“What? He said they're fine.”
“The city Ember was dining in was attacked. You don't think that takes precedence?”
“What about that needs to be discussed?”
“Oh, I don't know. The possibility that the Corrupter is tracking Ember.”
“How?”
I went still, listening to them. Tracking me? Could he?
“Ember is not being tracked,” Death said, silencing us all.
“What the fuck?” Taroc growled as he spun around.
“Calm yourself, Lord Taroc,” Death drawled. “I have come to help.”
Taroc narrowed his eyes and searched the air above us as if he could sense the presence of Death. Maybe he could.
“Are you sure he's not tracking me, Death?” I asked.
“Positive. He can't cast a tracking spell without something of yours to direct it.”
“That sounds like a general answer,” Rath said. “You don't know what he's up to, do you?”
“Aranren doesn't trust me as much as he used to,” Death admitted. “He hides things from me.”
“And how would you know that he hides things if he's hiding them?” I asked.
“He has cast a ward around his bedchambers and laboratory. I can no longer view his experiments.”
“So, he knows you have betrayed him,” Xae said.
“He suspects. I have made no secret about my disapproval.”
“Who is Aranren?” Taroc whispered to me as he handed me a glass full of brandy.
“The Corrupter,” I said. “That's his name.”
Taroc's brows lifted. Then his focus went upward again, “So, you have chosen Ember over Aranren?”
“I have, but the magic is available to any with the power to wield it. Just as your Goddess could not cut you off from your Spirit Magic now that she's given it to you, neither can I cut Aranren off from Death Magic.”
Taroc grunted.
“Then it was a coincidence that there was an attack on the same city Ember happened to be in tonight?” Rath asked.
“Yes.”
“That's quite a coincidence.”
“Not really. The world isn't that large, Lord Ratharin. It was bound to happen.”
“It is that large, actually.” Rath narrowed his eyes. “I don't know if I believe this was a coincidence.”
“Can we get to my question now?” Xae asked.
“It was the dead,” Taroc said. “And the Emperor's spells worked well on them.”
