Page 138 of Tin God

“Orphans. Beggars. Children who had already been thrown away. No one would miss them.”

“I miss them.”

“No,” Tenzin said. “I will not apologize for killing your mate. Benjamin was right; I was correct to kill him. He may have been kind to you, but Purev was a monster.”

Zasha stepped out of the shadows. Their hair was long and flowing over their shoulders, and their beautiful face was lit by the flickering gold of the fire.

They wore a black shirt and a long black skirt wrapped around their waist. The shirt was open halfway down their chest, revealing a sharply defined musculature and countless scars that appeared to have been made by knives.

Tenzin couldn’t look away. She let out a soft sigh. “You’re beautiful. Was it ever anything but a curse to you?”

“No.” Zasha held out their hand, and a small whirling fireball danced into their palm. “Truvor found me while I was hiding among the dead. He spotted my hair in the darkness. That’s why he took me. Helovedmy hair.”

“He was a monster too.”

Zasha rolled their eyes. “We’re all monsters. You should know that by now.”

“Some of us are more monstrous than others.” Tenzin didn’t take her eyes off them. That had been her mistake for centuries. She had moved on, tried to forget.

But Zasha had never forgotten.

“I killed your mate,” Tenzin said. “But I won’t apologize for that.”

The fire leaped in the grate.

“So why are you here, you useless littlething?” Zasha spat out.

“I wanted to apologize for not killingyou.”

Zasha’s black eyes went wide, and a crooked smile spread over their face. “That is your apology, daughter of Zhang? That you did not kill me when you killed Purev?”

“Yes.” She didn’t blink.

Zasha took a deep breath, and a strangled laugh escaped them. “This hasn’t gone at all like I had hoped.”

Tenzin decided to play along. “What did you hope?”

“I wanted to get to know Brigid better, but she’s so…” Zasha sighed.

“Abrasive? Self-righteous? Rigid?”

“Protective.” Zasha rolled their eyes. “I wanted her and her soft mate to come up here, and then I would force them to lureyouhere as well. Then I’d strike a deal with the priest to trade you for Paulson.”

“Ah.” Tenzin nodded. “And that would have gotten rid of Paulson and also driven a wedge between the priest and Brigid.”

“Paulson is a self-important ass,” Zasha muttered. “I’d trade him for you in a heartbeat.”

Tenzin leaned against a post that held up the landing on the overhead loft. “But you can’t kill me. So why would you care if the priest handed me over?”

“Oh no, I was going to make the priest kill you.” Zasha offered a rueful smile.

“Not a bad idea.” Tenzin nodded slowly. “But that would have been difficult.”

“He would find some moral justification for it—saving innocent lives or something like that—but you know he’s wanted to do it for centuries.”

Tenzin barely kept from laughing. Carwyn had little love for her, but the priest was nothing if not hopeful. He’d try to convert her before he killed her.

But Tenzin didn’t want to disabuse Zasha from the notion, especially when Tenzin could feel Brigid lurking along the perimeter. “It might have worked if Brigid hadn’t come to me first. The priest doesn’t like me much, but I might have killed him if he tried to kill me.”