Kreya opened her eyes and looked at Jentt. She didn’t want to tell him. Not now. Not like this. Not when she wasn’t alone with him, to explain, to beg him to understand. She’d thought she’d have years to explain what she’d done and why she’d done it.
Jentt laid his hand over hers. “Kreya?”
“Try to understand,” she said to him. She stared into his eyes and tried to will him to forgive her for what she’d done. “I’ve lived life without you, and I couldn’t bear it. Not when I had the strength to save you.”
He withdrew his hand. “What are you saying?”
“The resurrection spell requires three things: the right words, human bones, and the life essence of the caster. Not all of it. But as much as you choose to give.”
Jentt’s voice was hushed. “Tell me you didn’t.”
But she couldn’t tell him that, as badly as she wanted to. “In order to bring someone back to life, you have to give them some of yours. That’s why I believed Eklor—I thought he was sacrificing his future to give a future to an innocent child. But eight...”
“How much?” Jentt asked.
“If the people in the hospital are dying, he must be draining—”
He interrupted. “How much of your future did you give me?”
She looked at him. “Half. I’ll die when you die.”
Jentt stood up abruptly and walked to the window, his back to her.
“That still could be many, many years away,” Kreya called after him.
Zera waved her hand. “You two have plenty to discuss, Iknow. But do it later. Right now, we have to focus on Eklor. You think he’s stealing other people’s lives?”
Kreya steeled herself. She didn’t want to have to think about Eklor in this moment, with Jentt in pain, but she had no choice. As Zera said, she had to focus on their enemy and only on him, if they were to find a way to defeat him. She forced herself to drag her gaze away from Jentt’s angry eyes and look instead at the others. “Yes, that’s exactly what I think.” And she explained what had come to mind as soon as she’d heard the news. As she spoke, another piece of the puzzle clicked into place. “If he used such a spell on himself while he was close to death and stole the life of another...”
“There were plenty of wounded on the battlefield,” Stran said.
“Or he could have prepared in advance,” Zera said. “He was always a fellow who liked to plan. He could have had all the necessary ingredients already with him.”
“Ingredients,” Amurra said. “You’re talking about a person.”
“But Eklor wouldn’t have thought of them like that. And right now, we need to think like him.”
Amurra shuddered.
Stran punched one fist into his other hand. “We should have made certain he was dead.”
“We did,” Zera said. “He was. We’re not idiots. Kreya examined the body. Stuck him with a few knives, as I recall, and before we left the plains, Marso read the bones and saw him dead.”
Kreya nodded.
“He could have drafted a flunky to work the spell after we were gone,” Zera said. “But how about we ask Eklor about the nitty-gritty detailsafterwe take him down? Plenty of opportunity for reminiscing about the past once he’s behind bars.”
All of them looked at Kreya, expecting her to command them as she always did. Yet at the moment, her heart ached to go to Jentt, talk to him, try to fix what she knew she’d broken. Her head knew her duty, however. There was no question what the right thing to do was: Report Eklor immediately. Expose his crimes, and keep him from fleeing as the bone guild and the city authorities came down on him. “It’s time for another visit to Grand Master Lorn.”
“He won’t listen,” Zera objected. “Eklor saved his son. He’ll dismiss this is as circumstantial evidence, not proof.”
“He’ll listen to the truth if we make him listen—the coincidences with the deaths in the hospital should be at least enough to cast suspicion,” Kreya said. “The guild willmakeLorn investigate, if we present this publicly enough. The council will insist on it. I assume he still visits the masters and novices on the third tier once a week?”
Zera smiled. “I happen to be on close terms with the clerk who sets the agendas for his meetings. He likes to use my strength talismans. Or, more accurately, his wife likes it when he uses my strength talismans.”
“I did not need to know that detail,” Kreya said. “Can you arrange for all of us to speak with Grand Master Lorn in front of the council of masters and as many other guild members as possible? Without anyone figuring out we’re planning to do so?”
“Absolutely,” Zera said. She swept to the door and then paused, looking back at Kreya. “Better brush off your public speaking skills. And maybe find some less transparent clothes.”
