in fear, and perhaps revulsion, but she didn’t pay it any mind. The roar of bloodlust in her head had become as deafening as a waterfall. Her thoughts were little more than a jumble of impressions and instinct that vibrated with primal glee. She leapt upon the bold soldier who had cut her and disarmed him by hacking off his thumb. With her free hand she grabbed a fistful of his hair and bent his head back. Then she opened her mouth and finally found a use for her new teeth.
It was her brother’s scent that brought her back to her senses. She lifted her head, her face now smeared with blood, and let out a long, shuddering breath. She found herself astride the horse. Her legs were wrapped around the dead soldier’s waist, and she held him in her arms like a lover. His throat had been torn out, as if by a wild beast. Had she done this? Had she swallowed a man’s flesh?
She jumped down from the frightened horse, and forced her way through the crowds of townspeople who were still panicking in the aftermath of the assault. She needed air. She needed to clear her head. She needed to think like a human. The beast instinct had taken over in a way it had never done before. Each of the Lady’s gifts brought her closer to the wild. Had she already reached her limit? If she lost any more of her humanity, would she be lost as well?
Then she caught her brother’s scent again, and remembered. Not just what had pulled her back to sanity, but why she had sacrificed so much of her humanity in the first place.
“Blaine!” she shouted over the crowds.
He looked up from where he was bandaging a survivor. His eyes went wide when he saw her. She realized her face was still smeared with blood, so she spit in her hand and wiped it off as best she could.
“My brother,” she called. “He’s here!”
Blaine lurched to his feet and took up his sword.
“Everyone!” she shouted. “Get back! Run!”
But most of them were wounded, or in shock, and didn’t move.
“Where es he?” yelled Blaine.
Sonya’s sharp fox eyes scanned the square and the neighboring streets.
“There.”
Her brother was riding resolutely down the center of the street wearing an immaculate green imperial officer’s uniform, complete with funny little cap. He was alone except for a hulking, young red-haired Izmorozian man who seemed barely able to fit into his own jacket.
When the two entered the square, they didn’t see Sonya immediately. Instead their eyes fixed on the remaining crowd of townspeople, and particularly on the dead soldiers that lay among them.
Sebastian’s face twisted into an almost unrecognizable mask of fury. “My men!”
He gripped the massive diamond that Galina said magnified his power and lifted his other hand toward the crowd.
“Sebastian! No!” shouted Sonya.
But he seemed not to hear her. He made a sweeping gesture with his hand and the crowd of people were blown right off their feet, as if by a sudden intense blast of wind, and thrown in all directions.
“Sebastian!” Sonya tried again. “Let them alone! It’s me you want!”
He turned and locked eyes.
She held up her hands. “Please, Sebastian. Can we just talk? I don’t think either of us want to repeat what happened last time.”
His gaze wavered a moment at that reminder. She knew it. He did feel guilty about what he’d done in Les. He wasn’t totally irredeemable.
But then his expression hardened, and he firmed his grip on his diamond.
“We won’t repeat it,” he said. “Because this time, I won’t let you goad me. I won’t give you the chance.”
His eyes blazed with a desperate anger as he gestured toward her. The air rippled directly in front of her, but she felt nothing. A moment later, Sebastian was knocked backward off his horse as if he’d been struck, and the diamond flew out of his hand.
Sonya grinned tensely at Blaine. “See? No problem.”
The smile Blaine returned was more one of relief, but she didn’t blame him for that.
Blood streamed from Sebastian’s nose, but he staggered to his feet and reached for the diamond that now lay on the cobblestones.
“Sorry, little brother.”
In a single, fluid movement, she unslung her bow, drew an arrow, and fired.
Sebastian gave an anguished yelp as the arrow pierced through his hand. He stumbled back and drew his wounded hand to his chest, where it stained the front of his once pristine jacket a dark red.
“We have to