“Harry—” Michael began.

“Don’t,” I said. “Don’t give me the speech about redemption and mercy and how everyone deserves a second chance. I’m all for doing the right thing, Michael. You know that. But this isn’t the time.”

“Then what is right changes because we’re in a hurry?” he asked gently.

“Even your Book says that there’s a time for all things,” I said. “A time to heal—and a time to kill.”

Michael looked from me to the corner by the back door, where the broadsword Amoracchius rested in its humble leather scabbard, its plain, crusader-style hilt bound in wire. “It isn’t that, Harry. I’ve seen more of what they’ve done than you have. I have no qualms with fighting them, if it comes to that.”

“They’ve already blown up a building, tried to murder me, and set off a situation that nearly got your own children burned down in the cross fire. In what way has it not come to that?”

Instead of answering, Michael shook his head, took up Amoracchius, and walked further into the house.

I scowled after him for a minute and muttered darkly under my breath.

“You confused him,” Sanya rumbled.

I glanced at the dark-skinned Knight. “What?”

“You confused him,” Sanya repeated. “Because of what you did.”

“What? Lying to the Council? I don’t see that I had much choice.”

“But you did,” Sanya said placidly. He reached into the gym bag on the floor next to him and drew out a long saber, an old cavalry weapon—Esperacchius. A nail worked into the hilt declared it a brother of Michael’s sword. He started inspecting the blade. “You could have simply moved to attack them.”

“By myself? I’m bad, but I’m not that bad.”

“He’s your friend. He would have come with you. You know that.”

I shook my head. “He’s my friend. Period. You don’t do that to your friends.”

“Precisely,” Sanya said. “So instead you have placed your own life in jeopardy in order to protect his beliefs. You risk your body to preserve his heart.” He brought out a smooth sharpening stone and began stropping the saber’s blade. “I suppose he considers it a particularly messianic act.”

“That’s not why I did it,” I said.

“Of course it isn’t. He knows that. It isn’t easy for him. Usually he’s the one protecting another, willing to pay the price if he must.”

I exhaled and glanced after Michael. “I don’t know what else I could have done.”

“Da,” Sanya agreed. “But he is still afraid for you.” He fell quiet for a moment, while his stone slid along the sword’s blade.

“Mind if I ask you something?” I said.

The big man kept sharpening the sword with a steady hand. “Not at all.”

“You looked a little tense when Tessa’s name came up,” I said.

Sanya glanced up at me for a second, his eyes shadowed and unreadable. He shrugged a shoulder and went back to his work.

“She do you wrong?”

“Barely ever noticed me. Or spoke to me,” Sanya said. “To her I was just an employee. One more face. She did not care who I was.”