Tagg stiffened, and Zanna stepped aside so the man could see Kurtz clearly.
His eyes narrowed. “Who’s that?”
Kurtz moved before Tagg finished speaking. Quick and brutal, he drove his knee into Tagg’s gut. As the guard doubled over, wheezing, Kurtz struck the back of his head with the pommel of his dagger.
Tagg crumpled.
Zanna wiped her damp palms against her tunic. It was over.
Kurtz nudged Tagg’s unconscious form with his boot, then grinned at her. “Well done, eh? That was rather enchanting.”
“Shut up and keep watch.” Zanna knocked hard against his shoulder as she shoved past and yanked the keys off Tagg’s belt. She found the fifth-floor master and shoved it into the lock. The bolt groaned as it slid back, and she opened the door.
Inside, a man slumped against the far wall, his wrists and ankles shackled, his face thin.
Crispen West.
His head lifted at the sound of the door, and he blinked as he took in Kurtz, dragging Tagg inside. “What?—?”
“No time.” Zanna crouched to unlock the chains around his wrists. “We’re getting you out of here.”
When she moved to his ankles, West rubbed the raw skin of his wrists. “Where are you taking me?”
“To Cole,” Kurtz said, offering him a hand up.
The boy’s name lit up West’s eyes. “You’re friends of my son?”
“Best friend he’s got.” Kurtz pulled West to his feet. “Now, stick close and keep quiet, eh?”
Kurtz led the way out, and Zanna shut the door behind them, leaving Tagg as the new occupant of the cell. Good riddance.
They moved quickly, back to the stairwell and down, their escape unhindered. Zanna fell a few paces behind, continuing to glance back to make sure they weren’t seen.
Up ahead, a voice cut through the quiet. “Well, well.”
Zanna froze and pressed herself against the wall at the bottom of the stairs. She carefully stole a glance around the corner. At the far end of the passage, Verdot Amal stood in the dim torchlight, arms crossed as if he’d been expecting them. Six guards flanked him, swords drawn and fixed on Kurtz and Crispen. Zanna held her breath, willing herself to remain unseen.
“This is disappointing, Chazir,” Verdot said. “You’d think thirteen years in the Pit would have left you with more sense. But you always choose the wrong side, don’t you?”
“The only disappointment here is you,” Kurtz said. “Selling men like cattle? You won’t get away with it.”
“You’ll think twice about that when you pledge your service to the Hamartano women as their newest eunuch.”
“Never going to happen.”
“You’re a pawn, Chazir. You always have been. You think I didn’t know you sent Fiora Lingel to me? You walked straight into a trap. Again.”
“What do you mean, again?”
“I think you know.”
Zanna wished she could see Kurtz’s face. Though he faced away from her, she noticed him straighten and square his shoulders.
“You know what a maggot is, Verdot?” Kurtz asked. “It’s a parasite. Born from filth. Lives off rotting flesh. Well, maggots turn into flies, they do. Buzz around, spreading filth wherever they land, thinking they’re important. But in the end, they’re just carriers of decay. That’s what you are, buzzing about in the shadows, feeding off the ruin of others.”
“Fancy words, but I’m not the one foolish enough to walk back into a prison.”
“If you’re going to kill me, get on with it, eh?”
