off balance. He went down on his back like a log. I snatched the cane-sheath from his hand as he fell and thrust it up.
The cane caught the snake-tongued man just under the breastbone. The air burst out of his mouth in a startled gasp. I turned, whipping the sheath around, and smashed it on his temple.
The hollow wood broke, leaving me with a shard. The blow would've taken down a normal human. He should've been done then and there.
The man staggered a bit, shook his head, and lunged at me, stabbing with his daggers. I dodged and backed away, drawing him farther from Saiman to the car.
A searchlight swept over us, lingered for a second, and moved on. The guards had to have seen us.
The snake boy kept cutting the air, his swipes enthusiastic but a bit off the mark. Still catching his breath. If he ever got his wind, we'd be in deep shit. Almost to the car. Step. Another step.
Saiman staggered to his feet.
"Stay away!" I barked.
The snake man glanced back, slashing at me with his right to cover up. I grabbed his wrist with my left hand, pulled him forward and down, and stabbed the splintered cane under his ribs, into his kidney. He screeched. I hurled him past me straight into Saiman's car.
His body collided with the passenger door. The defensive spell rippled with a flash of bright yellow and clutched at the body. Orange sparks flew. The snake man flailed in the ward, stuck to the car as if glued, his body jerking in a spasmodic, obscene dance. The stench of burning flesh rose from his chest. His arms flexed. His hands - still clutching the daggers - braced against the car. He was trying to push free. The ward wouldn't be enough. God damn it, he just refused to die.
I pulled the sticks out of my hair and clenched them in my fist.
With a sound of torn paper, the ward split, exhausted. The snake man broke free and lunged at me. I kicked his knee. It was a good, solid blow. He went down and I grasped his head by the hair and plunged the hair sticks into his left eye, once, again, and again, four times. He screamed. I flipped my hold and buried the sticks in his socket as far as they would go.
The daggers fell from his hands. I swiped one and sliced his throat. The razor-sharp blade nearly took his head off. Blood fountained, drenching me. I whirled to check on Cesare, but found only empty space. The Reaper had vanished.
The snake-tongued corpse lay limp and pale in a puddle of its own blood. I looked at Saiman and raised one red-stained finger. "Definitely not human."
Saiman's face shook with fury. "This is an outrage. I own a seventh of the House."
The ward on Saiman's car had been broken. "You mind popping the locks?"
He found the remote with a trembling hand and pushed the button. Nothing happened.
"The magic's up," I told him.
He swore, produced the keys, and unlocked the door. I grasped Slayer's hilt and instantly felt better.
Saiman dragged his hand through his hair. "I need you to come back to the Arena with me."
"No. I have a prior engagement."
"You're my witness!"
I tried to speak slowly and clearly. "I have somewhere to be."
"We're in the middle of nowhere. You have no vehicle."
"I have two legs."
"If you come with me and tell the House what happened, I'll drive you anywhere you want."
I shook my head. It would take too long before he was done.
"I'll get you a horse!"
I stopped in midstep. A horse would cut my traveling time by a third. I turned. "A quick statement, Saiman. Very quick. Then you give me a horse, and I leave."
"Done!"
As we marched back to the Arena, he said, "I thought you said those weren't blades in your hair."
"They aren't. They're spikes. Breathe deep, Saiman. Your hands are still shaking."
RENE'S EYES WERE CLEAR AND COLD LIKE THE crystalline depths of a mountain lake. Saiman's indignant outbursts shattered against her glacial composure.
"How long does it take to retrieve one corpse?"
"The body will be here in a moment."
I perched against a desk. We stood in one of security's rooms. Precious seconds ticked by.
There was nothing I could do about it. Rene was doing her job and I had to let her do it.
Rene glanced at me. "Did you cut out the heart?"
I shook my head. "Didn't see the need. I scrambled the brain and cut his