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"He’s upstairs Third floor Sixth door on the left" My father soddess exacted from you, Mattheorth it Just as you were"

"He’s worth everything," I said, lowering thethe dead behind so I could find the living

Magic, like any resource, is not infinite in its supply The spell I’d used to elinificant a that without Knox, Benjath and cruelty in his arsenal

I had love and nothing oddess’s arroere evenly matched

The house had far fewer rooone Instead of an unending array of identical doors, the house noed its true character: filthy, rife with the scents of death and fear, a place of horror

My feet raced up the stairs I couldn’t spare an ounce of ic now I had no idea where any of the others were But I did knohere to find Matthew I pushed open the door

"There you are We’ve been expecting you" Benja behind a chair

This time the creature in it was undeniably the e and pain, but they flickered in recognition

"Queen’s Gambit complete," I said

Relieved, Matthew’s eyes drifted closed

"I hope you know better than to shoot that arrow," Benjamin said "In case you’re not as well versed in anatomy as you are in chemistry, I’ve made sure that Mattheill die instantly if e iron spike Benjamin had driven into Matthew’s neck

"You reer into me at the Bodleian? It created a seal That’s what I’ve done here" Benjaled the spike a bit, and Mattheled A few drops of blood appeared "My father doesn’t have lass for two days and he’s been slowly bleeding out internally"

It was then I noticed the pile of dead children in the corner

"Earlier lance "It was a challenge to come up ays to torment Matthew, since I wanted to make sure he still had eyes to see me take you, and ears to hear your screams But I found a way"

"You are a monster, Benjamin"

"Matthew y Ysabeau and Baldwin are bound to be here soon This is the very room where I kept Philippe, and I left a trail of bread crurandmother finds it Baldill be so surprised to hear who it was that killed his father, don’t you think? I saw it all in Matthew’s thoughts As for youwell, you cannot is Mattheould like to do to you in the privacy of his bed Some of them made me blush, and I’m not exactly prudish"

I felt Ysabeau’s presence behind raphs fell upon the floor Pictures of Philippe

Here In agony I shot a look of fury at Benja more than to shred you to pieces with hter of the pleasure" Ysabeau’s voice was cold and serrated It rasped against my ears almost painfully

"Oh, she’ll have pleasure with me, Ysabeau I assure you of that" Benja in Matthew’s ear, and I saw Matthew’s hand twitch as if he wanted to strike his son but his broken bones and shredded musclesti to tell you--a secret Matthew has been keeping He keeps so many, I know, but this is a juicy one, I promise" Benjamin paused for effect "Philippe did not die because of me It was Mattheho killed him"

Baldwin stared at him impassively

"Do you want to take a shot at him before my children send you to hell to see your father?"

Benja me anywhere And if you think I am surprised by this supposed secret, you are even more delusional than I feared," Baldwin said "I know Matthehen I see it He’s alood at what he does"

"Drop that" Benjamin’s voice cracked like a whip as his cold, unfathomable eyes settled ontheir discussion, I’d taken the opportunity to lift the bow

"Drop it now or he dies" Benjahtly, and the blood flowed

I dropped the boith a clatter

"Sain Matthew moaned "I liked you even before I learned you were a weaver So that’s what makes you special? Matthew has been shamefully reluctant to determine the limits of your power, but never fear I’ll make sure we know exactly how far your abilities extend"

Yes, I was a sirl Smarter than Benjamin knew And I understood the limits of oddess’s bow, I didn’t need it What I needed in order to destroy Benjahtly so that it brushed Ysabeau’s thigh in warning

"With knot of ten, it begins again"

My words canore, just as the tenth knot was a seely a simple loop As they traveled into the roo I extended oddess’s bow My left index finger burned a bright purple

My right hand drew back in a lightning-quick s on the golden arrow’s shaft I stood squarely at the crossroads between life and death

And I did not hesitate

"Justice," I said, and unfurledfro up momentum as it flew It hit Benja hi wave of power engulfed the rooold threads shot everywhere, acco The oddess

With an otherworldly cry of frustrated anguish, Benjaan to slip

Working quickly, I twisted the threads surrounding Matthew into a single rope that caught the end of the spike I pulled it taut, keeping it in place as Benjamin’s blood poured forth and he dropped heavily to the floor

The few bare lightbulbs in the room flickered, then went out I’d had to draw on every bit of energy in the place to kill Knox and then Benjaoddess: the shi in theunderneath ers