were even gold candlestick holders on the mantel above the large stone fireplace.
“Stop gawking and help me get him on the bed,” Eli gasped, pulling Josef’s shoulders toward a narrow bed in the corner. Nico scrambled to help, and together they set the swordsman down on the heavy blankets.
“We have to stop his bleeding,” Eli said, pushing past Nico toward a chest at the other end of the room. He dug into it, pulling out a jug of clear liquor, bandages, and a surgeon’s thread and needle. “You’ll have to sew him up,” he said. “Help me turn him over.”
“No,” said Josef’s breathy, pained voice.
Eli and Nico were at his side in an instant.
“Don’t be stupid,” Eli said. “And don’t talk. We’re going to get you patched up.”
“No,” Josef said again, shaking his head. “The Heart is telling me it’s going to handle things.”
“What?” Eli cried. “Is the pain making you delusional? You can’t even hear spirits and you’re telling me your sword is promising to un-fillet your back?”
“Something like that,” Josef whispered. “The Heart also says that it has a lot more experience in keeping swordsmen alive than you do, and that you should mind your own business.”
Eli jerked back. “And does it have anything else to add?”
“Yes.” Josef’s voice began to slur and fade. “Don’t move me for two days.”
“Two days?” Eli shouted. “We’re supposed to sit here and watch you bleed for two days?”
But Josef didn’t answer. He lay on the bed, eyes closed, his chest moving in long, shallow breaths beneath the Heart of War, which lay across his chest from chin to knees with his white-knuckled hands still clutching the hilt. With a long, angry sigh, Eli pushed away from the bed and began shoving the first-aid supplies back into the trunk. Nico watched, biting her lip as Eli walked over to the dusty wine stand, grabbed a bottle at random, and flopped down on the floor.
When it was clear he was more interested in digging the old cork out with one of Josef’s throwing knives than giving her vital information, Nico asked the burning question. “Where are we?”
“Safe,” Eli said, popping the cork at last. “Well, safer. We’re still in the Sleeping Mountains, though not as far north as we were, and much farther east, about fifty miles from the coast. This is one of Giuseppe Monpress’s many hideouts. The old fox set them up years ago as refuges of last resort in case things got too hot, which explains the extravagant furnishings.” He cast a disapproving eye at the richly appointed wine rack. “He could never stand to be without his luxuries. We’re still technically inside Council lands, but no patrols come up here.”
Something about the way he said that made Nico distinctly uncomfortable. “Why not?”
Eli took a long drink from the bottle. “Because this is bandit land,” he said, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. “The Council can claim it all they want, but without influence in the area, it’s all talk. Izo is the real power here.” He took another swig. “Bastard has a bounty higher than mine.”
“Will he be a problem?” Nico said.
“Shouldn’t be,” Eli answered, leaning back against the cabin wall. “Not unless we make trouble for him, which we might have to.” A strange expression passed over his face. “I didn’t just choose this place because it was safe and far away. This is also the closest spot I knew to where Sted is.”
Nico’s eyes widened. “It worked then! You learned where Sted is!” She couldn’t believe it. Her plan had worked! But Eli didn’t look happy.
“Yes,” he said slowly. “Among other things.”
Nico flinched at the bitterness in his voice. The black arm began to ache beneath her coat, and Nico clutched it as subtly as she could. It didn’t matter, though. Eli was staring into his bottle with a focus so intense, she got the feeling he was not looking at the wine so much as avoiding looking at her. A cold, heavy feeling settled at the base of Nico’s stomach, and she scooted closer to Josef, tilting her head down so she didn’t have to watch Eli staring anywhere but her.
You always knew he would turn on you. The Master’s voice was soft and coy. It was only a matter of time.
Nico put her head on her knees. Outside, the sun sank lower. It was going to be a long two days.
Benehime stood in her white nothing, a furious scowl on her perfect white face as she stared at the man hanging suspended by his thumbs in the air before her.
You presume too much! she hissed, her voice like cut glass as she paced back and forth in front of the Lord of Storms’ dangling body. I told you to stay away. I told you to let it be. And still you disobey!
On her last word, she slapped him across the face. Wherever she touched him, his body broke apart into black, flashing clouds. The Lord of Storms cried out, his voice more gale than scream.
You are my creation! she roared. Mine to do with as I see fit! To use in what work I choose! A tool does not act without its master, or have you forgotten what you are?
She lowered her hand, and the Lord of Storms slowly pulled himself back together. But when his face reformed from the thunderheads, his murderous expression was even harsher than hers.
“It is you who has forgotten, Shepherdess,” he growled through gritted teeth. “You knew the Daughter of the Dead Mountain was still alive. You knew, and you let her wander free, all because of your shameful intoxication with that thief! Have you forgotten what happened the last time she awoke? Have you forgotten your duty?”
I forget nothing! Benehime began to stalk back and forth in front of him. Do you think I fear the demon? The little worm trapped under a rock he can never lift? In the five thousand years since I tore the spirit from the mountain and flung the dead stone on top of him, the creature has never managed to get so much as a tendril over the edge of my seal. The seeds he sends out are a nuisance, nothing more. And even if he succeeded, even if a seed managed to grow large enough to be a real threat, I would just trap the new demon as I trapped its father.
“And at what cost?” the Lord of Storms yelled, straining against the unbreakable force of the Lady’s will that held him in place. “I don’t know if you’ve taken time from your little one-sided love affair to notice, but this world isn’t what it was, Shepherdess! This isn’t some nuisance seed grown too big. If the Daughter of the Dead Mountain were to fully awaken and start feeding in earnest, we would need another great mountain to keep her down, and we both know you no longer have one to spare. Have you forgotten what’s at stake?”
He jerked against his bonds like he was trying to throw his arms out, but all he managed was to set himself swinging slightly in her hold. Still, from the way her eyes narrowed, it was clear Benehime didn’t need the gesture to know what he meant.
All around them, at the edges of her white world where she did not look, something was moving. Everything was still perfect, still flawless white, but beyond the white perfection, something pressed against the walls of her world. Long claws scraped at the barrier like knives against a sheet stretched taut, probing and searching for weakness. The movements were small, faint, gray shadows, but they were everywhere, pressing in on every inch of the Shepherdess’s domain.
“They never get tired, do they?” the Lord of Storms whispered. “That is the fate that awaits all of us if you forget your duty.”
I forget nothing, the Lady said, layering cold power into the words until he writhed beneath her voice, his body flashing between flesh and storm. But even her displeasure was not enough to keep the Lord of Storms from raising his head to met her eyes again.
“Everything I do.” He spat the words at her. “Everything I’ve ever done has been in your service. If you will not let me do my job, then dissolve me back into wind and water right now, because I won’t stop until all demonseeds, all threats to your domain, are crushed, even those who hide in your favorite’s shadow.”
Enough! The Lady’s voice echoed through the white nothing, and the Lord of Storm’s body dissolved into cloud, his cry of pain becoming a low rumble of thunder.
You would be so lucky if I dissolved you, she said, glaring at the thunderhead floating where the Lord of Storms’ suspended body had been only a second before. But you belong to me, and I have no desire to toss you aside just yet. I have been too soft with you for too long. Go and blow out your anger over the sea. We’ll see if some time as a mindless storm will help you remember the obedience you owe me.
She waved her hand and the thunderhead vanished. Baring her teeth at the place where he had been, the Lady whirled around and stalked back to her sphere.
In all her white world, the sphere alone was vibrant and colorful. Inside that perfect bubble, the world, her world, hung in suspended beauty. Continents floated on a flat, glassy sea, their wrinkled faces covered with tiny
