seeing the point in correcting him. “What about the baby you’re shoving Landon’s decrepit soul into?” I added, not caring if the security guard could hear. Maybe he needed to know how morally bankrupt the man signing his paycheck was. Maybe he already knows and doesn’t care. “The baby’s soul is crushed. It is a baby!”
Benny turned to me, a sliver of backbone in him from Trent’s continued silence. “This is our tradition. And why your pixy is even alive.”
My expression went slack as I figured out what that meant. “Zack?” I said, horrified. “You did this to Zack? Is that why you’re listening to him? Because you think he’s got some elven old-man soul in him? Is Zack here?” I said, looking at the closed door. “Ask him. I bet he’d say let Landon flap in the wind. You should listen to him. He’s smarter than all of you combined. He saw the damage the baku was doing, and none of you did anything about it.”
“To my point,” Benny said grimly. “Zachariah was one of our most canny leaders. He will be again.”
Zack. Zachariah. My God, they didn’t even let them keep their names. Just pasted the old atop the new. Maybe Al was right. Maybe elves were worse monsters when push came to shove.
Benny saw my horror and accepted it, chin high. “If you don’t do this, our only option is to let Landon have his way. Once the baku is trapped in you, Landon might be able to be reasoned with. That’s a choice your morals will have to make. Move his soul and sacrifice a newborn’s, or sacrifice your lives, knowing Landon will eventually give the order himself to move his soul.”
“No,” I said. “I don’t care if it’s tradition. I don’t care if my refusal only puts it off for a few more decades. I’m not going to pluck Landon’s soul out and drop it into a baby like a rechargeable battery.”
“Rachel . . .” Trent put an arm around my waist. Which was probably a good thing, seeing as if he had taken my arm to restrain me, I might have smacked him.
I pulled away, disgusted. Why was he even entertaining the thought? Had he learned nothing? Was he still the same man who had coldly killed his lead geneticist to keep his secrets?
But then his lips twitched and his eyes went to the rafters and the faint glow of pixy dust.
“You hold him down,” Trent said, eyes shining. “And I’ll punch him.”
CHAPTER
33
Benny’s mouth dropped open. “Nash!” he shouted, backing up fast.
No magic. I reached for a line and found nothing, cut off by the band of charmed silver. “I got this,” I said grimly as I pushed past Trent, hands in fists as I shifted my balance to start a front kick.
Jenks took off from the rack, dust sparkling. Benny’s eyes went to him. Terrified by the two-inch sword, he flung himself away—slipping on the wet cobble to fall backward. Benny’s head hit the wall with a dull whap. His eyes closed, and he slumped into a crumpled heap.
“That was easy,” Trent said, and I spun to the door. It was opening.
Nash, the guard, was going to be a lot more difficult.
“Relax, Rache,” Jenks said from atop Trent’s shoulder. “We got a man on the inside.”
Zack? I thought, but it wasn’t Zack who pushed the door open.
Crap on toast, the guy looked even bigger now that I was going to have to fight him, and I retreated, making room to work. Trent moved to my side, his expression promising hurt. We’d have to be really fast, be really lucky, and, above all, stay out of his reach.
The large man looked at Benny slumped on the floor, his chest moving slowly as he breathed. Nash’s sharp gaze rose to mine. His hands flickered with a faint haze of magic, and then it vanished. “I never liked him anyway,” he said, voice low.
And then Nash was shoved aside as Zack spilled into the room, smelling of cinnamon and wine, excited and animated. “Quick! We’ve got a small window while the old guys decide whether to side with Landon or Benny. I downed everyone between here and the door with a sleep charm.”
“Your magic is working?” I said as I realigned my thinking. Nash is on our side. Zack is here. Jenks is leaking dust from a bent wing but flying. The door is open.
The kid grinned and looked at his hands. They were both bandaged,