"You should have let me go while you had the chance," he rasped, his eyes rolling in agony. "All I need to do now is--"
Adam yanked him off me. I scrambled up and hit him with . . . I don't know what. He screamed in agony and clutched his stomach. I could see it ballooning under his shirt, the skin glowing, as if he'd swallowed a fireball. Then it burst. Flames licked out as he dropped to the ground, writhing and howling, blackened intestines tumbling out between his fingers.
Adam stared. Then he knelt and wrapped his hands around Giles's neck again and squeezed until he put him out of his misery.
Just to be sure, I bent and checked for a pulse. Adam checked for breathing. We found neither.
"Yep. Immortality but not invulnerability," I said.
"Good call. Let me carefully get that vial out of his hand in case his death grip snaps it."
He bent over Giles's ruined body. He was peeling back his fingers when Giles's eyes snapped open.
"Watch--!"
Giles reared up, grabbing Adam. I cast a binding spell and it worked--I felt it work--but Giles didn't stop, just picked Adam up like a rag doll and whipped him. As I raced toward Giles, I knew what I'd see.
Bright green glowing eyes.
"Balaam," I said, stopping short.
"Very good, my child."
He reached down and picked up the unbroken vial. Then he took two long strides and scooped up the second one. I cast another binding spell.
"Your magic won't work on me, little one," he said. "You've fought well, but it's time to surrender. Go tend to your lover. He's injured."
I looked over at Adam. He lay crumpled on the ground, but I could see his chest rising and falling.
"He's just unconscious. He'll be fine."
Balaam laughed. "How cold you are. I'm impressed. I suspect Asmondai's son would not be."
"Then you suspect wrong. He wouldn't want me running to his side and letting you walk away with those vials. Give them back."
"Oh, well, in that case . . ." He held them out, then shook his head and laughed. "No, child. You can fight me for them, but there's no point. Even if you managed to get them away from me, I can find more."
"If that was true, you wouldn't have come for these two. The rest of the virus must already be in Cabal custody. Those vials are your last chance for the biggest chaos banquet you've ever had."
"And you're going to stop me, are you?" He smiled. "I do appreciate your tenacity. And your bravery. You are indeed a child of my blood. But you've inherited my recklessness as well, and you don't have thousands of years of experience to temper that impulsive streak."
He came so close I felt the heat of him.
"You cannot fight me. Cannot. If you insist on trying, I will need to teach you a lesson. One I'd rather not impart." He nodded to Adam. "Take your lover and leave. You have my word that this"--he lifted the vials--"will not affect you. I will take it far from here before I unleash it."
"I'm not letting you unleash it anywhere."
His green eyes flashed. "I'm being benevolent, child. Do not test me."
He turned to go. I cast a binding spell, then an energy bolt, then in desperation, a knockback. He just kept walking.
I ran at him and jumped on his back. He flung me aside. I hit the ground so hard I left a dent in the dirt. I scrambled up, though, and tore after him.
He turned, caught my arm, and held it in his vice grip. "I have warned you, child. Do not test me."
He snapped my arm. Pain ripped through me. Then he threw me down on my back and towered above me.
"Perhaps it's more than recklessness. Are you dense, child? As stupid as a bull, charging blindly, knowing no good will come of it."