PROMISE

CHAPTER 19

Rigid silence fell over the standoff. The new Vrai watched Boothe. Boothe glared back. Neither moved. Hain watched with lips pinched tight, unsure exactly what was happening. Unsure about what to do.

Boothe broke the silence, and his words felt like falling through an open window.

"Let me pass, or the human dies."

Hain started to protest, but Boothe cinched down hard on Hain's arm. The pain was a sledgehammer on glass, killing the words in his throat and pushing dark splotches into the edges of Hain's vision.

Stay upright, he told himself. Do not fall. Because falling would make him an easy target when the fight started. And the fight would start, he told himself. Someone here was about to get hurt. Hain only hoped that someone wouldn't be him.

"Release the human," one of the others said, and he stepped forward from the rest of the group. "Do it, and we'll spare your life."

The other's demand nearly made Hain flinch. Fights were fights, but had this Vrai really just threatened to kill one of his own?

Hain studied the newcomers. Each wore the same bland, billowy style of clothing as Boothe–only a shade off from the white of their skin–but as he looked closer Hain realized that the similarity ended there. These Vrai were smaller. More lithe, and less bulk than Boothe. Plus, Hain noticed, none of them bore snarling wolf tattoos upon their hands.

Beside him, Boothe let out a mocking laugh, and Hain was certain he understood why. Shorter by a head and missing the ropy muscle roiling beneath Boothe's skin, the other Vrai looked like children beside the larger Vrai. Hain thought Boothe might be able rip away both their clubs and the arms holding them if he felt the urge.

"Careful how you speak to me, Foew," Boothe said, and Hain knew Boothe must have sensed the same thing he did. The unevenness of his opponent's odds. "A lamb ought to remember when he is speaking to a wolf."

If the speaker for the group swayed by Boothe's threat, he didn't show it. Rather than shy away from Boothe, the other Vrai raised his club in a menacing gesture. As he did, a ball of white-blue electricity snarled around the club's head.

Hain reflexively drew back, but Boothe's grip held him fast.

"I won't tell you again," the other said over the sound of spitting electricity. "Release the human."

Boothe let out a low growl, and the sound made Hain tense. He knew what was coming. Knew that Boothe would react. That he'd kill every one of these strange Vrai who'd tried to stop him. And then, when it was done, he'd probably kill Hain as well.

Except, he didn't. Without another word of argument, he let go of Hain's arm. Hain threw him a confused look, unsure what to make of this sudden turn of events.

The smaller Vrai seemed unmoved by Boothe's changed attitude, and kept the black club at the ready, his milky eyes locked to Boothe. With a nod, he gestured to the others behind him, and four of them moved to flank Boothe. Before Hain knew what was happening, the Vrai had locked the larger Vrai's wrists in metal cuffs so thick they might have been fashioned from old horseshoes.

"Take the human to Hume and the others," the speaker ordered, then turned back toward Boothe. "Take this one back to the cells. I'll deal with him soon."

At this, Hain thought about the Vrai whom Boothe had left at the cells, but decided to keep the knowledge to himself. Boothe might not be a friend–he'd obviously lied about being sent by Lilith–but this group hadn't yet shown themselves to be any more on Hain's side than Boothe had. Giving the bigger Vrai a chance to attempt to break free meant keeping these newcomers busy with Boothe, and distracted from Hain.