He lifted his lip in a silent snarl."I don't think he's going to tell me." Even if he was capable of speech."The Naye'i is an evil spirit," Carla said. "She doesn't need a reason to kill you beyond the pleasure of doing so."Sadly, that made sense."And it's common practice in battle to take out the opposition's leader. With no one to follow, armies disintegrate, some soldiers change sides, others desert.""Mine won't." My voice sounded much more positive than I actually felt."Time will tell," Carla murmured."How could I not have known this? I lived"—if you called sexual slavery living—"in the Strega's lair for weeks. I never caught a whiff of the woman of smoke." Or heard a whisper. That damned amulet was proving more of a pain in my ass than I'd ever thought possible."She wasn't there," Carla said."Ever?""She didn't have to be." Carla swept her hand in an arc, from left shoulder, upward and over, as if she were drawing a rainbow in the air. A sparkling window of static appeared a few feet above our heads.
