It was so tempting to give in.
To quit.
But, as much as I wanted to have faith in Sanrin and the rest of my clan, I couldn’t. The Flame hadn’t gone to the sages or clan elders and asked for their help in redrawing the Grand Design. It knew they’d make the same mistakes it had. Sanrin would think he knew exactly what had to be done. He’d even believe he was doing the right thing for the greatest number of people. And we’d end up right back where we were now.
“Stand aside,” I said. “Please, if you’ve ever trusted me, if you ever believed in me, let me finish this before it’s too late.”
“Your friend needs help,” Sanrin said, then backed away as I stalked toward him.
The heretics were getting closer. They shouted my name in a ragged chorus, as if willing me to step out of the shadows and reveal myself. There were far more of them than my clan mates, and I knew I couldn’t stay here any longer.
“We’ll get him help,” I said. “But I won’t let you stop me. Don’t make me ask you to move again.”
Eric and Clem followed right behind me. They’d summoned their fusion blades and turned slowly as we walked, brandishing the weapons to keep my clan back. So far none of the Shadow Phoenixes had made an aggressive move. There was no guarantee they wouldn’t, though.
“There’s no reason for you to do this alone,” Sanrin insisted.
“You haven’t given me any other choice,” I said. The pieces of the puzzle had started falling together in my head as soon as Sanrin appeared. I’d thought my mother had bought Grimaldi’s loyalty, but that didn’t make any sense. Her maniacs had cut down Aldo’s men without hesitation. “You paid off Grimaldi. If it wasn’t for your interference, this would already be over.”
Sanrin looked defeated. His shoulders slumped, and he shook his head sadly. But he didn’t get out of my way.
“You took away all my other options,” Sanrin said slowly. “I only bribed that miscreant to give us a chance to talk. I had no idea your mother would attack at the same time. This isn’t my fault.”
“The fact that you don’t see that it is your fault is the reason I can’t trust you,” I said. My fusion blade materialized in my right hand, its tip inches from Sanrin’s throat. “This is your last chance.”
For a moment, Sanrin seemed to give up. He slid to the left, his hands hanging loose at his sides. There was real sadness stamped into the deep lines on his face, and I glimpsed the gray aspects of sorrow trapped in his aura. He truly felt remorse for what he’d done. Or, he felt bad about what he was going to do.
I kept my fusion blade pointed at his throat, turning as we made our way through the building. Something changed between the elder and me as I passed him, and I knew things would never be the same.
I’d crossed the big room and nearly reached the door when everything came apart around me.
One of the other cloaked figures unleashed his serpents. They raced toward me like dark missiles that would have impaled me if my own serpents hadn’t sprung to life in time to bat the attacks aside. Seeing his first attack fail, the man’s shape rippled and split into a trio of dark shadows that all swept toward me at the same instant. Three fusion blades appeared in the shapes’ hands and lashed out at the exact same instant, knocking my weapon out of line and leaving me momentarily defenseless.
At the same time, the other member of Sanrin’s triad leaped at Eric and Clem. His rapier-like fusion blade appeared in the blink of an eye, and his serpents swept across the ground in an attempt to take Eric’s legs out from under him.
My friend was too fast for that trick, though. He vaulted over the striking serpent, twisting into the air. He lashed out with a backfist that ripped across his opponent’s jaw. The attack tore the man’s hood off, revealing salt-and-pepper hair and a distinguished outline that I instantly recognized.
“Grayson,” I spat.
My opponent renewed his attack with a deft slice of his slender blade. The weapon nicked my left arm, unleashing a trickle of blood that felt hot as lava as it ran down to my wrist. The wound was shallow, but the blade had almost hit Abi.
And that I would not forgive.
With a roar of primal rage, I advanced on my foe with a series of brutally efficient slashes from my longer weapon. My fury drove him back into the building’s wall. When he tried to slip out to the side to open more space between us, my serpents blocked his path like a living gate.
He parried the slash that would have ended his life, but not before it sliced through his robes and sent his hood fluttering to the ground. His ancient eyes widened in shock when he realized how close he’d come to death.
“Jace,” he said.
“Tycho,” I growled.
In that moment of distraction, one of my serpents speared through the sage’s foot. Tycho was much, much more powerful than I was. My only chance of surviving this encounter lay in surprise and guile.
I simultaneously feinted with another serpent and my fusion blade to draw Tycho’s attention away from my true intent. When his weapon swung up to block mine, I let go of the blade and slammed my palm into his chest.
My Thief’s Shield technique flared to life before the sage could react. My eyes felt heavy, like lead weights in their sockets, and the black fire that surrounded them was reflected in Tycho’s pupils.
“Don’t do this,” he said. “We came here to help you.”
“Liar,” I snarled. “You came here to control me. That ends here.”
Tycho’s lids drooped and his pulse jumped under the skin of his neck. His aura’s
