The smell was immediate and foul, and called Liraz straight back to the corpse bonfires in Loramendi. She almost lost her concentration, but managed to just hold on as her hand scorched through the chimaeras fur and into her flesh.