V | Lying in Wait
Lector looked up from the control panel and smiled. “The cage is on its way. The floor scale indicates it is carrying approximately two-hundred and seventy-five pounds.”
“Shekalane and the ferryman,” said Hirth.
“Or the thief,” said Valdus. “See to it the elevator is locked into place when it arrives.” He turned to his men with crossbows. “Take your positions. You will fire on my word only. Do I make myself clear?”
The men with crossbows took up their positions as the lift continued down, and the machinery hummed with power, seeming to grow louder with each passing moment.
Valdus thought: What spell has he laid upon you, Shekalane, that you would betray me—betray us all—in such a way? Do you cleave to him just to hurt me? Was my absence this time so long, me devotion
