Thesan\u2019s shrieking laughter was almost enough to pierce eardrums. Sif clocked the woman over the ear soundly, mercifully cutting off the sound before it could reach glass-shattering levels. She dropped the slender girl in a heap in the snow, glowering.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell now you\u2019ve gone and done it, haven\u2019t you?\u201d Sif shook her head at Thordin. \u201cYou and your over-large mouth.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, shut up,\u201d Thordin grumbled, reaching for Thesan. \u201cHelp me here, J.T.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHelp you do what<\/em>?\u201d J.T. asked as he moved to help Thordin restrain their prisoner. \u201cAnd what the hell are you talking about, putting Phelan\u2019s soul<\/em> back where it\u2019s supposed to be? What happened out there?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt must have been when he went down at the line,\u201d Thordin said, accepting a coil of thin rope that Sif produced from beneath her jacket. He started to bind Thesan\u2019s wrists behind her, his expression locked in a grimace. \u201cHis head wasn\u2019t here when it happened. He was trying to get a sense of something\u2014said something wasn\u2019t right. Then he just went down like a sack of rocks like I\u2019ve never seen before.\u201d<\/p>\n J.T. muttered a curse and shook his head. \u201cI saw it, I was here, remember? Damn it all, I want to know about this soul shit.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf I had much of an explanation for it, I\u2019d share it,\u201d Thordin said, moving on to binding Thesan\u2019s ankles. \u201cShe somehow stole it and was using it to blackmail her father\u2014and if blackmailing her father with it didn\u2019t work, she\u2019d planned on turning it over to the Hecate.\u201d<\/p>\n J.T. stared at her, abruptly sick to his stomach. \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAre you going to make me repeat that?\u201d<\/p>\n J.T. shuddered and shook his head. \u201cNo. No, I guess not. I heard you, I just…how am I supposed to take that?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAs bad news,\u201d Thordin said. \u201cNow get over here and see if you can somehow bind her soul.\u201d<\/p>\n J.T. shuddered again, bile creeping higher in his throat. \u201cI don\u2019t know that I like the sound of that request.\u201d Something feels wrong about it.<\/em><\/p>\n Thordin sighed. \u201cThen try to bind her magic, at least. If she\u2019s got enough to suck out Phelan\u2019s soul from a distance, I don\u2019t even want to think about anything else she\u2019s capable of.\u201d<\/p>\n J.T. took a slow, deep breath. \u201cRight,\u201d he murmured.<\/p>\n He knelt in the snow next to the prone woman, took another breath, and got to work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Thesan\u2019s shrieking laughter was almost enough to pierce eardrums. Sif clocked the woman over the ear soundly, mercifully cutting off the sound before it could reach glass-shattering levels. She dropped the slender girl in a heap in the snow, glowering. … Continue reading