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Whether from anticipation at being so close to achieving their ends without further hindrance or simply to let us know the parlay was coming to a close, the Seven Brothers spoke as one. ‘Will you accept our terms?’

Galass and Aradeus turned to me, their gazes questioning. My own face wore more of a ‘don’t start with me’ sort of look.

Corrigan, however, wasn’t waiting for anyone’s permission. ‘Are you fucking nuts?’ he asked the brothers, arms spread out wide as if he were about to hug all of them at once. ‘Ofcoursewe’re accepting your dea—’

‘We’ll let you know,’ I said, cutting him off.

Corrigan’s eyes glowed the same purplish-blue as his hair and I was pretty sure he was about to blast me out of existence and take the deal for himself. The only thing that stopped him was the eldest brother’s voice when he said, ‘Deliver your answer to us by midnight, else we will come seeking you, and then it will be too late for peace.’

Another quick buzzing in my ear was followed by the eight grey-robed animal servants ushering us out of the chamber. Mister Bones yapped belligerently for a second or two, then trotted along behind us. I could tell Corrigan was furious with me, while Galass and Aradeus were wondering why I’d just turned down the most generous offer in the history of ‘kindly go fuck yourselves and we’ll give you some nice toys to play with’ negotiations.

I couldn’t have explained my hesitation even if I’d wanted to.

We’d come here presuming some nefarious intentions on the part of these eccentric siblings. Instead, it turned out the people we were working for had lied and manipulated us, and our purported enemies were claiming only to want to save the benevolent beings from another plane of reality, asking for nothing more than a patch of land long ago forsaken by most of our own people. The brothers had promised to never expand their territory, to take care of any civilians who still wanted to remain here, and, asking only that we not interfere, offered us the Apparatus in exchange.

The fuckingApparatus.

Now, I know what you’re thinking:‘But Cade, some deals are too good to be true!’And sure, I get that. But look at it from the brothers’ perspective: they didn’t give a shit about wealth or power or any of the other petty nonsense that occupies virtually every waking moment for people like me. Whywouldn’tthey give us everything we wanted, when they themselves had no interest in any of those things?

Surrounded by the eight servants– two cats, three sheep, that irritated-looking donkey, the anxious-looking rat and Madrigal the goat man– we walked in silence until we reached the gate leading into the courtyard. We’d barely started down the stone stairs to the muddy red ground beyond when a two-foot-tall bundle of overexcited fur raced ahead of us.

‘Mister Bones!’ Galass called, but the little jackal paid her no heed; instead, he began digging in the soil, yapping enthusiastically all the while.

‘What the hell’s going on now?’ Corrigan grumbled. ‘I hate that stupid dog.’

‘Jackal,’ I corrected reflexively.

I smelled goat breath over my left shoulder before I felt Madrigal’s presence behind me. ‘The brothers wished me to convey their gratitude for the courteous manner in which you have behaved, as well as their recognition that this appears to be a difficult decision for you to make, Silord Ombra. In the spirit of mutual understanding, they have commanded me to present an. . . alternative gift to you.’

‘That’ll be the one the jackal’s digging up?’

The goat man nodded.

I walked down to the bottom of the steps, keeping a little distance from Mister Bones, who stopped to dance in a little circle a couple of times before resuming his frantic digging. It wasn’t long before I saw the ‘gift’ the brothers had left for me.

Remember when I said the thing about how negotiations often begin with the presentation of two gifts? They sometimes end with a second pair of offerings, and these were just like the platter of delectable scones and bowls of faeces, only instead of the scones, they’d presented us with the Apparatus, and instead of the dollops of shit. . . well, it was certainly an equivalent.

Chapter 37

The Second Offering

Mister Bones was doing a masterful job of unwrapping my gift. I assumed the purpose of his frantic leaping from one patch of ground to another, kicking an inch of red clay away here and there, was meant to continue the suspense as long as possible.

‘Think I see a nose now,’ Corrigan said, looming next to me.

‘Two noses,’ Aradeus said.

‘Two perfectly formed noses,’ I corrected. Alice and Shame joined us, drawn by the jackal’s frenetic digging.

The angelic reached out a hand towards the mount being steadily unearthed by Mister Bones, her eyes shifting colour back to that unnerving golden hue. ‘I can’t sense their ecclesiasm,’ she said, visibly disturbed. ‘Something is hiding their nature from me.’

‘That’s part of the wrapping,’ I said.

I’d had enough of the damned jackal’s interminable playing, so I walked over and tried to shoo him away. He growled at me, so I showed him my boot. If you’re thinking that was cruel of me– and you’re forgetting all the times I’d killed people already– then let me reassure you that the little fucker had it coming. At any rate, he got the idea and ran off to start digging elsewhere.

I knelt down and wiped away the red soil from their faces. Fidelity and Dignity blinked in the sun overhead, so I shifted over a bit to block the glare so they could see me properly.

‘Cade?’ Dignity asked.