Page 118 of Prince of the Undying

“He surrendered!” Konstantin stammered.

Assassins lay scattered across the factory, silent or moaning, many with limbs at awkward angles. Wendel walked from assassin to assassin like an efficient reaper, slitting their throats and severing their spines.

He killed them all without hesitation.

“Wendel,” I said.

He said nothing. He looked…lost.

“We have to go. He’s here. The Grandmaster.”

Wendel stared at me with such concentrated fury that I retreated a step.

“I saw him,” I said. “He’s in Vienna.”

He shook his head, though I didn’t understand why.

Konstantin limped over to us. “What happened to him?”

“I don’t know. We have to get him out of here.”

Konstantin had to duck to fit through the doors of the coffin factory. I followed close behind him, counting on theEisenkrieger’s bulk as a shield. The steel reflected the flames of my sword. Wendel lingered near one of the windows, staring intently into the darkness.

I turned back. “Wendel?”

Blinking, he followed me into the light.

Outside the factory, it was still and silent. Any number of assassins could be lurking.

“See anything?” I asked Konstantin.

From the height of the Eisenkrieger, he scanned our surroundings. “No.”

“There could be more. Stay hidden.”

Konstantin laughed nervously. “How? I’m huge.”

I led the way from the coffin factory and across the empty lot. Rain weighted down my hair and trickled down my clothes. I wished I were inside the Eisenkrieger. It was drier, and safer, inside the machine.

That’s when I realized Wendel wasn’t with us.

I turned back and found him lingering in the shadows again. He stared into the darkness like he belonged there. He had a distant, empty look in his eyes.

What was wrong with him?

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Ibacktracked to meet him. He opened his mouth, as if he wanted to speak, but blood trickled down his chin. Grimacing, he wiped it on the back of his hand.

Dread froze in my belly like ice. Had the Order done something irrevocable to him?

“Are you okay?” I asked.

He shook his head. I had never seen him look so lifeless.

“How did they hurt you?”

He curled his lip as if annoyed by the simplicity of my question. Even bleeding and mute, he had a hint of arrogance that reminded me of the Wendel I knew, the Prince of the Undying. There was hope for him yet.

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