Page 87 of The Exquisite Torment of Loving Your Enemy

“Fria,” said Aurienne as black-red offal gushed on the floor.

Haelan piled into the dormitory after the Wardens—Xanthe, Lorelei, and her team from Paeds; Cath and Élodie; Corinne and Nym from Aurienne’s team; and, behind them, nurses and apprentices bearing stretchers. Aurienne, assailed by concerned colleagues, gasped that she was all right. That loss of control had been utterly terrifying—the Dreor had been about to make her throttle herself.

“Is this your idea of a date?” asked Cath.

“What’s this you’re soaked with?” asked Xanthe, looking at her hands, sticky with wightling gore after touching Aurienne.

“I’m fine,” breathed Aurienne. “I’ll explain later. Breage and the nurses are in an office down the corridor, unconscious. Someone help them.”

“On it,” said Cath.

She and Élodie, accompanied by the Warden called Ataraxia, disappeared. There was a flurry of activity as the other Haelan spread out to the beds.

“Wasn’t there someone in here with you?” asked Verity.

Aurienne looked over her shoulder. Mordaunt was gone.

“My informant,” said Aurienne. “He tipped me off about this place. He needs to keep his identity secret.”

“Why in Woden’s name is there a Dreor here?” asked Haven. “What have they got to do with the kids?”

Xanthe exchanged a look with Aurienne. “I think it’s time.”

“We’ve been speculating that the Dreor Order is linked to the Pox resurgence,” said Aurienne. “Speculation that we can now begin to substantiate with evidence.”

Verity pushed up her visor. “You’re joking.”

“I wish we were.”

“We’ll convene a meeting of the leaders of the Bright Paths,” said Xanthe. “This isn’t the place to discuss it.”

“We’ve got to do something about that,” said Haven.

Thatwas the pile of wightlings, some still twitching where Aurienne had dropped them.

Verity threw a netting ward over them. Aurienne thought it was just to restrain them, but Verity held her blue tacn high above the mass and pressed the wards downwards, and the wards compressed the wightlings until they squirmed no more. A dark red pulp was all that remained of them.

The door to the dormitory swung open to reveal Breage leaning on Cath’s arm, along with the missing nurses from Paeds, supported by Élodie and Ataraxia. The nurses limped into the room to the sound of cheering. Xanthe ordered them back to Swanstone immediately for care and rest.

“There was the body of one of the Agannor with the nurses,” said Cath, joining Xanthe and Aurienne at a bedside. “Stabbed to death. The nurses can’t remember what happened. What should we do with him?”

“Preserve him in as intact a state as possible,” said Xanthe. “He’s evidence.”

“Between the Agannor and that great bloody Dreor, this place reeksof the Dusken Path,” said Cath. “All we need is a Fyren to complete the party.”

Xanthe made a noncommittal sound; Aurienne fled to the next bed.

Distraction came in the form of Corinne rushing into the dormitory. “There’s a second dormitory down the hall. Another dozen kids.”

“No,” said Lorelei.

“Fria’s truth,” said Corinne. “Who can come?”

Lorelei looked round the dormitory, assessing whether any in her Paeds team were close to triggering their Costs. “My team is depleted—they haven’t had a chance to sleep tonight.”

“Corinne and Nym, let’s go,” said Aurienne. “Seith transfers.”

“B-but we’ve never done a seith transfer in the field,” said Nym.