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"Enough" It wasn’t a screao’s snarl was ice and co soldiers and set both sides rocking back on their heels Ten dipped her head to her general

Orit glared She wasn’t beautiful like Liraz, like so els Her features were ill-defined, her face full, and her nose had been broken soe by blunt force "You decide what’s enough?" she asked Thiago "I don’t think so" She turned to her kin "I thought ere in agreeood faith I don’t see good faith I see beasts laughing in our faces"

"No," said Thiago "You don’t"

"Pray you never do," added Lisseth helpfully

Thiago continued as though she hadn’t spoken "I said I would discipline any soldier or soldiers who defied my command, and I will It’s not to appease you, and you won’t be audience to it"

"Then hoe know?" demanded Orit

"You’ll knoas the Wolf’s reply, as heavy with threat as his earlier pronounceret

Elyon was not satisfied To the others, he said, "We can’t trust the battalions They follow their command, and we our own We keep apart"

It was Liraz ith a considering look at the chimaera, said, "Even one pair of haive us an edge"

"Or weaken us," argued Orit "And blunt our edge"

Karou had glanced at Akiva, and so she saw a spark light his eyes--the vividness of a sudden idea--and when he spoke up, cutting in abruptly, she expected hiive voice to it, whatever it was But he said only, "Liraz is right, but so is Orit Itbattalions We’ll leave that question for now," and as the talk : What was that spark? What was the idea?

She kept looking at hiht be so clearer to her with every passingat least, the seraphim and chimaera were united It was in their , for the effect this attack would have on huive voice to it as the war council wound on, but she couldn’t ister Liraz, it seemed to her, pointedly talked over her each time, and if their interests had earlier ed radically Liraz wanted Jael’s blood She didn’t care who it spattered

"Listen," Karou said, urgent, when she sensed that their accord was beco And it was a miracle that this council could find accord, but it felt like a bad eant Angels in white attacked by angels in black? Never mind what humans will make of chimaera They have a story for this, too, and in their story, the devil is an angel--"

"We don’t have to care what hueant It’s an aet out Fast If they try to help him, they become our enemy, too" Her hands were flat on the stone of the table; she was ready to push off and launch herself right this instant Oh, she was ready for a bloodbath

"This prospective enehtly," said Karou, "has…" She wanted to say that they had assault rifles and rocket launchers and es of Eretz couldn’t begin to cos "Weapons of mass destruction," she said instead That translated just fine

"So do we," replied Liraz "We have fire" Her tone was so cold that Karou stopped short

"What do you er She knew all too hat Liraz meant, and it stunned her She had stood in the ashes of Loramendi She knehat seraph fire could do Could this be the same Liraz who had used her heat to war to use it to burn a world?

Akiva stepped in "It won’t come to that They are not our enee as possible If hunorance"

It was cold coht to keep her face blank as her mind rebelled Literally or not, the hu to a fla special even for her résurown pretty fantastical over the past fewthere are only torlds for ht Except that, oh hell, there probably were more Why not? One world, and you can call it a fluke--an excellent accident of stardust But if there were torlds, what chance that there were only two?

Step right up, worlds, thought Karou, get your disaster here! She cast again around the table, but she was surrounded by warriors in thethat had been decided here could be filed under "Of course, idiot What did you think was going to happen?" Still, she tried She said, "There is no acceptable level of collateral da in Akiva’s eyes, but it was not his voice that answered her It was Lisseth’s, just behind her "So worried," she said in a nasty hiss "Are you chimaera, or are you human?"

Lisseth Or, as Karou now liked to think of her: future enjoyer of cud It took every ounce of her self-restraint not to turn, look the Naja in the face, and say, "Moo" Instead she replied in a fact-stating tone, and with only the merest hint of condescension, "I aht you understood that by now"

"She understands perfectly Don’t you, soldier?" This was Thiago, half-turned to look at the Naja arning in his eyes She would get a dressing-down later, Karou thought The Wolf could not have been clearer, before this council, that they were to present a united front, nothat Lisseth couldn’t ing a reasonably deferential tone

"And humans aside," Karou continued, "what about us? How many of us will die?"

"As many as necessary," responded Liraz froeous ice queen angel of death

"What if none of it is necessary?" she demanded "What if there’s another way?"

"Certainly," said Liraz, sounding bored "Why don’t we just go and ask Jael to leave? I’m sure if we say please--"

"That’s not what I meant," Karou snapped

"Then what? Do you have another idea?"

And, of course, Karou didn’t Her grudging admission--"Not yet"--was bitter