“If we are to bargain, there must be a modicum of trust. I’ve extended it to you. I expect the same from you.” His request seemed earnest.
I wanted more time. “Five days,” I asserted again.
“Three days is all I can give you. That’s all the time she truly has.”
Cirrian’s expression was inscrutable behind the shadows cast by the room’s dim light. He wasn’t giving off any hint of potential betrayal or ill intentions. It didn’t tamp down my apprehension.
“Remove the curse,” I requested. If he could give me days to lift the curse, there had to be a way for him to remove it.
“I can’t,” he responded evenly. “The curse is attached to her life.” He looked over his shoulder at her. “I don’t know which they wanted more, her death or her magic.”
The latter prodded at the guilt I had about Amelia being caught in the crosshairs of a curse meant for me. My immunity to wards was an exceptional ability, but was it worth killing for? My magical resistance to binding and oath spells might be. Amelia was the only person who knew of the rare ability, and I was confident she’d kept the secret. We’d agreed it gave me an advantage in the magical world where I had so few.
But if my magic could undo a binding or oath already in place, perhaps itwasworth killing for. That thought lingered, heavy and unwelcome.
“If it’s really all you can give, I’ll take it. But I have to know what the favor is.” There were too many pitfalls to open debts.
After a few moments of consideration, he said, “I need to use your magic to release someone. I am not able to do it without your help.”
Talented at expressions that discouraged further questioning, I ignored what was showing on his face because I had plenty of queries that needed answers.
“Is this person dangerous?”
“Everyone has the potential to be dangerous, Kara.” His voice held a sharp edge as he added, “I believe you of all people would know that. After all, my ashinwa, you confidently walk among the vampires. How bold you are.” He brought a finger to his lips. “I’ll keep your secret because it serves my interest. If they ever discover your abilities, I suspect your vampire sentinel would be more inclined to kill you than protect you.”
He watched me intently.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said. Which was entirely true. He knew things about me that I didn’t know, and whatever he thought I was, he wasn’t too happy about it. Hewas tolerating it in order to exploit it. I doubted he knew how I’d saved Raynard. But Cirrian’s knowledge of me and my magic was unsettling.
Ashinwa.I committed the word to memory to search its significance later. It obviously meant a lot to him.
“Don’t evade my question,” I said.
He looked at Amelia. The markings had crept up her neck to her jawline.
“Kara, you’re losing precious time. You want to save your friend? I doubt any of the details really matter.”
He was right.
“Life is full of uncertainties. What happens if I’m unable to fulfill my agreement?” I intended to accept the terms but also needed to understand just how serious the situation was. To my surprise, my probing questions didn’t raise his suspicions. His unwavering confidence deepened the unease coiling in my chest. I hated open-ended debts and couldn’t shake the most pressing question: Who the hell could I release that a god couldn’t?
“Then you will become a collection,” he said.
“You’ll kill me?” I simplified, cutting through the euphemisms. If I didn’t fulfill the oath, I’d be killed. Things were getting easier by the moment, I thought sarcastically.
“We are rule-bound not to take a life,” he admitted. The limitation didn’t seem to sit well with him.
A weight I hadn’t realized I was carrying lifted. He wasn’t some omnipotent god—he had rules, boundaries that constrained him.
“That seems to please you,” he noted with a wry smile. “Good. You are bound by the oath. I won’t be the one to kill you. The oath will.”
What good were boundaries when they were so easy to evade on trite technicalities? He couldn’t kill but he’d managed to skillfully dodge that rule.
Without any other viable options, I extended my hand to him. “I agree.”
His grip was firm and surprisingly warm. As he stared into my eyes, a black cast covered his before a cool tingling sensation wound over my fingers up to my wrist.
“Kara…” he paused.
