“She saw me. Sawus.” Gahiji paused, as though letting the import of the assertion sink in. “She will carry
tales. More than that, she has information that could be
a threat, knowledge that might be of value to Sutekh. Let
me take her soul. You cannot mean to let her live? A
Daughter of Aset. You know the rules. She must die.”
“Shut the bloody hell up,” Alastor interjected. “I
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SINS OF THE HEART
don’t know what is going on here, but I do know there
are no sodding rules about Aset’s Daughters. Are you
trying to start an all-out war, Gahiji? Leave go, man.
Dagan claimed her under his protection. You have no
right to this kill.”
Roxy held incredibly still. Dagan could hear each
breath coming shallow and fast, rattling in her chest.
Alastor shifted closer, held her tighter, made certain
that he balanced Dagan’s hold and Gahiji’s thrust, and
Dagan felt a swell of gratitude. He hadn’t said a word,
but his brother understood.
Funny, that, becausehedidn’t understand. He only
knew that if Roxy Tam closed her tiger-bright eyes
and let her lungs deflate on a final exhale, a part of him
would close his eyes with her and not rise again.
Beneath his grasp, he felt a minute loosening of
Gahiji’s hold.
“Let me take her heart and her soul. At least that way
Sutekh can gain the answers you failed to obtain,” the
reaper said, shifting to accusation as a bargaining tactic.
“She will die now, regardless. You fight the inevitable.”
“She will not die.” Dagan kept his hold on Gahiji’s
