I looked around to see that Luna was the only one still moving. She was still kneeling, chained to the pedestal, staring at me with wide eyes. ‘He got away,’ I said, unable to keep the irritation out of my voice. ‘Stay there.’ I began a circuit of the room, checking for survivors.
Griff, needless to say, was very dead. After being shredded, incinerated and disintegrated all at once, what was left of his body could fit in a pencil case. Anyone planning to give him a burial would need a mop and a vacuum cleaner. Thirteen was gone as well, though with her I wasn’t sure how permanent it would be. The trouble with incorporeal creatures is that it’s always so hard to tell if they’re really dead.
The big surprise was that Cinder was still breathing. The back of his head was a mess, and he was carrying a few broken bones, but he was still alive, for the moment at least. I searched his body, then glanced up as I sensed movement.
Rachel was standing a few pillars away. Her mask had been torn away in the battle, and for the second time that day she was Rachel rather than Deleo again. She didn’t move. ‘Rachel,’ I said with a smile, rising to my feet. I lifted the fateweaver and raised my eyebrows. ‘Want to try and take it?’
Rachel didn’t answer and I walked towards her. ‘Don’t tell me you’re not thinking about it,’ I said. ‘You’re wondering if you can succeed where Onyx failed.’ I reached Rachel and began to walk slowly around her. ‘Do you think you can?’
Rachel swivelled to stay facing me, limping slightly as she did. Her hair was disarrayed, matted in one place with blood, but her eyes followed me unblinkingly. ‘Well?’ I said.
Rachel shook her head slowly, not taking her eyes off me.
‘Why not?’ I leant in and suddenly I was right behind Rachel, whispering into her ear. I could smell her scent, blood and sweat and dust … and something else, as well, something that made my nerves quicken. ‘You like to kill by touch, don’t you? You’re close enough. Show me what you’ve learned.’
Rachel shook her head again. ‘Why not?’ I said again, softly into her ear.
Rachel was silent for a long moment. ‘You’d win,’ she said at last, her voice as soft as mine.
‘Yes,’ I said. ‘You were always good at knowing when you were outmatched, weren’t you? Not like Shireen.’
Rachel held very still. I withdrew, pulling away from her. ‘Now,’ I said coldly. ‘Why should I let you live?’
‘We had a deal—’
I laughed, then, my voice suddenly cruel, and Rachel stopped. ‘Did you think I was that stupid?’
There was fear in Rachel’s eyes, but there was something else too: she was looking at me with respect for the first time, and I found I liked it. ‘Still,’ I said. ‘You might be some use. But payment is only put off. I’ll be calling on you. Understand?’
Rachel nodded carefully. ‘I understand.’ She stepped away, backing towards Cinder.
I lifted an eyebrow. ‘You want him as well?’
‘He’s all I have,’ Rachel said. She spoke simply, and I had the odd feeling that for once she was being honest.
I shrugged. ‘He can share your obligation. Go.’
Rachel nodded again, then opened a gateway and started to pull Cinder through it. Her movements as she pulled the big man were oddly tender. Then the gate closed behind them and I was walking back towards Luna.
‘I don’t understand,’ Luna said as I reached the dais. She’d gotten to her feet, and was standing with her arm cradled awkwardly, staring at me. ‘How did you do that?’
‘Back off two steps,’ I said. Luna did, causing the chains to rattle and draw out. As the links stretched I identified the weakest points, created a pair of hairline flaws, then shattered them with two stamp kicks. I turned towards the wall. ‘This way.’
‘But—’ Luna said, then found she was talking to my retreating back. She hurried after me, the broken chains rattling. ‘Where’s Starbreeze?’
‘She’ll be fine.’ I stopped in front of a featureless section of wall, then spoke a command word. It darkened, then faded away, and I stepped inside. ‘Come on, unless you want to stay.’
Luna started, then followed me in. I touched a control crystal on the wall and with a shudder the room sealed itself and began to move.
‘Alex?’ Luna asked. ‘What does that thing do?’
I smiled. ‘Oh, Luna, I wish you could feel it. It’s like being able to see where you were blind. Watch.’ I stepped forward.
Luna flinched. ‘Don’t!’
I laughed. ‘Your curse? That can’t hurt me now.’ I could see the silvery mist drifting around me, never quite reaching. Occasionally a strand would touch me, but I simply grounded it in the floor, along with the remnants I’d picked up from earlier. It was just as well I’d found the fateweaver when I had; I’d gotten altogether too close to Luna over the past few days. I pointed at Luna’s broken arm, and as she flinched I translated her movement into resetting the bone, aligning the fragments into their proper place. Luna gave a yelp of pain, then stopped suddenly, staring down at her arm. ‘It doesn’t hurt.’
‘I did some encouraging of your body’s healing system. Once we find a healer I’ll have it fixed before you know it.’ I raised my eyebrows. ‘And what do you say to having your curse lifted?’
‘ … What?’
I laughed again. ‘Anything that’s possible, I can make real.’ The room came to a sudden halt and one side opened. ‘Our stop.’
The journey out didn’t take long. Luna trailed along behind me, shell-shocked, as I strode along the corridors,
