But instead, he looked terrible, covered in blood and patches of fur that bloomed and then sank back into his skin because he was trying to Change, but something was preventing him.But Cyrus, being Cyrus, wouldn’t accept that and was fighting his own body even as he threw his captors around the room, and tore at the chains they were trying to use to strap him to a wall.That wasn’t going well, as even in human form, he was much stronger than they’d anticipated, but they had magic and—
They used it.One of them hit him with a spell that caused the chains to retract and slam him back against the wall, so hard that I was surprised he didn’t go through it.“Cyrus!”
I was shocked, terrified, and furious, and to my surprise, the mage wasn’t any happier.“Watch it, you idiots!”he snapped.“He’s no good to me dead!”
He only received a bunch of shouted profanity in return, maybe because Cyrus had shaken off the blow, jerked an arm off the wall, and wrapped the attached chain around one of his captor’s necks.Who shortly thereafter ceased to be a captor or anything else.But then the little I could see of the scene was obscured by a bunch of people rushing into the room, and Cyrus disappearing under the sheer weight of them.
I lunged for the mage, but he was shielded.“Let him go!”
“You can do that yourself,” he gasped, probably with the effort of reinforcing his shields, since the arm I’d used to grab at him belonged to my counterpart.And instead of sliding harmlessly off as my claws would have done, hers had sunk six inches into his smooth-as-glass protection.
Leaving him looking at them crosseyed from a few inches away for a startled second.Until he flexed his power and threw them out again, with enough force to reverberate all the way up my arm.“Don’t...test me!”
“Then let him go!”I snarled, my counterpart sending a truly seductive vision of the mage with a slashed throat, bleeding out on the floor.And if Cyrus’s life hadn’t been on the line...
But it was, and the rest of the dark mages didn’t seem so interested in keeping him alive.As evidenced when they slammed him against the wall again, three men holding the arm with the broken chain attached to it, and still getting thrown across the room for their trouble.But someone else got a warded band around that same arm a moment later, and it did what they couldn’t.
Cyrus was trapped now, writhing against the wall and cursing and kicking at anyone stupid enough to get close.
There weren’t many of those.
But that opened him up to any other spells they might throw, and I felt my fists curl.And the mage was just as furious, as he was yelling at his men.“Subdued!I want himsubdued,notdead!He dies, and I will kill every mother’s son of you!”
That seemed to reassure my counterpart, who withdrew slightly, allowing my arm to return to its normal state—unlike my temper.“Release him!”I growled.
“You can do that easily enough!”he repeated.“And don’t look so tragic.He won’t be injured unless he does it himself, trying to escape.He’s had a drug to prevent him from Changing, but otherwise, he’s fine.And will remain that way as long as you give me what I want!”
“What you want?”I repeated, still trying to see something reassuring on the feed.But it was impossible, as the man with the other mirror had put it down for some reason, giving me only a skewed view of a rock-cut ceiling and part of a wall.
And then nothing when the leader put his own device away, probably so I’d pay attention.
“Come now,” he said, his voice more controlled.“You wouldn’t be here, and alone, if you didn’t intend to deal.I thought my men had grabbed your other half without anyone noticing, after he finally left that fortress of a house of yours, but I should have known.
“What was it?More of those Arnou guards skulking about, alerting you?Or is it true what they say, that mated pairs can almost read each other’s minds?I hope, if the latter, that you were smart enough not to alert thatbardricof yours before you came.He will get...quite a reception...should he turn up here.”
“No.”My voice was surprisingly steady.
“Good.Then let’s make a deal.”
“Possibly,” I said.“Except...I need to understand what happens when you get what you want.”
He sighed impatiently.“I release the Were—Cyrus, is it?And you both walk out of here.I don’t want your life, mage, or his.I want the damned potion!”
“And the rest?”I gestured at the savages who were still trying to leap up here.“What dotheywant?Because it looks like they want my blood!”
“Well, what did you expect, turning up like that?You’re lucky one of our patrols spotted you before they did.I was going to have you meet me somewhere in town for the handoff, had you given me a chance, but you don’t seem the patient type.”
“That doesn’t answer my question,” I pointed out grimly.
He sighed and sat back in his chair.“You’re not the only one with a replicator,” he said, echoing Caleb’s fears.
“So, once you have the potion, you’ll have enough for everyone in minutes.And an unstoppable army soon after that.”
“Something like that.”
“And you expect me to give it up?Even knowing the price?”
“I expect you to look to the future.”He leaned over the table again, looking earnest.“You and that freak show you’re running are going to be about as popular as we are after the war.Maybe less, as you tend to be a bit more...unrestrained.And my Circle is not your enemy—”
