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“I’m going to kill you,” I growl, advancing menacingly. “Juni got away, so I’m going to take out all my frustration on you. It will be slow and painful. Suitable payback for the lives you’ve ruined, the friends of mine you’ve killed.”
“I didn’t kill anyone!” he squeals.
“No, your kind never do,” I sneer. “You leave it to others. You just set things up and give the orders.”
“Please,” Antoine sobs, throwing himself to his knees. “Don’t do this. It serves no purpose. Put me on trial. Let the proper authorities deal with me. You’re not a killer. There’s no evil in your soul. Don’t —”
“Look at me!” I roar. “Do you think you’ll be the first I’ve killed today? I wasn’t a murderer, but you changed me. I’m a monster now. And I’m hungry.”
“Meera!” Antoine whines. “Prae! Please, I beg you. You’re civilized people. Help me.”
“We can’t,” Prae says coldly. “Even if we wanted to — and personally I have no problem with him gutting you — we couldn’t. He’s not ours to control. He’s one of your specimens. You helped create him — now you have to deal with him.”
Antoine stares at Prae in disbelief. I draw closer, growling softly in anticipation of the kill. Antoine’s eyes harden. “Don’t be so hasty, my hairy friend,” he murmurs, sounding more like his old self. “There are others to consider.”
“Like who?”
“Your uncle,” he says smoothly, and I come to an abrupt halt.
Antoine rises, brushing dirt from his shirt and pants. He frowns at his untidy condition, then runs a hand through his hair and shrugs. “I suppose this means an expensive trip to my tailor when I get back.”
“You’ve got five seconds to tell me what you know about Dervish,” I snarl.
“Oh, I have more time than that.” Antoine grins. “Your uncle’s in a perilous situation. There are forces moving against him even as we speak. It will take more than five seconds to —”
“Tell me!” I shout. “Now. Or I’ll torture it out of you.”
“I’m sure you could,” Antoine says slickly, “but how long would it take? I’ll hold out as long as I can, just to spite you. After all, you’ve already vowed to torment me. I don’t know how long I can stand the pain, but minutes are precious. Do you dare waste them?”
I want to throttle him so badly it hurts. But he knows how important Dervish is to me. I don’t want to cut a deal with this treacherous viper, but time’s against me.
“What do you want?” I growl.
“My life,” Antoine replies.
I think about it, then curse. “OK. I won’t kill you. Now talk.”
“Not so fast,” Antoine says. “I want to add a few conditions before I divulge all that I know. Such as a boat without a hole in it, a compass, and map, some —”
“Time’s all you have to bargain with!” I snap. “If you don’t tell me what you know immediately, I might as well torture you.”
Antoine licks his lips nervously, then decides he has no choice but to play out the hand and hope for the best.
“A trap was laid for your uncle and some others,” he says. “The girl called Bec was the one they wanted, but your uncle and Beranabus were important to them too. Juni didn’t reveal all the details, but from what I gathered, the trap was partially successful. Beranabus was killed, but the —”
“No!” Meera cries, taking a step in front of me. “Beranabus can’t be dead.”
“According to Juni, he is,” Antoine says calmly.
“But —” Meera starts to exclaim.
“Leave it,” I cut in. “If Beranabus is dead, he’s dead. Let this worm finish telling us what he knows about Dervish.”
Meera doesn’t like it, but she pulls back.
“Bec and your uncle escaped,” Antoine continues. “The attack took place at sea, on a giant cruiser. They got off before it sank and are adrift in a lifeboat. Juni was furious. When she calmed down, she told me to send a crew to intercept the lifeboat and finish the job. They have instructions to kill Dervish and bring Bec back alive. Taking no chances, I roused three separate units and dispatched them from different locations. The first should be upon your uncle —” He checks his watch. “— in sixteen minutes.”
“Call them off,” I hiss.
