The Godking cursed. “Damn them, brilliant. Brilliant.”
“What is it?” Vi asked.
“Do you know why I made all this, Vi?”
Heart pounding, Kylar released the ceiling with his hands and slowly uncurled, upside down. He drew his daggers, hanging on the ceiling with his feet, bat-like. Garoth Ursuul stepped directly beneath him.
Then there was no fear, only calm certainty. Kylar dropped from the ceiling.
One of the dark faces twisting in the miasma around the Godking screamed. Green-black caltrops of vir burst in every direction from the Godking. Kylar hit one and they all exploded.
The concussion blasted Kylar off course. He sprawled sideways, missed his landing, and tumbled down the stairs. He rolled across the landing and down the second flight. When he came to rest at the bottom of the stairs, his head was ringing. He tried to stand and promptly fell.
“I made it because a god ought to have some fun. Don’t you agree, Kylar?” Garoth smiled a predatory smile. He wasn’t surprised. “So, Vi, you’ve done what you promised. You killed Jarl, and you brought Kylar to me.”
Kylar had trusted her. How could he have been so foolish? It was the second time he’d walked into a trap in this room. Inexplicably, he felt calm. He felt lethal. He hadn’t come this far to fail. This kill was his destiny.
“I didn’t betray you, Kylar,” Vi said in a small, desperate voice.
“Oh, he put a spell on you that made you do it? I gave you a chance, Vi. You could have been different.”
“She didn’t betray you,” the Godking said. “You betrayed yourself.” He pulled out two diamonds, each the size of his thumb. They were the ones that had held the monster downstairs together. “Who else would have the physical prowess to snatch these but a wetboy, and who else could survive the magic but the bearer of the black ka’kari? I’ve known you were here for an hour.”
“So, why are you going to reward her?” Kylar asked.
“What, you want me to kill her, too?”
Kylar scowled. “I did until you said that.”
The Godking laughed. “You’re an orphan, aren’t you, Kylar?”
“No,” Kylar said. He stood. His head was slowly clearing, and he could swear he could feel his body healing his bruises.
“Oh right, the Drakes. Magdalyn told me all about that. She thought you’d save her. Sad. When you killed Hu Gibbet, you really upset me. So I killed her.”
“Liar.”
“Hu’s dead?” Vi asked. She seemed absolutely thunderstruck.
“Do you ever wonder who your real father is, Kylar?”
“No,” Kylar said. He tried to move and found thick bands of magic around his body. He examined them. They were simple, unvaried. The ka’kari would devour them easily. Go on, keep smiling, you fiend.
Garoth smiled. “There’s a reason I knew you were coming, Kylar, a reason you’re so extraordinarily talented. I’m your father.”
“WHAT?”
“Ah, just joking.” Garoth Ursuul laughed. “I’m not being much of a host, am I? You came in here all prepared to fight some big battle, didn’t you?”
“I guess so.”
Garoth was in high spirits. “I could use a bit of a warm-up myself. What do you say, Kylar? Want to fight a ferali?”
“I don’t actually have a choice, do I?”
“No.”
“Well, then, golly, I’d love to fight a ferali, Gare.”
“Gare,” the Godking said. “Haven’t heard that in thirty years. Before we start . . .” He turned. “Vi, decision time. If you serve me willingly, I can reward you. I’d like that. But you’ll serve regardless. You’re chained to me. The compulsion won’t allow you to hurt me. It won’t allow you to let anyone else hurt me while you live, either.”
“I’ll never serve you!” she said.
“Fair enough, but you might want to leave the worst of the fighting to the boys.”
“Fuck you,” she said.
“A distinct possibility, child.”
Garoth gestured and a door flew open behind him. “Tatts, why don’t you come in?”
The ferali shuffled in. It now had the shape of an enormous man, tattoos still visible on its lumpy skin. Despite his height—at least nine feet—and the thickness of his limbs, Kylar saw that the ferali wasn’t as big as it had been just an hour before. The monster’s face was all too human, though, and it looked ashamed.
“It’ll all be better in a moment. I promise,” the Godking said. He slammed the diamonds into the ferali’s spine. It cried out with a voice no longer human, and then was still. Garoth abruptly ignored it. “Do you know why you’ve never heard of a ferali? They’re