Page 99 of Ash and Feather

His eyes flashed open again. Another cry started to rise in his throat, but he strangled it down, twisting his teeth into a vicious smile and shaking his head. He rose to his knees, pressing his wrist hard against his body, trying to stem the bleeding. He looked up at me without lifting his head. His pupils were fully dilated, his eyes like two cavernous pits.

“And here I thought you gods always aimed to kill,” he rasped.

“I am not finished,” I assured him, withdrawing my sword and planting the tip of it against the hollow of his throat. “I was simply making good on the promise I made the first time we spoke—to remove your hand if you touched her again. And you have. Several times, now.”

“Yes; I was beginning to wonder when we’d have a chance to catch up on these things.”

I pressed the sword deeper into his throat, drawing trails of blood to mingle with the sweat coating his skin. “Apologies for the delayed reply. I’m a busy god.”

“Still—a man of his word. I appreciate that.” He watched the embers flying around my body as he added, “Though I do believe you also said you’d cauterize the wound for me.”

I summoned more fire to my palm. Without a word, I shaped it into a blade to match the one I held in my right hand.

I swung this second sword toward the bloodied stump he cradled to his chest, but I didn’t let it actually touch anything; Imerely let the flames hover over his wound, increasing the heat with every breath I took.

“You’ll be dead soon,” I said. “So I don’t think it’s worth the effort to stop the bleeding.”

Blood had already soaked the entire bottom half of his coat. His smile finally disappeared, his face twisting in a way that seemed beyond his control, his pain too great to continue to mock me.

He might have been more resilient than a human, but he was still not long for this world if he continued to bleed at the rate he was.

And I needed to pry whatever useful information I could from him before I finished him off.

“Am I right to assume you know where Karys has gone?”

“You might be.” He looked close to smiling again. Then he thought better of it—a rare intelligent decision from this fool.

“Tell me what they’ve done to her and where they’ve taken her,” I demanded, “so I can end your worthless life and be on my way.”

“Help you, just so you can kill me?” His words were just above a whisper. They were beginning to slur together. “That’s quite the offer, but I’m afraid I don’t accept.”

“Then I’ll find someone else who will tell me.” I pressed the metal sword more fully to his neck. Heated the other, fiery one to the point that the scent of singed flesh engulfed us. “Which means your usefulness to me has ended.”

“You’re going to kill me?Really?” He coughed. The motion made my blade slip against his skin, drawing another trail of crimson to the surface. He didn’t flinch. His eyes never left my face. “You would make me a martyr?”

I hesitated for a beat, considering his words. It was a short debate. I quickly decided his death was worth any consequence that might follow—

But it didn’t matter.

Because in the next moment—before I could properly end him—several things happened all at once: The ground shook with a sudden tremor that lasted for several seconds; the shield of fire I’d created wavered; an arrow screamed through the smoke and heat-hazed air, striking me in the shoulder.

The arrow didn’t sink in very deeply, but it distracted me enough that my sword of fire lost its shape. As I rebalanced my remaining sword, while simultaneously inspecting the arrow’s head, Andrel scrambled to his feet.

“I wouldn’t be so concerned about Karys right now,” he said, taking a few shaky steps away from me. “She was not the main target tonight. Collecting her was merely a bonus objective that happened to work out for us. One of many victories we’ll be celebrating later.”

I yanked the arrow from my shoulder. “I’m sure it will be a wonderful celebration,” I snarled. “Right up until I send fire raining down over it.”

“And over her, too, I presume? Since she’ll be among us.”

I placed a hand on my shoulder and summoned a small flame, searing the wound closed. “She isn’t as weak as you,” I said. “She can withstand the heat.”

“Unlikely, given her current condition.”

The grip on my sword burned red hot from the heat of my palm. A blistering wind rose as I closed the space he’d tried to put between us. “Where. Is. She?”

The barest hint of a smirk curled his lips. “Some place safe. And don’t worry: I’m going to take good care of her.”

I swung.

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