Fuck, what did I get myself into?
When I finally looked up from my rumpled clothes, I noticed the General’s pained expression that mirrored my own inner thoughts. Lord d’Refan’s back was to me, filling a glass of whiskey from the bar cart in the corner, but his posture screamed frustration. The third man, I finally recognized as the Keeper I met on my first day in the Academy.
“How is Matamuri?” I asked the man, remembering his daughter from a brief conversation we had years ago. I mean to ease some of the thick tension in the room, but it only seemed to ratchet higher.
Lord d’Refan let out a bark of mirthless laughter before draining his entire glass of whiskey. The Keeper’s eyes tightened at the corners and his lips thinned at my question.
“She is back home in the Valley,” he muttered. “Thank you for asking.”
Though he didn’t seem all that thankful.
“That’s . . . good?” I asked, much to the amusement of Lord d’Refan.
“Sure. If spilling political secrets to her goddess andMatriarchisgood,” he spat, spittle and venom flying with his words.
I reared back slightly, eyebrows hitting my hairline at his admission.
I’m just a soldier. There is no reason for him to tell me this.
General d’Alvey, noticing my discomfort, placed a heavy hand on my shoulder.
“It’s . . . what we’d been discussing”—he nodded at the other two men—“when you approached the door. It must not have been closed all the way.” He gave the Keeper a meaningful look, who simply shrugged in response, a slight maniacal grin edging up his face.
“Is there something you needed, Lex?” The General turned his full attention on me, and I saw concern pinching his brow.
“Yes, but it’s not vitally important. I can just come back later,” I said quietly while slowly backing away from the group.
The General nodded his head, quickly shuffling me out the door, but we were stopped by Lord d’Refan’s cutting voice.
“The boy stays.”
General d’Alvey’s shoulders tensed before slumping, the grip on my shoulder tightening to an almost painful level.
“I’m sorry,” he muttered, almost too quiet for even me to hear.
“He’s heard enough to make him complicit in what happens next. Can’t have him blathering State secrets now, can I?” Lord d’Refan’s tone was lethal, and when I spun to regard him, his face was hardened stone.
I inadvertently gulped.
“I won’t say anything,” I promised, trying my best to edge out of the door and away from whatever was happening in this room.
“No, you won’t,” Lord d’Refan said casually as he sipped from yet another nearly full tumbler of whiskey. “Because if you do, not only will I let you burn out from your Pain Magic”—my eyes flew wide at the fact that he knew about the struggles with my magic— “which will inevitably kill that Vessel you care so deeply about. But I will find those brothers and sisters of yours. How many are there now? Ten? And I’ll ensure that their lives are not worth living. Do you understand?”
He delivered his threat unhurried, with an air of confidence that I would simply obey him.
My heart beat wildly in my chest as sweat coursed down my neck and back, my hands balling into fists at my sides.
He had me, and he knew it. I knew the type of horrors and pain Lord d’Refan could inflict, and it was not something I’d ever wish on what remained of my family. Even the woman who called herself my mother.
“Fine,” I bit out. “At least we have similar collateral,” I edged, and Lord d’Refan smiled—a terrible thing.
“Indeed,” he intoned. “Now, the first issue at hand.” He drained his glass before setting it on the General’s desk with athunk. Crossing his arms as he leaned against the desk, he turned to face me and the General.
“You’re burning through your Pain crystals at an alarming rate,” he stated matter-of-factly and held up a hand when I went to ask how he knew that. “I have eyes and ears everywhere, Mage.”
I shut my mouth and nodded jerkily, trying to figure out who could be reporting back to Lord d’Refan.
Ilyas?Surely not my own Bonded . . .
