Page 83 of Blade of the Nightking

“No!” I cried, but before I could move, Hamish lurched in front of Aedric. One eye was nearly swollen shut, his face bloodied and barely recognizable, yet nothing had dulled his courage.

Rìan didn’t look back.

“It's almost amusing,” Veylan drawled, his boots clicking lazily across the marble. “That when the time came for the Flame-Lord's dog to choose who to protect, it wasn't his master he leapt to defend—but his whore. A little late to remember your loyalties now, don't you think?”

Hamish widened his stance, squaring his massive shoulders.

Veylan’ eyes glittered with delight. “You’ll fight to the death, I hope?”

“Yes,” Hamish growled. “Yours.”

“Excellent,” Veylan’s smile sharpened. “A dog fight, then.”

He extended his arms, palms up, and his shadows gathered there, coiling, thickening, growing. “I hate to say it, Hamish, but I think I have the upper hand on this one.”

The shadows struck.

I moved before I could think, throwing myself in front of Hamish just as darkness lashed across the room. It stopped a breath from my face.

He couldn't kill me—not while my death meant his master's.

A low, frustrated sound rumbled in the back of his throat.

“My Prince, your Eidra has a death wish, it seems.”

Your Eidra. I wasn’t his. I would never be his.

My heart hammered, Aedric's words rushing back.

He won't dare enter your mind again.

It was my only chance. Maybe I could draw him into me. There was no time to hesitate.

“I know where Dannis is.”

Rìan gave a derisive scoff but didn't turn. “You think me so foolish, Eidra, that I'd risk you siphoning the rest of my power?” He flicked a hand toward Veylan. “Deal with her.”

Shadows coiled around me, tightening until they pinned my arms to my sides before dragging me roughly out of the way.

“Please—no.” My mind raced—then, suddenly, I had it. A single, reckless idea. Terror ripped through me as I realized what I had to do. There was no other way. No other way to save Aedric, but⁠—

“Bargain!”

Rìan stopped abruptly. Then, slowly, he turned back.

“What did you just say?”

“You heard me,” I swallowed. “I said I want another bargain.”

Hamish’s head whipped toward me, but I wouldn’t look at him. Couldn’t.

One corner of Rìan’s mouth twitched, his eyes glinting with dark amusement. “Didn’t you learn your lesson the first time, Eidra?”

I drew in a breath. “You’re taking a considerable risk assuming anyone else in the Full Circle knows where Dannis is.”

He went frighteningly still. So still it didn’t look like he was breathing.

“But what if they don’t?” I forced the words out, afraid that if I stopped speaking, courage would abandon me entirely. “What if Aedric is the only one alive who can help you?”