“We’ve been walking into a trap since we got here, most likely.” Eli looked sideways at Josef. “You said so yourself.”
Josef shrugged and picked up his beam again. “Too late to worry about it now.”
“Let’s get this over with,” Eli said, and shoved the door as hard as he could.
The metal slab swung open easily, and an old, cold wind ruffled their hair. The light from the hall torches extended only a foot from the threshold. Beyond that, the treasury stretched out into flat blackness, without depth or end. Miranda took a tentative step forward, reaching out, but she felt no spirits, mad or otherwise. The groans of the soldiers outside faded as soon as she crossed the threshold, and the scrape of her boot was frighteningly loud in the sudden stillness.
All at once, Josef shuddered as if he’d been thrown into an icy pond. He stepped forward, staring determinedly into the featureless dark. “I know you’re there,” he said. “Come out.”
His voice echoed in the darkness, the words repeating over each other and then fading again. For a long moment, nothing changed. Then, a few yards in front of them, a match flared to life, illuminating a pair of eyes, one blue, one clouded silver.
“Hello, Josef,” he said. “What took you?”
CHAPTER 21
Not whom you were expecting?” Coriano smiled and touched his match to the wick of a glass lamp that dangled from his hand. The light flared up, illuminating the empty walls that ran in a smooth arch until they disappeared into the darkness overhead, beyond the lamp’s reach. Underfoot, the flame sent shadows scurrying across the stone floor decorated with the stained outlines of removed shelves and trunks. The makers of those stains were gone, however, leaving only dust, cobwebs, and occasional woodchips behind. By the time the lamp’s flame steadied, it was painfully obvious that the heavily guarded treasury was completely empty.
Miranda stepped forward. “Where is Renaud?”
“Forget him,” Eli said. “Where’s the treasure?”
“Where is the treasure, indeed,” Coriano said. “Did you know that, among bounty hunters, you’re famous for your unpredictability, Eli? They never understand when I tell them how, in one aspect, you’re steady as the sun. Miranda would know best.” He flashed her a cold smile. “I gave her the same advice as I gave all the others: If you want to catch Eli Monpress, simply put yourself between him and what he wants. Because his only constant is that, once he decides something is his, he’s never able to let it go, not even to save his own skin.”
“Then,” Miranda said, “all those soldiers outside?”
“A necessary deception.” Coriano tilted his head. “Anything less than a full guard and you might have guessed something was wrong. I even let that librarian wander around in the hope that she would take you to the small stair, just to make it seem really authentic.”
Miranda’s face went scarlet, but before she could open her mouth, Eli grabbed her shoulder.
“Well done, then,” Eli said, pushing Miranda back and taking her spot beside Josef. “You’ve found me. However, you still haven’t caught me.”
“But it’s not you I’m after,” Coriano said. “It’s the man who follows where you lead.” A sudden flash of white cut the dark as Coriano drew his sword and aimed the point directly at Josef’s chest. “Master of the Heart of War, we have unfinished business.”
Josef brandished the dented, bloody support beam like a club in front of him, a broad smile breaking across his face. “Let’s finish it, then.”
“Are you mad?” Miranda grabbed Josef’s arm. “Weren’t you listening? Renaud could be claiming the pillar right now. We don’t have time for pride fights!”
“If you’re looking for the new king,” Coriano said, “he’s in the throne room. Back through the treasury hall and straight up the main stair four flights. The first door on the right will take you to the promenade hall, and you just follow the flags to the throne room itself. He’s got the entire contents of the treasury up there on my advice, so I could set my trap and he could work on his pillar in peace.”
Miranda’s hands began to shake. “You’re letting him work on the Pillar? Do you have any idea what that could mean?”
“No,” Coriano said, “and neither do you. Does it matter?”
“Of course, it matters!” Miranda’s voice echoed through the empty cavern. “You were there in the clearing. You should know better than most that the man has nothing but contempt for the spirits! If he gets that Pillar, there won’t be a spirit in the world that can stand against him, and every spirit he conquers will go as mad as that sandstorm. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”