The Howling Delve - Jaleigh Johnson [27]
"I owe you thanks. You've saved me the trouble of subduing his murderer." She looked down at his fathet with a mixture of disgust and pity. "Not that he appears to warrant great effort, in his cutrent state."
"You can't have him," Kali said steadily.
The woman lifted a brow. "Oh? Was his confession the ravings of a madman, then?"
"The man responsible for Haig's death is Balram Korttun," said Kail. "My father acted under Balram's influence, and as you can see, he is no longer a threat to anyone."
"He soon won't be," Meisha agreed. She cast his sword to the far end of the garden and raised her empty hands.
Kail got to her first. He grabbed her arm and twisted it, slamming her against his chest with her hand bent at a painful angle against het lower back. "You're not listening," he said in her ear. When she struggled, he wrenched her palm back until she gasped. "If you want justice for Haig, let my father live, and I will get it for you."
"He's no longer your father," Meisha argued. "He doesn't recognize his own son."
"I know," Kali said, swallowing his grief. "What is left of him suffers more than enough."
"Then why not end it? Give him a quick, merciful death."
"No." Kail shook his head. "I won't kill him if there's a chance he might come back."
Meisha fell silent. She relaxed her stance, but Kail kept her hand pinned. "You won't kill him," she said softly. "But are you willing to die to protect what he has become?"
She brought her heel up, clipping his knee. Pain shot up Kail's leg. He released her involuntarily.
Backing away, she flicked a wrist, fingers splayed, and traced a circular pattern with her other thumb in midair. She spoke as she cast. "Will it be your life for his?"
Her eyes blazed red, and Kail thought for an instant they were afire, burning the orbs out of their sockets. The circle she traced filled with flame, swirling in on itself to become a ball of brilliant orange with a blue vottex.
Kali had seen wizards cast spells in battle, and he'd even seen magical fire burn men alive. He'd once accompanied Cesira to the site of a massive spell duel between rival wizards. They'd watched from a protected distance, but after a time Kail's eyes could no longer separate one spell from anothet amid the devastation.
He'd never seen a fireball form in a wizard's hands at such close tange-shaped from nothing, a great embei falling from a god's furnace-never had he seen one directed at himself.
The flames filled his vision as the deadly orb flew toward him. He felt the heat seat his face. Instinctively, he threw up his hands and covered his father's body with his own.
He heard the explosion, but the pain didn't follow. Kali lifted his head and saw the twin, scorching trails marking the path the fiteballs had made across the garden. They formed a perfect arc around his and his father's bodies.
"You split them," Kail said, standing. His legs felt shaky. "Why?"
"Curiosity." She dismissed it with a shrug. "Or a test of yout convictions. Call it whatever you like, I-"
She tried to dodge, but Kali had her again. He pinned her arms down to her sides. "I appreciate the reprieve. This is just in case you have another of those fire spells ready," he said.
She smiled thinly. "What makes you think I need anothet?"
Kali felt his skin grow warm. Sweat broke out on his neck, and alarm rose in his chest. He looked down at the Harper. Her skin, pressed against his, was painfully hot.
"Let me go, Motel, or I will burn you," she said, her voice echoing with deadly powet. "All I want is your father."
Gazing into her eyes, Kail saw she told the truth. Slowly, he slid his other arm around her waist, steeling himself against the intense pain. "If you're willing to kill me for him, get it over with," he rasped.
For a breath, the heat wavered. Kali waited, but then, as suddenly as it had started, the burning sensation ebbed. The Harper stiffened, her eyes going