Eyes on the heavy latch, Wreneck stepped forward.

‘Don’t!’

He spun round.

A small girl was crouched on the stairs above the landing, wearing little more than rags. Her thin, smudged face was pale but not white. This told Wreneck that she belonged to neither Mother Dark nor Lord Urusander. She was, in that respect, the same as him. ‘You’re one of the daughters,’ he said. ‘The ones who killed people.’

‘Send them away.’

‘Who?’

‘The spirits. The ghosts. The ones swarming around you. Send them away and then we can talk.’

‘They’re all hunting you,’ Wreneck said. ‘Everyone here in the keep. They say you killed your sister, the youngest one.’

‘No. Yes.’

‘You burned her in an oven.’

‘She was already dead. Dead but not knowing it. The oven. That was us being merciful. We’re not the same as the rest of you. We’re not even Tiste. What’s your name?’

‘Wreneck.’

‘Send the spirits away, Wreneck.’

‘I can’t. I don’t know how. They can’t do anything. They’re dying.’

‘Dying, but not dead yet.’

‘They’re scared right now.’

The girl smiled. ‘Because of me?’

‘No.’ He gestured. ‘The door, and what’s behind it, I think.’

The smile vanished. ‘Father’s secret room. You can’t open it. It’s locked. Sealed. Warded by magic. If you touch that latch, you’ll die.’

‘What’s a Finnest?’

‘A what?’

‘Finnest. The dying gods keep screaming about a Finnest.’

‘Don’t know. Never heard of it. Do you have anything to eat?’

‘No. Which sister are you?’

‘Envy.’

‘Where’s the other one?’

Envy shrugged. ‘She tried strangling me with my hair. I fought her off. I beat her good. That was this morning. She crawled away and I’ve not seen her since.’

‘You two don’t like each other.’

Envy held out her hand, palm-up. A lurid red glow appeared, floating above it. ‘We’re coming into our power. If I wanted to, I could become a woman. Right here. I could grow up right in front of your eyes.’ The glow now sent out a tendril, curling like a serpent as it entwined her hand and then snaked up her wrist. ‘Or I could make myself look just like… what’s her name again? Oh, like Jinia.’

Wreneck said nothing.

Envy stretched out her other hand, and another serpent of fire appeared to match the first one. ‘I can reach into your mind, Wreneck. I can, if I want, pull things out and crush them. Your love for her. I could kill it.’ Her arms lifted, and the tendrils of flame acquired snakeheads, jaws opening to reveal fangs that glittered like diamonds. ‘My bite is venomous. With it, I can make you my slave. Or make you love me more than you ever loved Jinia.’

‘Why would you do that? I’m just a boy.’

‘A boy blessed by old gods – you might think they’re dying. They might even tell you that. But maybe they’re not dying at all, Wreneck. Maybe you’re keeping them well fed, with your dreams of blood and vengeance. The older things are, the hungrier and thirstier they get.’