She glanced at him. “Such an inferior tool,” she said, smelling dissatisfied. “I hate having to use it. This makes me no better than Graendal.” She shivered. “If they had given me more time, I would have had you fairly.” She patted Perrin fondly on the cheek. “You are troubled. The taller one is from your village, I remember. You grew up together, I presume? I won’t make you kill her, my wolf. You can kill the short one. You hate her, don’t you?”
“I… yes, I do. She stole me away from my family. It’s because of her that they died, really. I would have been there, otherwise.”
“That’s right,” Lanfear said. “We must be quick. Our moment of opportunity will not last long.”
She turned toward the two women. Nynaeve and Moiraine. His friends. And then… and then Rand. She would kill him, Perrin knew. She would force him to bow, and then she would kill him. All along, her goal had been to put herself into a position where the Dark One himself would be helpless and she could step in to bring him salvation.
Perrin came up beside her.
“We strike together,” Lanfear said softly. “The barriers between worlds have been broken here. They will be able to fight back unless we are quick. We must kill them at the same time.”
This is wrong, Perrin thought. This is very, very wrong. He couldn’t let it happen, and yet his hands rose.
IT IS WRONG. He didn’t know why. His thoughts wouldn’t allow him to think of why.
“Ready,” Lanfear said, eyes on Nynaeve.
Perrin turned toward Lanfear.
“I will count to three,” Lanfear said, not looking at him.
My duty, Perrin thought, is to do the things Rand cannot.
This was the wolf dream. In the wolf dream, what he felt became reality.
“One,” Lanfear said.
He loved Faile.
“Two.”
He loved Faile.
“Three.”
He loved Faile. The Compulsion vanished like smoke in the wind, thrown off like clothing changed in the blink of an eye. Before Lanfear could strike, Perrin reached out and took her by the neck.
He twisted once. Her neck popped in his fingers.
Lanfear crumpled, and Perrin caught her body. She was beautiful. As she died, she changed back to the other form she had been wearing before, her new body.
Perrin felt a horrible stab of loss. He hadn’t completely wiped what she’d done from his mind. He’d overcome it, perhaps overlaid it with something new, something right. Only the wolf dream and his ability to view himself as he should be had allowed him to accomplish that.
Unfortunately, deep within, he still felt love for this woman. That sickened him. The love was nowhere near as strong as his love for Faile, but it was there. He found himself crying as he lowered her body, draped in sleek white and silver, to the stone floor.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. Killing a woman, particularly one who wasn’t threatening him personally… it was something he’d never have thought himself capable of.
Someone had needed to do it. This was one test, at least, that Rand would not need to face. It was one burden that Perrin could carry for his friend.
He looked up toward Rand. “Go,” Perrin whispered. “Do what you must do. As always, I will watch your back.”
* * *
The seals crumbled. The Dark One burst free.
Rand held the Dark One tightly.
Filled with the Power, standing in a column of light, Rand pulled the Dark One into the Pattern. Only here was there time. Only here could the Shadow itself be killed.