“This was why he’d not died in that alley, he realised now. It hadn’t been the act of a merciful God, but a vengeful one. Dying would have been simple. This… This was retribution. It hurt worse than the knife had, he thought, a hand going to the scar on his side as though that might help ease the wound. But that wound had healed. This was fresh and raw, and it felt fatal, though he knew he’d not be that lucky.”