Steel's Edge(35)

I’m a monster. Don’t fol ow me.

It’s a one-way trip. Sane, kind people aren’t meant to take it.”

“How about mass murderers?” she asked. “What’s the policy for us?”

Richard shook his head. “Go home, my lady.”

“My home is burned to the ground.”

“These people are ruthless, cruel thugs. Think of what you must become to hunt them.” He didn’t understand. “Look around you,” she said softly. “I came to the Edge to hide from my magic. I ran because I have an obligation as a healer to contain it and prevent it from hurting anyone. I needed to be someplace where my power was weakened and nobody knew me.

Someone had injured me, and I wasn’t sure I could hold my emotions in check and not seek revenge. I came to the Edge alone, and I had nearly starved to death when Éléonore found me. She saved me, Richard. I rebuilt my life. I was content and this”—she indicated the corpses with the sweep of her hand—“had fal en dormant. And then they kil ed her, and they kil ed Daisy.” Her voice snapped, and she

swal owed. “She was only twenty-three, Richard. Twenty-three. She had barely started her life, and they crushed her and ripped out her sister’s heart. Every time I close my eyes, I see Tulip wailing over her sister’s body. I can’t undo it. I can’t just let it go.”

“You have to try,” he said.

“Vengeance wil eat you alive.”

“It’s not about vengeance.” She shook her head. “It’s about stopping them.

You’re trying to warn me about the road, but I’m already walking it. Have you heard of the Healer’s oath?”

“‘I swear to hold the human body sacred,’” he quoted. “‘I wil apply al my effort, al my magic, and al my knowledge of procedure and remedy to preserve life, to treat malady, to ease suffering. I swear to knowingly do no harm through the use of my magic or craft.

I wil prescribe no remedy when none is needed. I wil not seek to improve on Nature’s design for the sake of vanity, knowledge, or human passion.’”

“How do you know that?”

“One of my relatives was a certified Physician,” Richard said.

“There is more,” she said. “‘Should I break this vow through my ignorance, I wil surrender myself to the mercy of my peers. I wil accept their judgment and my dishonor, and should they convict me, I wil cease to practice medicine. Should I break this vow by deliberate action, I wil know that I have betrayed myself. I wil have drowned my teachers in guilt and cast doubt and suspicion upon my students. Let my name be a bitter taste on the lips of those who knew me, let my countenance be that of dishonor, let me fade into nothingness and be forgotten, save as an example of failure and weakness, for I would become an abomination in the eyes of the world.’” He waited.

“I’m a certified healer from the Ganer Col ege. Today I kil ed human beings through the use of my magic. I did it wil ingly.” The words tasted foul on her tongue. “My life is over. Do you understand? I sacrificed everything I was so I could do this because it’s my responsibility as a peer of the realm and a human being to destroy this human cancer before it hurts anyone else.”



She pointed to the dead bodies. They lay there, silent and accusing, evidence of her fal from grace.

Charlotte turned to Richard. “I own the consequences of my deeds. I have nothing to lose. I need your knowledge and expertise, but I’l keep going, with you or without, and I won’t stop until the slave trade is broken. You can benefit from this al iance, as can I. Think what an asset I can be. Don’t let my sacrifice be wasted.”



* * *

RICHARD leaned back. She was looking at him, waiting for an answer. He had done his best to persuade her to leave, but everything about her, from the coldness in her eyes to her wary posture, convinced him she would not. He had no idea who she was. He only knew that they had the same purpose.

She was beautiful and radiant. He remembered the concern in her eyes. The same concern drove her now, pushing her toward acts of violence. On the surface, he’d be a fool to turn her down. She was driven by tragedy, just like him, and she would be incorruptible, just like him. He needed a blade to kil , but she could kil dozens at once empty-handed. She was Death, and she had just asked to be his al y.

Walking next to him would break her.

He’d fought so hard to spare Sophie from this grisly soul-eating burden. He couldn’t bring himself to say yes to this woman.

“How often can you do this?” He pointed at the corpses, delaying his need to answer.