But the look she gave him now was unflinching, accusatory, an uncomfortable heat between his shoulder blades.
“I won’t give them the option,” he said firmly. He curled up his urumi, belted it back around his waist. “Neither will you.”
He searched her face. She had not used her Agni yet, he could tell, and that worried him. “You won’t hold back, will you?”
A muscle feathered up her jaw. She glanced between him and the roving fire, her face at once stricken and hard, a mask he could not tear off.
“No more civilian deaths,” she said finally. Her eyes met his. “No more senseless killing.”
She did not have to saylike this, but he could feel those unsaid words. Smell the rancid sweat and fear of the dead around them. The fire hissed. It wanted to feed, couldn’t she see? This was its nature.Theirnature. But that was an argument he had lost before, and he did not have the energy to lose it again. No. Victory was lying a few miles away. His first real victory against Farin. He could almost taste the fire’s hunger as it clenched his own stomach.
So he tried on a smile. “For you? Surely.”
The horizon had begun to grey by the time they reached the inner city. The Jantari had set up a barricade of cars and tanks, cutting off access. But he did not need it. Samson stood with his hands in his pockets, waiting. Above, a floating streetlamp flickered intermittently. Chandi shifted beside him. The Jantari had allowed him to bring only one soldier for the parley, but his men were sprawled out and hidden in the buildings behind them. Just as the Jantari surely were spread out on the other side.
He felt a tug in his navel.Elena.She was getting into position. Serpent willing, Magar would be theirs by dawn.
“They’re taking their damn time,” Chandi grumbled.
“They’ll come,” he said. “Just wait.”
Chandi paused, and it was this sudden hesitancy from her that made him turn. “What?”
Her eyes searched him, as if looking for something amiss. “How are you feeling? Otherwise?”
“Me? Swell.” He grinned, nodding to the Jantari soldiers who were now stepping through the barricade, bearing a white flag. “And look. Here comes the catch.”
“I don’t mean that, Blue Star.” There was a warning in her voice. “How is your… Agni?”
As if on cue, pain cracked up his shoulder. Samson wrestled back agasp, gritting his teeth so hard he felt ash grind between his molars. It had started after he had summoned the flames. Like always. The pain was as loyal to him as his inferno, and the dichotomy of both almost made him laugh. Even now, it slithered down his shoulder, inched up his neck. He blinked quickly as the Jantari approached.
“It’s fine,” he said.
The Jantari general was a stout man with a face meaner than a blade’s edge. From his thin cheekbones to his angled chin, he reminded Samson of Jantari steel. Pale, wicked, crude. Though he had not been subjected to metal transformation like other soldiers, the man reeked of metal. Samson could smell the oil, the tangy bite beneath. He could never forget the smell.
The general’s lip curled as Samson offered his hand. He made no move to take it. “Sesharian.”
“Jantari.” Samson smiled, folding his hand behind him. Four Jantari soldiers formed a half ring around them, their zeemirs gleaming. “A pleasure.”
“There’s been a change of plans. Dismiss your commander and let us talk between each other.”
Chandi started, but Samson stayed her, his eyes never leaving the general. “That would make it five to one. That’s hardly fair.”
“Let me revise: Dismiss your commander, or else I’ll start shooting hostages.”
Samson scowled. He was suddenly grateful that Elena was not within hearing; otherwise the general would not be standing now, and negotiations would have gone to shit. “You’d lose your leverage, then.”
“I have thousands. Tick tock.”
Samson rolled back his shoulders, sighing. “Go on, Chandi.”
“Blue Star—”
“Go.”
With a huff, Chandi relented. The general nodded, his eyes cool and triumphant, and Samson bit back a smile. Let him have a small victory, if only to give him a false sense of security. They hardly knew what was in store.
“Search him.”
