“I did not employ the shadow against you in the Temple of Justice,” she said, “because it was more poetic to use Kos. Besides, as Tara’s mentor, I feel compelled to set a less bloodthirsty example. Call me a sentimentalist if you must.”
“Elayne,” he said, breath coming shallow and fast in his chest, “they’ll know. Kill me here, and they’ll know.”
“You said it yourself. No Craft of mine can penetrate that iron mesh. I’ve given you no food, no water, no poison. Prisoners die of heart attacks all the time.”
“Elayne.”
Her tone remained cool. “You murdered one of the few gods in this world who never hurt a single Craftsman. You mutilated a goddess and perverted her teachings. You warped a priest into a weapon and taught him how to kill so his victims would persist in pain. You’ve broken countless people and bent them to your will, and you enjoyed breaking the women most of all.”
“You bitch!” He leapt from his chair toward her, hands outstretched, mind consumed by rage. “You fucking—”
She closed her hand.
The world stopped without slowing.
He fell. Blood leaked from his mouth and pooled about him on the stone floor.
“Goodbye, Alexander,” she said before she left.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
MAX GLADSTONE lives, works, and writes in and around Cambridge, Massachusetts.
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
THREE PARTS DEAD
Copyright © 2012 by Max Gladstone All rights reserved.
Cover illustration by Chris McGrath A Tor Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010
www.tor-forge.com
Tor® is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Gladstone, Max.
Three parts dead / Max Gladstone. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
“A Tom Doherty Associates book.”
ISBN 978-0-7653-3310-0 (hardcover) ISBN 978-1-4668-0203-2 (e-book) I. Title.
PS3607.L343T47 2012
813'.6—dc23
2012019876
First Edition: October 2012