On the far side of another grand room, slumped across one of the padded armrests of a fantastically carved throne, was Jacob. Around him, the bas-relief walls depicted soldiers, and in front of them were ranks of statues, similarly accoutered, so it looked as though a stone army was marching out of the walls and into three-dimensional reality.

Alice gave the carved men a long look, in case they were about to come to life and attack, but they only stood at motionless attention. She stepped forward, and Jacob raised his head, but the movement was jerky and wrong. It was as though an invisible puppeteer had lifted him by the hair.

“Stop,” Jacob said, in a voice now wholly unlike his own. Alice got the impression that someone else was speaking through him. “I have stayed my hand thus far, but if you come any farther, I will be forced to destroy you. I am the master of this domain.” His head jiggled. “The master. I am.”

Isaac, at Alice’s side, clenched his fists. “What has Torment done to him? He’s . . .”

Alice put a hand on Isaac’s shoulder. “We’re here to help you, Jacob,” she said. “Just like we said earlier. We know it’s not your fault.”

“Not my fault.” Jacob’s voice cracked, and he put his head in his hands. “It’s not. Not my fault. I never wanted this. Never wanted to be. To be master. I just . . . I wanted . . .”

He threw back his head and screamed, slamming his fist against the back of the throne, over and over. Drops of blood flew across the stone where he’d scraped his fingers raw.

“Evander!” Isaac broke away from Alice, running for his brother. She followed a few steps behind him. As they reached the bottom of the dais, Jacob abruptly jerked to his feet. A huge, dark shape materialized out of the shadows behind the throne and casually cuffed the haggard boy with one massive paw. He hit the ground, rolled once, and didn’t rise. Torment padded over to him, looking down, then raised his head and fixed his ice-blue eyes on Alice.

“Pathetic,” the black wolf rumbled. “I had hoped he would last a good deal longer than this. A tool that doesn’t do as it’s told is no tool at all.”

“Leave him be!” Isaac shouted. He took another step toward the dais, then halted when Torment put one huge paw on Jacob’s chest.

“If he’s no use to you, then let us have him,” Alice said.