"Yes, I do. I helped make this mess. I have to fix it."
"We do, too," Jack said. "We help."
"They fought like adults," Kaldar said. "I'm treating them as adults. Adults understand the price and make their own decisions."
Audrey closed her eyes. "You are all insane."
"They are," Gaston said. "I'm good."
"You are holding a decapitated head in your lap!"
"What are you going to do with it?" Kaldar asked.
Gaston shrugged and winced, rubbing his shoulder. "I thought I'd pack it into some preservatives and take it with us."
"Why?" Audrey asked. Dear Jesus, why would he want to keep the head?
"I'm going to send it to my parents as a present. It won't make my mom's leg grow back, but it might make them feel better." Gaston patted Karmash's hair. "He isn't Spider, but he was his top dog."
Kaldar raised his hand, and Gaston high-fived him.
"Thank you for the flash, George," Kaldar said. "That was a hell of a shield."
George smiled through the grime on his face.
"That's right," Gaston said. "That flash was killer. And Jack, you totally kicked ass. Saved all of us, probably."
Jack sat up straighter.
"Yes. Sorry you had to go through that, but the timing couldn't have been better," Kaldar said. "You guys took out two of the Hand's operatives and helped to kill another two, including a veteran underofficer. There are Mirror agents, trained fighting personnel, who'd give their right arms to be you right now. I think there is a price on that head, actually, Gaston."
"That's fine, but I think Dad and Mom would rather have the head."
Audrey covered her face. They were just making things worse now. She had seen more violence tonight than she had ever witnessed in her entire life. Then the rusty scent hit her nostrils, and she realized her hands were bloody and she had just smeared the gore all over her face. She should feel something more. She should be sick and throwing up on the side of the road. Or be in shock and turn into a catatonic vegetable. Instead, she felt nothing. Just dullness and fear. She was so scared. It was over, and she was still scared.
"You will feel better soon, love," Kaldar said, as if reading her thoughts. "I'm so sorry. And I meant to tell you: that was a one-in-a-thousand shot."
She raised her hand. "Don't."
"It was awesome," George confirmed.
"It really was," Jack said. "His head exploded."
Something inside her broke. Tears swelled in her eyes and fell onto her bloody, tattered skirt. She breathed a little easier, as if some of the pressure inside had leaked out of her soul through the tears.
"Chocolate helps," Jack said. "We should get some chocolate for Audrey. And for me."
"We can do that," Kaldar said.
"What was that back there, seven men, Uncle?" Gaston asked.
"Six. The last was a woman."
"How did you do it?" George asked. "Swords don't sever people in half."
"I stretch my flash across my blade," Kaldar said. "Makes the edge magically sharp. You've never seen Cerise do it?"
"No."
"Ask her to show you sometime. She flashes white. She can slice through two-inch steel with one cut."
"We should wash up somewhere," Gaston said. "If we get pulled over, this will be difficult to explain."
"First, we have to visit Magdalene," Kaldar said. "She landed us in this mess."
Yes. Magdalene. That fucking snake. If it weren't for her, they would've walked out of that church, and none of this horror would've happened. "Yes," Audrey squeezed through her teeth. "Let's visit Magdalene."
"We could clean up first," George murmured.
"Oh no. No, we're going just like this," Audrey said. The dullness inside her broke apart and melted into anger. "I want her to see what a double cross really looks like."
WHEN Audrey was angry, doors didn't just unlock, Kaldar discovered. They flew open, and, sometimes, when the blast was hard enough, they fell off their hinges. The effect of a heavy door crashing down like thunder on the marble tile would've startled anyone.
Magdalene jerked. She didn't cringe; she just jerked toward them, like an alarmed cobra, with her hood flaring open.
Gaston hurled Adam at her. They'd found him hiding in one of the side rooms under a desk. The receptionist flew a few feet, slid across the marble, hit the couch, and lay still, pretending to be unconscious.
The air in the room suddenly grew heavy. Magdalene's face seemed to glow, as if shimmering ribbons of light slid under her skin.
"You don't want to do this," she said, her voice quiet but somehow reaching deeply into his mind. Her eyes, luminescent with crystalline aquamarine, peered into him. "Let's all calm down."
Fascinating eyes, Kaldar decided. She was screwing with his mind. He really ought to kill her.
Somewhere far away, Audrey said, "Gaston, give me Adam's gun."
Gunshots barked in unison, one after another, marble shattered, and suddenly the room returned to normal, and Magdalene clutched at her leg. Her hand came away red.
"Next one will go in your stomach," Audrey said.
"You stupid piece of shit," Magdalene spat.
Audrey raised the gun. "One more word, and I will shoot you again, then pistol-whip your face until it looks like hamburger."
"Go ahead! Shoot me, you stupid bitch." Magdalene fell into the nearest chair. "Shoot me!"
Kaldar reached into his jacket and pulled out the Eyes of Karuman. Magdalene's gaze fastened on it.
"George."
The boy walked over to him.
"How do I use this?" Hopefully George would catch on to his bluff, and the next thing out of his mouth wouldn't be, "I already told you that you can't use them because you don't have the right magic."
"It shouldn't be too hard," George said. "Of course, we could accidentally fry her mind."
Magdalene went pale.
Smart kid. "We'll just have to take that risk. Most women, when faced with five angry, blood-smeared people who forced their way into their rooms, would take a moment to consider their position. Obviously, this one is too foolish." Kaldar raised the emitter. "Look into the light, Magdalene."
"Fine." Magdalene slouched in her chair. "What do you want?"
"We had the emitter. Why expose us?"
She sighed. "Because I want Yonker dead. Those merchant pig fuckers actually forbade - forbade! - us to settle it. I can't even put a price on his head because it would be 'bad for business.' I've been wanting to kill him for three years now. And then you morons came along. If you took Yonker's gadget, and he found out, one of two things would happen. Either you killed him or he killed you, in which case the Mirror would come knocking on his door, looking for revenge. Either way, he'd stop breathing in the end, and I'd win. But now you fucked it all up."