Atre’s disbelief was fleeting, giving way to a cold jolt of fear.

He clenched his fists in rage, fighting down the urge to scream. “No one has ever gotten close enough to find my cache before. No one! And some of the elixirs are gone!”

“I told you we should have moved on sooner.”

“And I told you to kill them!” Atre snarled, pulling a battered old pack from under the bed and dumping the contents of the jewel casket into it.

“I’d have to have found them, wouldn’t I?” That chilling calm was giving way to anger. “Damn you, Atre, you’ve brought this down on us again. On my children, my wife!”

“What? For providing for all of you? For taking a third-rate pack of country mummers and making them the toast of Rhíminee? Or is that your conscience pricking you again? Tired of eating the souls of children, Brader?” Atre sneered as he pulled on a fresh shirt and sat down to pull on a pair of old boots. “Your precious family will be safe once we’re gone.”

“You don’t know that!”

“Get dressed, for hell’s sake! We’ve got to go.” Atre took an old brown tunic from the back of the wardrobe and pulled it on.

“No.”

Atre looked up in disbelief. This was a first. “How long do you think you’ll last without me to sustain you? Don’t tell me you finally mean to give up?”

“Better that than deserting them. I can’t do that. Not like this.”

Atre resisted the urge to cry out What’s so special about this family? But he knew better. He’d feared this day since Merina’s first child was born, perhaps even before that, from the way Brader looked at her. The man had abandoned other children, other wives, but it had changed him a little, every time, until he’d come to loathe the very thing that kept him alive to enjoy his women and brats.

He stood and went to Brader. “But you can do this to me, cousin?” he asked sadly. “After all these years, these centuries we’ve shared, you just leave me to die? You know how much I need you. You came with me willingly, remember, and you loved this life of ours. The times we’ve had, cousin!” His tone was pleading, but his eyes were hard when he added, “Please, don’t make me threaten them. I still have my special little collection, you know.”

The taller man closed his eyes for a moment. “I’ll help you get out of the city.”

“I suppose that’s all I can ask of you. Now hurry and get dressed. We have to get to Basket Street before the sun comes up.”