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Chapter 40: Hostage Situation

Chapter 40: Hostage Situation

For several seconds, Rook said nothing. The contract prevented him from abandoning Mara, but it also made every threat against her his responsibility. The Last Watch knew that. Voss was using the protection as a restraint, certain that Rook would not risk beginning a fight while Mara stood among so many Reapers.

Mara looked down at the chain. "How is it severed?"

Rook turned toward her. "Mara."

"I asked him."

Voss answered before Rook could stop him. "Easily. You were the one who requested his assistance, so you are the one who may release him. Say that you no longer require the assistance of your contracted Reaper."

"That’s all?"

"That’s all."

"And the fragments become mine."

"Once they’ve been separated."

"No. The sphere becomes mine now."

Voss laughed quietly. "You don’t know how to handle it."

"Then teach me."

"The contents could tear through every memory you possess if you open them incorrectly."

"That sounds like my problem."

"It becomes mine when you destroy the only interesting thing I’ve found in years."

Mara glanced toward Rook’s coffin, then at the weapons still scattered around it. During the fight, she had crouched behind it while blades, ropes and thunder charges flew across the field. There had been several open compartments within reach.

She had not spent all that time hiding.

"You separate the fragments," she said. "Once you’re finished, you give them to me. Until then, the contract stays."

"No."

"Then we have no agreement."

Voss considered her. He was enjoying the negotiation less now that she refused to behave like someone blinded by curiosity.

"The sphere remains with me," he said. "You have my word that I’ll return everything connected to Rook."

"Your word is worth less than the jar you trapped it in."

"Then I suppose you’ll have to trust that my interest in those memories exceeds my interest in cheating you."

"That isn’t reassuring."

"It wasn’t meant to be."

Rook pulled Mara closer to him. "You’ve heard enough. We’re leaving."

Mara kept her gaze upon Voss. She knew what he wanted. The instant the contract disappeared, he would try to take something from her, perhaps one memory, perhaps everything he could reach before Rook killed him. Voss knew she expected that. He was counting upon the fragments mattering enough for her to accept the danger anyway.

Unfortunately for him, they did.

She wanted to know why the Fourth Rank had recognized Rook. She wanted to know why dozens of voices had called him greedy and accused him of choosing his own life over theirs. Most of all, she wanted to know why Rook had looked more frightened by the possibility of remembering than he had by the creature trying to split him apart.

Mara drew a slow breath. "Fine."

Rook’s grip tightened. "No."

She looked at him. "If those memories belong to your life, you deserve to have them."

"I don’t want them."

"Then you can throw them away after we know what they are."

"That defeats the purpose of throwing them away."

"I’m doing this."

Rook stared into her eyes, searching for some indication that she understood the risk. Mara allowed him to see that she did, and his expression changed slightly.

He still disliked the decision, but the anger in his face was no longer directed entirely at her. He had noticed the hand she kept tucked close to the side of her coat and understood that she was not entering the agreement unprepared.

He released her wrist. "If he touches you, I’ll kill everyone here."

Voss spread his arms. "There’s the trust I was hoping to inspire."

Mara stepped away from Rook. The pale chain stretched between them, thinning as the distance increased. Its light passed over the broken ground and through the smoke where the Fourth Rank had disappeared.

She stopped halfway between Rook and Voss, surrounded by the watching Reapers of the Last Watch.

Voss held up the crystalline sphere. "Whenever you’re ready."

Mara looked once more at Rook. "I no longer require the assistance of my contracted Reaper."

The chain disappeared without resistance or warning. The pale light simply broke apart between them, dissolving from Mara’s wrist before withdrawing into the black Brand covering Rook’s arm. The pressure of the contract vanished with it.

For the first time since Mara had asked for his help, nothing forced Rook to remain beside her.

Voss moved before the final traces of light faded. He crossed the space between them, seized Mara by the throat and pulled her back against him. His fingers closed beneath her jaw while his other arm trapped her shoulder against his chest.

Rook reached for a weapon, and every Reaper surrounding him drew theirs. Spears lowered, swords came free of sheaths, while several hooks and grave-ropes were raised between him and Mara. None of them believed they could kill Rook easily, but they did not need to.

They only needed to delay him.

Pressure tightened around Mara’s throat. Voss had touched her once, and that had been enough.

The muscles beneath his fingers pulled taut. Mara felt them stiffen around her windpipe, each cord in her neck drawing tighter than the last. Breathing became difficult, while even swallowing sent a sharp pain beneath her jaw.

She did not struggle. "You’re a liar."

The words emerged strained but understandable.

Voss spoke beside her ear. "You must have expected that."

"I expected you to pretend longer."

"I considered it."

Rook pulled a long knife from the side of the coffin. "Let her go."

"I’m not going to take everything," Voss said. "One or two memories. Something small enough that she’ll barely notice."

"No."

"You don’t have a choice anymore. There is no contract."

Rook took another step, and the pressure in Mara’s neck intensified. Her head was pulled slightly to one side as the tightened muscles fought against the bones supporting them. Pain spread down her shoulder and into her spine.

Voss kept his eyes upon Rook. "One pull, and her neck snaps like a twig."