Hugh flicked the blood off his sword. “You wanted me to show you something.”

“Well, so far all I’ve seen is you killing the Order’s second-best. Pick on someone your own size.”

“All in good time.” Hugh smiled at me, his eyes cold.

Where the hell were the PAD and the National Guard? How long did it take them to mobilize?

“Like it or not,” he said, “you’re still his daughter. Run from it, spit on it, that’s your choice. Those of the blood can insult the blood. Nobody else. I won’t allow it.”

I finally understood. This wasn’t just about me; this was about the Order dragging my name through the mud after I left and then caging me here now. This wasn’t just elimination. This was punishment. He would kill every knight in the chapter but not before he made all of them submit to me and beg me for their lives.

I had to do something.

The ward between the bars of the cage wasn’t solid. It hurt like hell when I thrust my hand through it, but I could thrust it. I turned my back to Hugh and clawed the cut on my left forearm. Pain lanced me. Crimson washed my skin, the magic in it alive and ready. I pulled it, shaping it with my will into a five-inch-long spike. It was long and sharp and an eye was such a soft target, with the brain right behind it. I just had to get him close to the cage.

“You’re going to want to see this next part,” Hugh said. “I’m just getting started. Or is it too much for you?”

I turned to Hugh. “I keep thinking about the fire that destroyed your castle. Nobody could’ve lived through that. What if you aren’t even you?”

Hugh stepped closer to the cage.

“What if my father has a closet full of Hughs, and every time Curran and I break one, he just pulls another copy out?”

Hugh stepped over Towers’s body and slowly, deliberately walked over to the bars. Just out of striking range. All I needed was another two or three inches.

“I once watched a movie where a man made clones of himself,” I told him. “Each clone was dumber than the previous one. I think that actually might be true. You’ve attacked the Order. That’s the stupidest thing I’ve seen you do yet.”

Hugh leaned forward. His blue eyes fixed on me, hard and predatory. That’s right, show me how big and bad you are. Come on. Tell me all about it. Come closer. Closer.

“Tell me, what’s your number, clone-Hugh?”