“You’re right. How was your night?”
I turned back to the stone and combed through a line of clove hitches, dragging my fingers through the knots.
Last smiled and hopped back up onto the ledge, kicking her feet happily. “Thank you for asking. Well, it started out all right. As you know, my husband is a very attractive man. Even with all the blood, and the hole in his chest, and all that gray skin from his principal’s binding . . .” Last shrugged when I narrowed my eyes. “Oh, it’s a Bard thing. The principal explained it to me. It’s an object of power implanted in his skin. It makes him loyal to the Bard. It hurts him, I think.” She swung her feet and smiled at the splatter of crushed cockroaches. “I truly don’t care what the Bard does to his son. Whatever he does, I’m certain my husband deserves it. He’s so smug. He’s so pretty. He’s always smiling. But inside, he’s a monster, just like the rest of us. I want him to know it. I want him to admit it.” She made a sound of frustration and smacked the rib cage behind her, scattering the bones.
It was dark at the dead end of the tunnel. The only light was Last’s conjured green-yellow flame, but I could still make out the angry curl of her lips.
“What happened last night?” I asked.
Last’s lips flattened, and she shrugged. “He didn’t want me.”
I fumbled with one of the knots I was untying. She sounded so forlorn I gave her a quick, surprised glance.
“Exactly! You’re thinking the same thing as me. How could he resist? Men are stupid creatures driven by instinct. They’re slaves to lust. Look at the praying mantis—the males know they’ll be eaten by the female as soon as they mate. What do they do? They mate! They can’t help it! I bet they like it. Who else? The black widow spider devours her mates. The sagebrush cricket. Even some female octopuses eat their mates. Yet all of them keep mating. Why? Because males will do anything to slake their lust, including die. So what’s wrong with my stupid Bard husband that he won’t do what he’s supposed to?”
I cleared my throat and then offered, “Maybe he doesn’t want to die?”
Last scoffed. “Nobody asked him.”
I slipped another row of knots free. The creature scratched at the wall, testing the integrity of the locks.
“Maybe he loves someone else.”
“Don’t be stupid.” She frowned. “Besides, that’s not it. He didn’t want me like this, and he didn’t want me when I looked like the type of woman he prefers.” She sighed. “I wanted us to have a friendly marriage. I thought we could get along. I see now it’s not going to work that way. Gifts and kindness didn’t work. Trickery didn’t work. So . . . what would you do? Never mind. I forgot. You try to kill the men who are infatuated with you.”
She wasn’t wrong. “What do you mean, ‘the type of woman he prefers’?”
Cora. She had to mean Cora.
She waved her hand, and I flinched as she crushed another cockroach. This one with her bare fist.
“It was stupid,” she said, wiping her hand on her jeans. “There’s a woman he thought he wanted. He doesn’t. Obviously. We both know that now. Even the woman knows it. Maybe . . . hmm . . . maybe . . . Do you know what he’s afraid of?”
“No. No idea,” I said quickly. Too quickly.
Last narrowed her eyes.
“The woman,” I said. “The one he thought he wanted. What happened to her?”
Last tilted her head, studying me. “Why?”
“Well.” I peered at Last through the darkness. “I’d think you wouldn’t want him going to her.”
Last laughed. The wispy, gleeful sound made the creature in the walls shift and moan hungrily.
“Did you kill her?” I asked, my heart thudding, climbing my throat.
“Kill her?” Last shook her head. “Why would I kill her? I’m not my brother. Not even Secondus would’ve killed her, and he was worse than Primus. Be glad you never met him.”
I had met him. I’d thrown blood snakes at him before jumping into the East River.
“No, I didn’t kill her. There are beings who are good for sacrifice, and there are beings who are good for . . . other things.”
“Like torture?”
“No! Honestly, Mari. Is that what you like? Is that what you would’ve done? No, I’m not cruel like you and Primus. I’m kind. I’m good. She’s happy right now. She’s content. She has exactly everything she’s ever wanted. She has a nice, beautiful home. It’s in a quiet, safe place. She has all the food she could want. She can sing. She can dance. She can rest and relax. No one’s hurting her. No one’s bothering her. In fact, she’s exactly where she wants to be. I’ve done her a favor. I made her a gift. You think that’s nothing? It’s something. It’s something good. You should be impressed with me. My husband was impressed. He liked what I did. He didn’t say so, but I know. He liked it. He’s glad I did it. He’s thankful. His lusts were twisted, and his insides were warped, and I fixed it for him. I showed him he wanted a creature, and now he doesn’t want her anymore. Now they’re both happy. She knows he’s mine. I know he’s mine. And my husband knows he’s mine. He just has to admit it. He just has to give in and act like a man. That’s all. He can act like a man and then?—”
Last’s voice shook with vehemence. Her volume had been rising, and when she broke off, her chest was heaving with the violence of her words. They knocked against the walls as if she’d been punching her point into the stone.
