“I gave it up many moons ago,” Mallian said quietly, and Vince was shocked to see a tear escape the corner of his eye. The Nephilim would never show such weakness. Not on purpose. This was an unconscious tear, and perhaps the only way he knew he was crying was a blurring of the stars. “Even if I hadn’t, I’m too weak to make it work now. I need to be a figurehead for Kin to follow, not a... a walking corpse.”

For just a few seconds Vince had doubts. Only a few. He could not afford them. He only hoped he had judged Mallian’s opinion of him correctly.

“What do you need?” he asked. He glanced around at the shadows. He didn’t have to feign concern that they were being watched. Darkness brought new fears to the Fold.

“I have what I need,” Mallian said. “I simply need you... I don’t have the strength. I need you to arrange them for me, and perhaps to say the words.”

“What words?”

“I’ll tell you. You can repeat them, louder. Loud enough to work.”

He believes me, Vince thought, and he breathed deeply to still his racing heart.

“Come closer,” Mallian said.

Vince took a few steps towards the Nephilim. He had never been this close in the dark. Mallian’s animal smell seemed amplified in the shadows, exuded from his naked body in warm waves. He appeared larger, his teeth glimmering with borrowed moonlight, his breathing slow and heavy.

“A little closer,” he said. “It’s under me.”

“The rucksack,” Vince said.

“I’m as desperate as you.”

Vince knelt, and only at the last second did he realise his mistake.

Mallian twisted and clasped Vince’s left ankle with one powerful hand. Wrist still secured to the ground by Grace’s spell, his fingers bit in deep, crunching muscle against bone.

Vince gritted his teeth and grunted. There was no point trying to escape. And his ploy depended on him taking whatever came next.

“If you fail me, I’ll make sure you suffer forever,” Mallian said. “The pombero wasn’t the only mongrel I have under my control. As the fairy eats them, so I’ll have them eat you. Small chunks, just enough to hurt, not enough to kill you. A finger, an ear, your cock. I’ll have them eat you alive over a long, long time. If you fail me, human.”

“Why would I want to do anything that means I’m trapped here?” Vince said, and he injected every ounce of love he had for Angela into his voice. For a moment he believed it himself. He believed he was capable of helping Mallian, if it meant he and Angela would be together again.

If he dwelled on Angela long enough, he thought that belief could become fact.