Without other ideas, I stood up from my hiding spot. Dispersing another demon, I approached Tayrel Kan and somehow managed to grab his shoulder and yank him toward me.
The view almost took all my courage. His face was pale, crossed with lines so red they were more like fresh wounds than scars. And I could swear, every single one of them spread in its own mocking grin, flesh between the stitch marks akin to teeth. His eyes shone like lanterns, and at this moment, I felt there was nothing human left in him. He was just a force of nature, wild, untamed, and completely indifferent.
“Tayrel Kan, that’s enough,” I shouted, fighting the tremble in my voice. “You’re gonna get us all killed.”
He only laughed, a high-pitched, inhuman sound that made the hair on my neck stand on ends.
“No one will mourn you here,” he replied and pushed me away with a blast of magical wind. But his words were more daunting than any spell; mostly because I knew them to be true.
And he probably wasn’t even aware, I realized, unable to tear my gaze from his crazed face.
“I’m sorry,” I said just like before, this time without the faintest hint of remorse. My fingers closed around a tiny object on the bottom of my pouch. I took it out and shoved it in his mouth.
Tayrel Kan’s eyes widened, and he spat; my last carai-nut, red against the bare ground.
But it did its job. Within seconds, the inhuman grin gave way to confusion, light all but disappearing from his eyes. Tayrel Kan gave out a weak huff, then another. He tried to walk away but stumbled and fell to his knees. His left hand shot up to clutch uselessly at his neck, as his right scrabbled to recover the syringe from his belt. I rushed forward just in time to catch him before he collapsed. His face was red and swollen, eyes glassy.
He was dying.
With growing dread, I attempted to wrest the syringe from him. But then a spasm shook his body, his hand cramped and a disgusting crunch tore the air. I froze. When I looked down, I saw broken glass, glimmering like stars against quickly darkening ground that greedily drank the last drops of the medicine.
Tayrel Kan didn’t have any more shots. My meds had expired, and I didn’t bother to pick up new ones. He was gonna die and it was all my fault. I killed him. I killed him…
Someone pushed me aside and pressed something into Tayrel Kan’s thigh. The sorcerer stopped struggling, and slowly, his breathing normalized. When I looked up, my eyes met Adyar Lah’s.
Chapter 17
The smell of burnt meat lingered in the air long after the last screams died down.
It’s all wrong, Taneem thought. Karlan was full of shit: two battles, and the Dahlsi didn’t seem ready to run. No, they were regrouping, preparing for the counterstrike. And with the gate of the mansion wrecked, there was very little to stop them.
“We’re all gonna die here,” the words fled Taneem’s mouth before he could think of them.
“Not all hope is lost,” retorted Kiraes, his tone as even as if he was talking about the weather.
Taneem couldn’t hold back a burst of hysterical laughter.
“Have you seen what has just happened?” He swept his hand towards the window; needlessly, as Kiraes’s eyes were locked on the outside, not sparing his friend a glimpse. “They didn’t even need to mobilize, all it took was one lonely sorcerer to dispatch our entire team. Can you imagine what will happen when that bastard comes here?”
“There must be a reason why he hasn’t already!” Kiraes huffed, and it became clear that despite the calm facade he was as shocked as Taneem. “There’s a limit to how much ae one can process in a day. He’s probably all spent.”
Kiraes was always fascinated by magic and even tried his luck at the Academy in Sfal; a chance he’d never had gotten if their families remained in Tarviss. The irony was not lost on Taneem.
“There may be others like him.”
“Hopefully not.”
The silence descended, heavy and precarious.
“Why are we even here?” asked Taneem. He never wanted any of this. His life in Sfal was better than he deserved; he didn’t even care about having revenge on the Tearshan family. He only bullied the kid because others did it, and he wanted to fit in. He wondered if Tearshan knew that Taneem didn’t hate him.
He wondered if it mattered.
“We’re here to undo what was done.” Kiraes’s tone was solemn, but stiff, as if he was reciting more than expressing his thoughts.
Taneem’s lips twitched. “So that’s it. You just follow Karlan’s words, believe that we can fix one evil with another…”
“There’s no fixing it!”
The outburst was so sudden, Taneem reeled back.
Kiraes took a deep breath before picking up. “Nothing will bring our parents back. Nothing will undo cycles of pain and humiliation we had to endure. All we can do is make sure our children won’t suffer the same fate as us.”
“If you cared about your children, you would take them and Kayda and fuck off to Tarviss,” hissed Taneem, feeling his blood rushing. “They were already sent there, deported due to your own actions. Do you care about that?”
“Damn you, Taneem, what do you care about?! Is there even anything? Or you just do what you’re told. No wonder you don’t mind the life of a peon, you already have the soul of one!”
The words struck him like a physical punch, and Taneem stepped back, looking at the man he considered his friend. Kiraes’s cheeks were red and sweat glued his hair to his forehead. His eyes were wide opened, frenzied, almost like Karlan’s.
He made a mistake, Taneem realized. Not just now, but all throughout his life. His attempts
