The mage stood easily as if she had all the time in the world.

"I had been told you were strong," she said, and her voice didn't sound strained at all. "I didn't believe it. I was wrong." The mage actually sounded happy about that.

I couldn't spare the strength to speak, so I let my shadow magic continue to do the talking for me.

The mage extended her hands and pushed against my shadows with her darkness.

It held.

Yes.

"Very impressive indeed," she murmured. Then she gestured to the demon nearest her, indicating that he come closer. When he was within reach, the mage reached out with one hand and simply touched him on the arm.

The demon disintegrated without even trying to escape.

He had sacrificed himself, his power flowing into her.

And my shadow barrier was kicked back five feet.

I pushed with everything I had to regain the lost ground.

Nothing.

The mage lowered her arms, no longer needing a physical gesture to focus her power. "I can endlessly replenish my strength. Can you say the same?"

I couldn't say anything. Everything I had was holding what little protection we had left.

The mage knew it.

And I suddenly knew fear.

The darkness pushed my shadows back, flowed to the edge of my shields, and stopped mere inches from my boots. Our captor-she could no longer be called anything else-would hardly destroy that which she wanted.

Agata Azul.

"Actually, Primaru Nathrach, you could prove quite valuable to me as well, too valuable to destroy."

She was skimming the surface of my thoughts. I slammed the door. It didn't even earn as much as a wince from her.

Primaru meant archmage of the royal blood. I seldom heard it anymore. It was a title from another time, another life. A time when I had battled and lost-my wife, my position, and nearly my life. A time when all I lived for was revenge. The time of Sarad Nukpana and his Khrynsani.

The mage smiled slowly. "Sarad speaks very highly of you. It was he who warned me of your strength."

Agata gasped from behind me. I would have done the same if I'd had enough air.

Sarad was dead. He had to be. I'd seen the demon lord I'd summoned carry him screaming into the Lower Hells. The demon may have played with him first, but he would have killed him. I'd chosen that particular demon for that reason.

Sarad Nukpana made a deal.

The words appeared in my mind, but I knew them to be true. Knew it down in my bones.

His mother had made a deal with an off-world invader, and her son had likewise bargained for his life with a demon lord.

Sarad Nukpana was alive.

Chapter 12.

"Magus Azul, if you will come with me, no harm need come to you," the mage was saying. "I am fully capable of taking you or having you taken by force, but I would rather have your willing cooperation."

Willing cooperation.

I'd heard those two words earlier this evening in reference to Sarad Nukpana. He'd wanted Agata's help finding the Saghred. The Saghred was gone, or at least beyond anyone's reach.

Until a moment ago, I'd thought the same of Sarad Nukpana.

"I am highly selective of whom I accept as clients," Agata said, her voice and expression cool and composed. We were surrounded by a darkness that could consume us with a touch. By necessity, she stood with her body pressed against mine. I felt the faintest tremor; then again, that might have been me. "And any acceptance is contingent upon the work in question not conflicting with one I have already accepted."

"You have accepted work with Primaru Nathrach?" the mage asked.

"I have."

"May I inquire as to the nature of that work?"

"You may, but professional ethics prohibit me from answering."

The dark crept closer, touching the tips of my boots and Agata's.

Agata never looked down, but her fingers tightened on the back of my arm.

The mage's voice was quiet and almost gentle. "Are your ethics worth your life?"

"Do you expect me to willingly cooperate with my life under threat?"

"I expect you to be reasonable."

"Reasonable. An interesting word choice from a woman who sacrifices her own people to get what she wants."

Confusion passed over the mage's face. "The undead one that gave his power?"

"The human assassin across the street."

"He was none of mine, nor are any of his companions. They flushed you out into the open, earning my gratitude, so if they come no closer, they may leave here with their lives."

"You're popular this evening," I murmured to Agata.

"So it would seem," the mage said. "I can assure you, Magus Azul, that allying yourself with Tamnais Nathrach will only bring you suffering and result in your death. I, on the other hand, can guarantee your survival."

"I'd like to say I could match that offer," I said, "but she's got me there."

"And she's got us here."

I didn't need reminding. The mage's dark magic had absorbed not only light but the remaining heat. A cold beyond anything I had ever felt was seeping up through the cobblestones and through the soles of my boots, permeating my skin and numbing the muscles of my legs. Running was something I very much wanted to do, but even if I hadn't been surrounded by death-bringing dark, I didn't think I could move, let alone run. The mage had to know this, but she remained where she had first shown herself to us, making no move to come closer.

Perhaps she couldn't.

Even if maintaining her dark magic kept her from approaching, that didn't make our situation any less dire. No one was going anywhere until the darkness retreated, or was called off.

A flash lit the street like high noon, and agonized shrieks came from all around us.

When I could see again, the demon zombies surrounding us writhed in the street, clutching what passed for ears, dark blood pouring through their fingers. The zombies were down, but their boss lady wasn't. What she was was pissed. The darkness wasn't gone, but it had weakened. Her attention was on whoever had put down her demons, not on the couple she had trapped.

I had one shot, and I took it.

I lifted my hand, spread my fingers, and with a roar, sent five needles of red fire at the mage, bending them to hit head, torso and legs. She was shielded, but I was determined-and desperate.

Our rescuer launched a furious attack that hit everywhere on her that I didn't.

Green.

His magic was green.

Kesyn.

With a vicious grin, I redoubled my efforts, slashing with my hand as if I were using claws-stabbing, slicing, darting and attacking again from another angle.

The mage wrapped the darkness around her like a protective shroud, and our fire merely impacted on the surface-a surface that was sinking like molten tar into the cobblestones until only a black greasy circle remained.

When she vanished, so did the undead demons.

The air reeked with the overpowering stench of burnt flesh and brimstone.

So much for my neighbors ever speaking to me again.

Chapter 13.

Kesyn Badru was bent over, hands braced on his knees, sucking in air as if he'd run the length of the city.

He scowled at the two of us. "I was right."

"I don't know what you're right about, but congratulate yourself once we're behind my wards." I hooked an arm around my teacher's shoulders and pulled him upright to hurry him along-and to help me stay on my own feet. Just because the mage was gone and her minions along with her didn't mean she couldn't come back, this time with more demon zombies.

Or someone else entirely.

I dragged in a breath. "She said Sarad-"

"I heard," Kesyn snapped. "Send him to Hell and he still-"

I pulled Kesyn and Agata back into the shadows.

I'd seen movement up ahead. Not enough that my eyes could see, but my magic senses were on high alert. Nearly being eaten by black magic sludge would do that to you.

My house was being watched.

By goblins. Eight well-hidden and well-trained goblins.

Human assassins, demon zombies, and now goblin hitmen. At least I assumed they wanted me dead; everyone else tonight had.

I reached out with my mind, the barest brush of magic to determine their intentions.

They were armed, and all were ready to kill. I didn't push hard enough to get a name and possibly alert them; that they had my house surrounded was enough information for me.

Kesyn and Agata remained motionless. I didn't know if Agata could sense them, but Kesyn could; plus, he trusted my survival instincts. During my previous tenure in the goblin court I experienced at least one attempt on my life per day, and that was on a slow day. I was good at staying alive.

I indicated a detour and they followed. Rather than risk another fight when Kesyn was exhausted and I wasn't much better, I opted for an alternate way home.

The last time I'd used the tunnel beneath my house had been when Sathrik Mal'Salin still reigned with Sarad Nukpana by his side, and I had been forced to sneak back into my own home. That time, there had been eight of us. Now there were only three. I knew for a fact that we were alone. I had set the strongest wards and repelling spells possible to guard the approaches to my home from every direction. Since I had returned home from Mermeia and the Isle of Mid, and once again had my family around me, I was determined to keep them safe.

The wards were intact on the hidden wine cellar entrance. No one had tried to breach them tonight.

That was both good and bad, or at least suspicious.

I disabled the wards in one section of tunnel and replaced them once we'd passed through. The door to my wine cellar was well hidden by vines, but I had warded it as well. Paranoia had always kept me healthy, or at least alive to be paranoid again.

Once inside the cellar, I replaced the wards on the door.

When I finished, I turned to find Agata surveying the damage to the room. Kesyn had already seen it.

After I had been forced out of Regor, Sathrik had ordered all of my possessions confiscated for the crown, though I knew where most of them had gone-into Sarad Nukpana and Sandrina Ghalfari's homes and coffers. My wine cellar had once been the envy of the court. Now it was a room empty of wine and full of overturned and broken racks. Or at least it had been. Since I'd returned home, we'd swept the floor and piled the debris in one corner. The racks made excellent firewood. What wine I had now, I kept upstairs. Replacing my wine collection hadn't made my list of priorities since getting Chigaru on the throne.

"You're home early, Your Grace," said a voice from the stairs leading up into the house.