Lucian had always been taller and heavier-set, but tonight he was outmatched. White as a sheet and furious, Finn slammed Lucian’s head into the ground.

“Stop,” I whispered.

Lucian’s ruined hands desperately clawed at Finn’s face and neck. Finn drove his own fist down hard. I heard the crack of a broken nose.

He’s going to kill him, I thought.

The woman shouted at Lucian, but she seemed reluctant to risk jumping into the fray. The crossbows on the roof were equally useless; they could too easily hit the wrong man.

The woman’s head turned toward me, and I gripped the knife tighter. She did not care, I realised. Lucian was nothing to her.

Through the clamour, a whistle rang out shrilly. The woman jumped.

“Enforcement’s coming,” Osan rasped. He had managed to stand, and now he leaned against the wall for support. His back was dark red with blood.

The woman cast a last look at Finn and Lucian. The two of them seemed oblivious to the lookout’s warning. Blood poured from Lucian’s face; he thrashed like a cornered animal. Finn looked completely focussed, as if all his attention was devoted to just this one task, as if he could not see or hear anything else.

The woman muttered to herself. From her pocket, she drew out a thin black rod the length of a pencil. With a deft twist of her wrist, she snapped it in two.

The effect was immediate and grotesque. Like a branch beneath an invisible boot, Lucian’s spine bent backwards and broke.

I shut my eyes, but the image was burned onto my mind. Finn swore. I could hear a soft whimpering sound, and realised it was coming from my own mouth. The woman’s footsteps rushed past me, back down the alleyway.

Please make it stop. My head burned. No more. Please no more.

“El?” Finn was beside me, wrapping his arms around me, cradling me to his chest. “El, I’m here. I’m so sorry. I’m here.”

I heard horses and wheels on the cobbles and Finn saying my name, and he had lifted me up, and he was still speaking to me and then I passed out.

CHAPTER

TWENTY-FIVE

Sensation was slow to return. I awoke from dreamlessness, rising up through the dark. The first thing I knew was the coolness of a damp cloth on my forehead, and the smell of spiced tea.

Pain was next. I groaned.

“Are you back with us?”

I cracked open my eyelids and light flooded my brain. That hurt. I immediately shut them again.

“Do I have to be?” I asked.

Rhyanon chuckled.

“Well, not right this second, I suppose.” She carefully wiped my forehead. The cloth smelled of lavender. Felt nice. Somewhere close by, I could hear birdsong and the wind rustling through trees.

“Osan?” I murmured. “He was badly hurt.”