Marcus had been wounded before, sometimes seriously. But he had never had a foreign object sticking out of him like this, and just the sight of it made his gorge rise. He looked up, swallowing hard, and found Andy and Sothe hurrying in his direction. All around the crossroads, Leatherbacks were picking themselves up and stumbling numbly toward the remains of the fire. Wounded men and women of both sides were praying, swearing, and shouting for help.

“Marcus!” Andy said. “Are you—oh, saints and fucking martyrs.”

“I was . . . a little too close to that last one.” Marcus tried for a sardonic smile, but the pain made it tight around the edges. His breath came fast. “The demon. Dead?”

Sothe knelt beside him, pushing his hands away and gently touching the flesh around the wound. Even this made Marcus want to scream, and he averted his eyes and stared up and Andy, who was making a similar effort to focus only on his face.

“It—she—is dead,” Andy said. “Yes. There was nothing left in the ashes but a skeleton.”

“Did you—”

“I pulled its skull off and crushed it,” Sothe said. “Just to be sure.”

“How many of ours—aaaah, damn it!”

“Sorry.” Sothe shook her head. “The good news is you’re not going to bleed to death right away. The bad news is this needs a cutter, or else you will bleed to death if we try to pull it out.”

“I have to . . .” Marcus closed his eyes, then opened them hurriedly when darkness threatened to close in on him. “Janus. Have to tell Janus they have Raesinia.”

“We shouldn’t move him,” Sothe said, her voice ringing and distant.

“How about just into the building?” Andy said. “If we get the worst of the wounded in there, we can hunker down and wait. The Patriots are planning to fall back past here, so Janus’ troops should be right behind them.”

“Anyone who can still walk should get out of the way,” Sothe said. “Just in case.”

“Right.” Andy stood. “I’ll find a couple more volunteers to move people, and we’ll start with him. Just stay calm, Marcus. We’ll take care of you.”

Andy ran off, shouting at someone nearby. Sothe stayed where she was, looking down at Marcus.

“You saved my life,” she said eventually.

“I did?” Marcus was having trouble remembering. “Yeah. I guess I did. But you’ve saved mine, more than once. We’re hardly even.”

“I . . .” Sothe shook her head. “No. I suppose we’re not even.”

“I would . . . very much like to pass out now,” Marcus said.

Something that was nearly a smile crossed Sothe’s face. “We’ll take care of things here. Don’t worry.”

Marcus nodded and closed his eyes. He was aware of someone catching him as he slumped backward, and then unconsciousness rolled over him like a numbing blanket.

Chapter Twenty-six

RAESINIA