Book Seven: Chapter 227

“It could have gone better,” she admitted with a shrug. In all honesty, what they had accomplished in twelve hours was nothing short of miraculous. But it was hard to celebrate such success when their failures would be measured in lives lost. “So perhaps you understand why we’ve chosen this instead.”

Beth didn’t dare lie to Francois. There was no way of knowing if he could tell truths from falsehoods. If they were lucky, his greed would cause him to take the fake eggs back to his ship and Tink could blow him to hell. However, the fact that he had summoned and sent a magical avatar of himself indicated that he was far too cautious to fall for such a ploy.

The man grinned, then shook his head. “You must take me for a fool,” he declared, then raised a hand. Behind him, the water shifted, briefly revealing hundreds of dead bodies, just waiting for their orders. Beth looked over her shoulder at the small hut and knew she was probably going to need it soon.

“Now why woul