“Asssssk,” Manna hissed. Her eyes were still closed. She’d begun to sway in her seat.
I silently snarled as Althok’s expression grew sly. “If your voices are true, they know the questions already. Askthem,”he said with menacing delight.
Manna didn’t respond, but continued to sway in her seat. Her hands were twisted together in her lap, knuckles white.
“Assssssssssk,” she insisted.
Althok’s eyes narrowed. “What good are guides who don’t even know what path we walk? You ask, and you tell me what they say,” he growled.
Manna’s head nodded slowly, but I saw the tic in her cheek.
‘Tell him that his mind is not a landscape I wish to traverse.’
Manna jerked to a stiff, upright posture and her eyes flew open. Her jaw went slack.
Don’t panic, don’t panic, don’t panic,I pleaded with her silently, praying she could keep her courage long enough for us to get through this.
Across the table, Althok quirked one brow, but his expression was skeptical.
“She says…” Manna cleared her throat nervously. “She says your mind is a dark place she does not wish to—”
“Tellherthat I don’t give a fuck what she thinks of my mind. I want my questions answered, and if you can’t hear them, I’ll find someone who can.”
His tone left no confusion about the unspoken threat ofwhyhe’d go to someone else.
Manna lifted her shaking hands to the table’s edge, gripping it as if it were a lifeline.
‘Tell him your guide knows who he is, and what he does, and if he doesn’t ask himself, she will tell him what is true, even if he doesn’t wish to hear it.’
She relayed the sentiments in formal tones, using mystical terms, but Althok’s upper lip curled back from his teeth.
“I tire of these games. Does your guide know anything useful for me, or not?” he growled.
Manna’s face fell as she leaned back in her chair, still gripping the edge of the table.
‘It’s your fucking funeral, Althok.’I let her hear me say it, and then I shoved everything into her mind, overwhelming her so that her head sank back and she gasped. Even as she stumbled and stammered, she relayed my thoughts faithfully.
“Your role in this nation fuels your ego and keeps you quiet, but serves little more than a distracting pageant. You stand aside from the true power, and count your money while the hearts of men are given to a blindfool.The… the Fallen uses you like a puppet—sticks his hand up your ass and makes you dance to the tune of his choosing. His magic tricks seduce and blind you and your people—”
“What thefuck—”
“Where is the king the Nephilim have earned? Where is the power in battle, and the mind sharp as a sword? Where are the men of power who carry more than wealth—they carry the esteem of the city, and the merchants and the rulers… Even the Centaurs no longer fear you—”
Althok shoved back in his seat, seething. “You’re lying. This isn’t from a spirit guide. You’re just trying to—”
“The Advisors Council has not made a decision on behalf of the king, oradvisedhim, since he appeared. He was not appointed, nor crowned. Your opinions were not wanted. The Fallen speaks every word, thinks every thought, and moves every piece on the gameboard. You make yourself a pawn, and allow yourself to be distracted by the gleam of shiny jewels and gluttony.”
Althok went still. I smiled a sly smile of my own, grateful that Jann had been able to feed Yilan and I some choice details.
“The Fallen condemned you to death the moment you missed his summons because you were balls-deep in a bayan girl. You and your brothers. He speaks only to the Halfling on matters of detail, and ignores the rest of you—because you are too easily pleased by mere scraps of what he might give. Lazy idiots. Beware. Your time is running out. Althok, your throat will open and your lifeblood spill the moment the Fallen has determined he no longer requires your flesh sack for his charade. You and the others have given the Nephilim over to his hands, and will die like pigs when he no longer needs you.”
Althok’s eyes had gone wide. He gripped the table now too. “He’s… he’s theFallen.Lucifer. Heisour power—”
“If his power is so mighty, why did he bring you a child-mind? If his gaze is so far reaching, why didn’t he save Gault from death? He was overtaken by the only male with the strength to resist. He haschosenthis path to save his own skin. You let yourself be led into the arena by a golden ring through your nose, dick swinging, blind to your own death on the horizon—”
Althok shoved back from the table so hard it shifted on the floor and pinned Manna in her chair. She cut off speaking with a grunt and I gasped, almost forgetting myself and leaping forward to help her. However she was only surprised. Shepushed her chair back and scrambled to her feet as Althok began yanking at the velvet curtains in a panic, searching for the door by which he’d entered.
Heart pounding with elation—the Neph was clearly terrified—I pressed on Manna’s mind,orderingher to keep talking, and she did, standing in the room with her fists at her sides, crying the words to him as he searched for the exit.
