Chapter 21
Maggie swallowed the bile that soared into her throat. “Prolong their service to the pacel?”
“Explain,” Bertrand said. “Succinctly.”
“T-the pacel has different effects on different cun―”―the black-coated man glanced desperately around the room―“magicians. Some magicians can only survive one service.”
“Don’t you dare,” Alden said.
“They can only survive being connected to the pacel once,” the man said. “Others can survive for weeks. The longest recorded is thirty-four days.”
“Thirty-four days of t*****e,” Alden said.
“And you’re doing autopsies to figure out why some can last longer?” Maggie’s hands throbbed as she gripped her daggers. “You want to have more time to hurt them?”
“No!” The man shook his head, freezing in place as Alden’s scalpel neared his eye. “The legends
