"What?" I demanded. "That's stupid."

"Of course it is," Cassius said. Glee danced in his voice. "They know that I am not sincere. They know I will turn on them at the first opportunity. That I will obtain one of the other coins and return to what I have done for centuries."

I stood up, angry enough that the chair fell over. "Michael, if you turn the other cheek on this bastard he'll tear it off your face. You're supposed to be the freaking Fist of God."

"No, I'm not, Harry," Michael said. "The purpose of the Knights is not to destroy those who serve evil."

"Indeed not," Cassius said. Somehow, there was more of a hiss in his voice now than when he'd been a snake. "They're here to save us."

"To save them?" I stared at Michael. "Is he kidding?"

Michael shook his head. "No one else can face the Denarians, Harry. No one else can challenge the Fallen. This moment might be the only chance Cassius has to turn aside from what he has chosen. To change his path."

"Great. I'm all for changing his path. Let's change it to a direct line to the bottom of Lake Michigan."

Michael's expression was pained. "The Knights are here to protect freedom. To give those who are under the oppression of dark forces the chance to win free of them. I cannot sit in judgment on this man's soul, Harry Dresden. Not for you. Not for anyone. All I can do is remain faithful to my calling. Give him the chance to see hope for his future. To show him the love and compassion any human being should show another. The rest is out of my hands."

I watched Cassius's face while Michael spoke. His expression changed. It became harder. More brittle. And bitter. What Michael said had touched him. I didn't believe for a second that it had touched Cassius enough to change his mind. But it touched him enough to drive him toward fury.

I turned to Michael and said, "Do you really think that thing is going to start sipping of the milk of human kindness?"

"No," Michael said. "But that doesn't change my purpose. He has surrendered his coin, and the influence of it. The rest is not for Sanya or me to decide. It is Cassius's choice."

"You've seen these things," I snarled, stalking over to face Michael. "I've seen the corpses they've left. They would have killed me, Susan, you-hell, all of us-without blinking an eye. God only knows what they have in mind with that curse they're putting together."

"All power has its limits, Harry." He shook his head. "This is the limit of mine."

Without really thinking about it, I shoved his shoulder. "They might already have killed Shiro. And you're going to let this bastard walk?"

Michael caught my arm in one hand and twisted. Michael is strong. I had to rise up onto my toes to relieve the pressure he put on my elbow, and he shoved me back from him, his eyes hard and cold and angry as hell.

"I know that," he said in that same deadly quiet voice. "I know they've hurt him. That they're going to kill him. Just as Shiro knew that Nicodemus would betray his promise to set you free. It's one of the things that makes us different than they are, Harry. The blood on their hands does not make it right to bloody my own. My choices are measured against my own soul. Not against the stains on theirs." He looked at Cassius, and the Denarian flinched away from the silent flame in Michael's expression. "It is not for me to judge his soul. No matter how much I might want to."

"Hell's bells," I muttered. "No wonder Nicodemus has killed so many Knights, if you're all as idiotic as this."

"Harry- " Michael began.

I interrupted him. "Look at him, Michael. He isn't a victim. He's a freaking collaborator. That poor bastard Rasmussen might have been dragooned into working with the Denarians, but Cassius does it because he wants to do it."

"There's no way for you to be sure of that, Harry," Sanya said.

"Why are you giving him a fair chance? Which of them has ever turned away from their coins?"

Sanya put his dark hand on my shoulder and said, "I did."

I looked back at him, frowning.

"I was of their number," Sanya said. "I was less experienced. Foolish. Proud. I did not set out to be a monster, but that much power corrupts. Shiro faced the Fallen I had allowed in. He exposed its lies. And I made a better choice."

"Traitor," said Cassius, his voice cold. "We handed you the world. Power. Glory. Everything you could have wanted."

Sanya faced the man and said, "What I wanted you could never give me. I had to find it for myself." He extended a hand. "Cassius, you can leave them just as I did. Help us, please. And let us help you."

Cassius leaned back, as though Sanya's hand might burn him, and hissed, "I will eat your eyes."

"We can't leave him here," I said. "He'll shoot us in the back. He'll try to kill us."

"Maybe," Michael said quietly, and didn't move.

I wanted to be angry with Sanya and Michael. But I couldn't. I'm only human. I'd flirted with dark powers before. Made stupid deals. Bad choices. I'd been given a chance to work free of them, or I'd have been dead long ago.

I understood what Michael and Sanya were saying and doing. I understood why. I didn't like it, but I couldn't really gainsay it without making a hypocrite of myself. There but for the lack of a demon-infested coin went I.

Cassius started wheezing and laughing his dry, contemptuous laugh. "Run along," he said. "Run along. I'll think over your words. Reexamine my life. Walk the straight and narrow."

"Let's go," Michael said quietly.

"We can't leave him," I insisted.

"The police aren't going to have anything on him, Harry. We're not going to kill him. We're finished here. Have faith. We'll find an answer somehow."

Cassius laughed at Michael's back as he walked out. Sanya followed him, lingering to look back over his shoulder at me.

"Fools," Cassius murmured, rising. "Weak fools."

I picked up the bat again and turned to the door. "You're wrong," I said to Cassius.

"Weak," Cassius repeated. "The old man was screaming after only an hour, you know. Nicodemus started with his back. Lashed him with chains. Then Deirdre played with him."

I gave Cassius a hard look over my shoulder.

He was sneering, lip lifted from his teeth. "Deirdre likes to break fingers and toes. I wish I'd been able to stay longer. I only got to pull out his toenails." His smile widened, eyes gleaming. "The woman, the Fellowship woman. She is yours?"

I felt my lip lift away from my teeth.

Cassius's eyes gleamed. "She bled prettily, didn't she? The next time I catch her, you won't be there to disrupt my conjuration. I'll let the snakes eat her. Bite by bite."

I stared at him.

Cassius smiled again. "But there is mercy for me, is there not? Forgiveness. Indeed, God is great."

I turned away from him again and said, very quietly, "People like you always mistake compassion for weakness. Michael and Sanya aren't weak. Fortunately for you, they're good men."

Cassius laughed at me.

"Unfortunately for you, I'm not."

I spun around, swinging the bat as hard as I could, and broke Cassius's right kneecap.

He screamed in shock and sudden surprise, and went down. Odd crackling sounds came from the joint.

I swung again and broke his right ankle.

Cassius screamed.

I broke his left knee for him too. And his left ankle. He was thrashing around and screaming a lot, so it took me maybe a dozen swings.

"Stop!" he managed to gasp. "Stop, stop, stop!"

I kicked him in the mouth to shut him up, stomped his right forearm to the floor, and crushed his hand with another half dozen swings.

I pinned his left arm down the same way, and put the bat on my shoulder. "Listen to me, you worthless piece of shit. You aren't a victim. You chose to be one of them. You've been serving dark forces your whole life. Freddie Mercury would say Beelzebub has a devil put aside for you."