Some ran up toward the balcony.
But Marso didn’t stop. He hurled the candelabra at the window, and at last the glass shattered. Colored shards scattered everywhere, like rain made of jewels.
And the sounds of battle poured through.
He went to the next window and the next. Sunlight streamed through the cracks, along with the cries of the dying and the thunder of the unholy army. Kreya saw the change in the faces of the bone workers as the screams and cries broke through whatever hold Eklor had on them.
“We’re under attack!” Amurra called. “From Eklor’s army!”
The citizens echoed her.
Now, at last, the bone workers believed them. Maybe they would never have believed Kreya and Zera, but they believed the proof Marso had provided, they believed the people of Cerre, and they believed their own ears as the sounds of battle reached through the broken windows. The bone workers surged out of the hall.
As they flooded out into the city, Zera shouted words of encouragement, “Go! Fight the enemy! Save the people! Don’t be idiots! Go, go, go!”
Marso and Amurra joined the surge, shouting directions, guiding them toward the battle. Kreya lost sight of them almost immediately. She sent a silent prayer after them, hoping they’d stay safe. She had to trust they’d be smart.
Now that the bone workers were unleashed, she’d have to leave it to others to handle the army. She had another goal. She scanned the hall—where was Eklor? And Lorn?
Plunging forward, Kreya tried to force her way through the surge. She was knocked backward. “Where’s Eklor?” she shouted. “Where is he?” She recognized a bone worker who was rushing past, and she grabbed the woman’s arm: “Briel!”
Briel tried to yank out of her grip.
“Stop, Briel. Tell me: where’s Eklor?”
“Is it true? Is it his army? Why did we trust him?”
“It wasn’t your fault,” Kreya told her. She could tell the other woman didn’t believe her. There wasn’t time to explain. “But you can help now. Tell me where to find him.”
“He’s with Grand Master Lorn,” Briel said. “They’re preparing the blood.”
Kreya gave her a little shake. “Whose blood?” She’d thought there wasn’t going to be a spell. She’d been so certain it was a diversion. He had no bones, anyway. And the army was here, which proved her right. So why was Eklor preparing blood with Lorn? “What innocents are going to die?”
They’d guarded the hospital. Had he sent his constructs elsewhere? Certainly his army was spilling blood now, but if Eklor already had blood, then who—
“Our blood,” Briel said. “He said it was needed for the immortality spell. Why did I give him blood? Kreya, I don’t understand. Why is Eklor here? Why did I listen to him? He seemed so reasonable... And Grand Master Lorn seemed so certain...”
Kreya released her arm as the horror of it sank in.I was wrong,she thought.Not about the fact that Eklor meant harm. But about how much harm he intended.
He’d taken the bone workers’ blood. And they’d been so enthralled they’d let him.
By the bones.“Briel, you have to—”
Around her, bone workers began to fall. In front of Kreya, Briel crumpled to the ground. As bone makers, bone wizards, and bone readers collapsed, one after another, Kreya called to Zera. Together, they ran through the guild, to its heart.
Please, don’t let us be too late.
Body after body fell.
She heard her own voice mocking her:There’s never enough time.
“One more chance,” she whispered. “That’s all I ask.”
Chapter Thirty
“You first this time,” Kreya said.
“My pleasure. Ooh, I’m using strength.” Activating a talisman, Zera slammed her fist into the grand master’s office door. The wood shattered around the hinges. “Ow. Nice.” She then kicked it open. “Grand Master Lorn, we’re back with proof! Eklor’s army is attacking the city, and bone workers are dropping dead where they stand!”
