you could revenge yourself on the man who had the love of the woman you wanted. You wouldn’t give that up easily.”
Ghassan drew up. The king’s face was calm, but Nahri didn’t miss the heat in his voice. “None of this posturing will get your brother back any sooner.”
I’m sorry, Jamshid. I’m so sorry. Nahri exhaled, fighting the deep, awful sadness wrapping her heart. “I won’t help you.”
Ghassan’s eyes flashed. “I beg your pardon?”
“I won’t help you,” she repeated, hating herself. “I won’t let you use my brother against me. Not for any reason.”
Ghassan abruptly stepped closer. “If you don’t do this, Banu Nahida, I’m going to kill him. I’m going to do it slowly and I will make you watch. So you may as well do us all the favor of simply obeying now.”
Kaveh scrambled up, alarm twisting his expression. “Banu Nahri—”
Ghassan backhanded him across the face. The king was obviously stronger than he looked; the blow sent Kaveh sprawling to the floor, a burst of blood on his mouth.
Nahri gasped. But the casual, brutal violence only made her more determined. Ghassan was a monster. But he was a desperate one, and Nahri trembled to think what he would do to Daevabad in the wake of a failed coup.
Which meant she’d have to do all she could to make sure it didn’t fail. “You’re wasting your time, Ghassan. I’m not going to break. This city beats in my family’s blood. In my blood.” Her voice shook slightly. “In my brother’s blood. And if the last Nahids need to die to save it …” She stilled her trembling, lifting her chin in defiance. “Then we’ll have served our people well.”
Ghassan stared at her for a very long moment. His expression wasn’t inscrutable now, and he didn’t bother arguing with her. Nahri had read her mark.
And she knew he was about to destroy her for it.
He stepped back. “I’m going to tell Jamshid who he really is,” he said. “Then I’m going to tell him how his sister, having grown tired of sleeping with the man he loves, betrayed them both to save a man he hates.” The words were crude—the last attempt of an angry old man who’d traded decency for a throne that was about to be wrenched away by his own blood. “Then I will finish the job your Afshin started and have your brother scourged to death.”
“No, Ghassan, wait!” Kaveh threw himself before the king. “She didn’t mean it. She’ll write the letter—ah!” He cried out as Ghassan kicked him in the face, stepping around his body and reaching for the door.
With a wail, Kaveh smashed his hand against the stone. Nahri heard a sharp crack, his ring shattering.
A strange coppery haze burst from the broken gem.
In the time it took Nahri to draw a quick breath, the vapor had bloomed to engulf the grand wazir.
“Kaveh, what is that?” she asked sharply as copper tendrils darted out like a dancer’s hand, reaching, searching. There was something familiar about the movement, about the metallic shimmer.
The king briefly glanced back, looking more annoyed than anything.
The vapor rushed at the copper relic bolted through his ear.
It instantly melted, and Ghassan cried out, clasping his head as the liquid metal surged into his ear. Suleiman’s seal flashed on his cheek, and Nahri swooned, her magic gone.
But it didn’t last. The king’s eyes went wide and still as a haze of copper veiled their gray depths.
Then Ghassan al Qahtani fell dead at her feet.
Her abilities slammed back into her. Nahri covered her mouth with a startled cry, staring in shock as copper-flecked black blood poured from the king’s ears, mouth, and nose.
“By the Most High, Kaveh,” she whispered. “What have you done?”
“What had to be done.” Kaveh was already crossing to Ghassan’s body, stepping into the pool of spreading blood without hesitation. He retrieved the king’s khanjar, quickly using it to slice through the binds on his wrists. “We don’t have much time,” he warned. “We need to find Jamshid and secure Muntadhir.”
Nahri stared at him. Had he lost his mind? Ghassan’s guards were just outside the door. They weren’t getting away, let alone finding Jamshid and “securing” Muntadhir, whatever that meant. “Kaveh, I think—”
“I do not care what you think.” The barely checked hostility in his voice shocked her. “Respectfully …” It sounded like he was struggling not to shout. “You’re not the one making decisions tonight. A thing that is clearly for the best.” He glanced at her, his eyes