She raised her hand and Tarry exploded into nothingness.
Sanguine jerked back in astonishment. No blood, no meat, no bones. Nothing.
“There,” Darquesse said, a smile on her face once again. “I feel so much better now.”
“What did you do to him?” Sanguine asked. “Where is he?”
“He’s still here,” said Darquesse, her fingers playing lightly against the air. “His atoms are spread out around the room. It’s funny, isn’t it? Group all those atoms together and Nestor has a body. Separate them, and you have to ask where he’s gone. I can put him back together, if you’d like.”
“You could do that?”
“Sure. I think. Putting things back together is a lot harder than pulling them apart, but I’ll do my best.”
Darquesse chewed her bottom lip as she focused. A moment passed, and she closed her fist, and Tarry reappeared, blurring into existence. He staggered, eyes glassy, and dropped to his knees.
“He’s in shock,” said Darquesse. “Either that or he’s a vegetable. The brain is tricky. I can see how the body reassembles, how the nervous system fits, but the brain will take a little more practice. Want a seat?”
Sanguine looked at her. “Sorry?”
“A seat,” she said. “You want one? You look tired.”
Before he could answer, she had splayed her hand and Tarry exploded into nothingness once more. This time when she closed her fist, however, a chair blurred into being.
“There,” Darquesse said.
“Did you … did you just turn him into a chair?”
“Yes I did,” said Darquesse, grinning. “Atoms are atoms. It’s all about what you do with them and how you arrange them. Man gets turned into a chair. Chair gets turned into a glass of water. It’s still Nestor, though. He’s still there. I haven’t killed him.”