Here he was on my bed, in my dream. It wasn’t exactly torment, but it was close enough.

I just looked at him. “So, what am I thinking now?”

Nukpana smiled slowly, fangs peeking into view. “Such violence, little seeker. I don’t think what you propose is physically possible.”

I showed him a few of my own teeth. “I won’t know until I try.”

His black eyes glittered. “As always, I welcome your efforts.”

Being trapped inside the Saghred hadn’t diminished the goblin shaman’s dark, exotic beauty one bit. His long black hair was shot through with silver and fell loosely around his strongly sculpted face; the tips of his upswept ears were barely visible through the midnight mass of his hair. Nukpana’s pearl gray skin set off what was any goblin’s most distinguishing feature-a pair of fangs that weren’t for decorative use only.

“Since this is my dream, I say who stays and who goes,” I shot back smoothly. “Guess who doesn’t get to stay.”

Nukpana’s smile spread. “As I said, I welcome your efforts.”

I tried to not only ignore Sarad Nukpana on my bed, but to cease any thoughts of him, forget my memories of him, and blot out his very existence. I knew the last one wasn’t possible, but it never hurts to try.

The goblin was still there.

He laughed, a dark, rich sound. “Getting rid of me is easier said than done, little seeker. Perhaps dispatching those demons took more effort than you could spare.” He paused suggestively. “Or perhaps, you want me to stay. You just can’t say so in front of your father. I quite understand.”

“You’re a parasite, Nukpana,” Eamaliel noted coolly. “You’ll merely take more effort to detach. Though such extreme measures are usually fatal-to the parasite.”

The goblin’s dark eyes narrowed briefly, then he ignored Eamaliel, focusing all of his attention on me. Lucky me.

“You may find this difficult to believe, but I hope Carnades hasn’t taken you into custody,” Nukpana said. “His Majesty’s lawyers and my Khrynsani would be disappointed if you were snatched from their grasp.”

Sathrik Mal’Salin had sent lawyers to Mid to try to retrieve the Saghred and extradite me. When legal means didn’t work, he’d sent Khrynsani shamans and temple guards. So far the goblin king hadn’t gotten his hands on either me or the Saghred. The lawyers and Khrynsani were still on the island and still trying. I almost admired their tenacity.

“What can I say? I’m the most popular spellslinger in town.”

I felt rather than saw my father stand up. I didn’t blame him; I felt the same way. When a first-rate psychopath like Sarad Nukpana appeared in your bedroom, you didn’t want to be caught anywhere but on your feet. I was glad I hadn’t still been in bed when the goblin had slithered in. That would have gone way beyond creepy.

“You said you would stay away from her,” Eamaliel said with quiet menace.

Sarad Nukpana swung his long legs over the side of my bed. “I lied. Surely you didn’t expect me to actually keep my word.

You’re the man of honor, not me. Honor and morals are an inefficient, unproductive waste of my time. By the way, the board is still as you left it, should you want to resume our game.” He turned to me. “Your father stormed off in the middle of a match; it was his move, and I wasn’t even cheating. He may be a man of honor, but he can be rude.” His fangs flashed in a quick grin. “Perhaps there’s hope for him yet.”

I blinked at my father. “Game? You’re actually playing games with him?”

“What an appropriate choice of words,” Nukpana said.

“Your noble father plays games on many levels, little seeker. His powers of manipulation are admirable-and that says much coming from me.”

“Chess, Raine,” Eamaliel clarified. “And yes, it is a way to pass the time and to keep an eye on this one. At least I know that while he’s sitting across from me, he’s not plotting with his allies.”

Sarad Nukpana sighed dramatically. “He still doesn’t believe that my allies have all but evaporated. Literally.”

I could believe that. Almost. The last time I’d been in the Saghred, I’d seen filmy figures, some more solid than others, most wasted away to wraiths. I’d also seen some who appeared to be as solid as Sarad Nukpana.

“Unfortunately, their mental capacity evaporates with them,” the goblin was saying. “It’s difficult to scheme with yourself. I’m all alone.”

I was sure he wasn’t. “I’m sure you’re managing,” was what I said.

“Even the worst enemies when imprisoned together form a kind of camaraderie,” Nukpana said. “Your father and I have found some things in common. You, for one.”

“You’re wasting Raine’s time, Sarad,” Eamaliel warned.

“There’s all the time in the world inside the Saghred.”

“She’s not inside the Saghred.”

Nukpana smiled suggestively. “A goblin can dream, can’t he?”

“What happened at the watcher station wasn’t your fault,” my father assured me. “If you hadn’t acted as decisively as you did, innocent people would have died, and many more would have met the same fate if those demons had escaped.”

“Decisive. So that’s you call shoving one demon into a wine bottle and squashing another into a bloody pulp.”

“I call it beautiful,” Sarad Nukpana said.

Eamaliel shot him a dark look. “It was necessary.”

“But I used the Saghred for the big, yellow one,” I said. For the purple demon, I’d used Tam. Or Tam had used me.

“Because you had to,” my father was saying.

I snorted. “Yeah, I could use it, or I could get ripped apart from the inside by the rock or from the outside by a demon. Some choice.”

“That’s not what I meant. There was a need, and you acted.

You did the right thing, the only thing. Yes, the Saghred is a force of death and destruction. But those things aren’t inherently evil. War is death and destruction; war is not inherently evil. People who misuse power are evil.” He shot an accusing look at Sarad Nukpana. “You used your power for the greater good.”

And I had felt good using it. There, I’d admitted it. The Saghred’s full power had been terrifying, overwhelming, but it had also been intoxicating. And deep down, some dark part of me wanted to do it again.

“And she took a couple of giant steps closer to insanity,” Nukpana was saying. “Either that or being locked up for the rest of her life, or getting a dagger in the back, whichever comes first.”

“If I punched him, would my fist go through?” I asked Eamaliel.

“It would. I’ve tried.”

“Too bad.”

“There were mages like Carnades in my time,” my father said. “Men who were absolutely convinced that their beliefs were right and just. Going through a self-righteous life wearing blinders will do that. They can’t accept that the world isn’t only black and white-there are many shades of gray.”

I thought of Tam and what we’d done. “Tam,” I murmured. Sarad Nukpana pulled his legs up to sit cross-legged on my bed, a grin of eager anticipation on his face. “Ah yes, Tamnais Nathrach.” He rubbed his hands together. “Finally things are going to get interesting. What the two of you did was very naughty. It must have felt delicious. Tell me, just how good was it?”

My father looked like he wanted to knock Nukpana off the other side of my bed and through the wall. It wouldn’t work, but that didn’t stop him from entertaining the idea. I was thinking along the same lines myself.

“Tamnais Nathrach tries to be a good man,” Eamaliel said quietly. “But his past begins to catch up with him. His training and the instincts that feed his power may prove too much for him to resist in the end.”

“I want to help him.”

Nukpana chuckled. “You’re both going to need help.” “Shut up!” my father and I barked simultaneously.

The goblin lay back on my pillows with a smug and knowing smile.

I swallowed. “Carnades wants us both in prison and-”

“That’s not what I mean,” Eamaliel said. “How long have you known Tamnais Nathrach?”