She was flat on her back, the spear sticking up out of her stomach, the old man’s arm still attached to the top of the weapon. She arched up, as if she could somehow wiggle out from under the stone tip, even though it had driven all the way through her body and punched into the walkway underneath. Clementine was pinned as securely as a butterfly in a glass case.

The giant realized that I was staring at her. She snarled and stretched out, her hand curving into a claw as she aimed it at my throat—

And came up two inches short.

Clementine flailed and flailed at me, snarling and grunting and cursing all the while, but she just couldn’t move those last two precious inches in order to throttle me. Her fist slammed into the stone walkway between us over and over again in frustration, her movements getting weaker and slower with every glancing blow. After about thirty seconds of that, the last of her strength left her, and her hand dropped to the floor and stayed there.

Still, she glared at me, her eyes bright with pain, fury, and the cold, cold death that was creeping up on her breath by breath.

“Bet you really hate my Stone magic now, don’t you?” I said.

Clementine opened her mouth, but no words came out, only a spurt of blood. After a moment, even that slowed and slopped. Her whole body shuddered once, her eyes dimmed, and then she was still.

Chapter 27

27

I lay where I was and watched Clementine Barker die.

When I was sure she was gone, I put a hand on the walkway and tried to push myself upright. But I moved too quickly, and the pain in my ribs and shoulder was too great. My arm slid out from under me, and I slumped back down onto the cold stone.

I knew that I needed to move, to get up and go see how the others had fared in the rotunda, but I just couldn’t make myself do it. My vision narrowed, as though I were standing in a train tunnel, and the light at the end began to fade. Even though I tried to fight it, I felt myself sliding into that sweet blackness where there was no pain, no worry, only the dreams, the memories . . .

I was hiding behind a table, waiting for a giant to come and kill me.

At least, I was pretty sure that’s how it would go. But I’d set my trap for Delov anyway, knowing it was the best chance I had to kill him—the only chance, really. Now all that was left to do was see if he fell for it—

A floorboard creaked farther down the hallway.

I drew in a breath, trying to slow my racing heart, and peeked around the edge of the table.