Well, not literally. He told the lords he needs me, which is the only reason I haven’tactuallybeen killed already. But I can tell from the way his magic gripped my muscles like a vise before he left—from the way his presence smoldered beneath my skin—that he’s livid.
I exhale a shaky breath, trying to calm myself. There’s nothing like being held at knife point to remind you of the importance of basic lung function.
I listen to the soothing sounds of Viz’s quill scratching away on parchment from where he still sits in the corner of the room. He pauses when he senses me looking at him, lifting his skull-like face, his sunken eyes gleaming.
“He’s going to kill you,” he says.
Goddess, can everyone in this damned place read my mind?
“I know,” I sigh, chewing my lip.
“I won’t bother asking you what you thought you were doing,” Viz adds. “Syrus should’ve asked Triya to babysit you, but in his defense, he probably didn’t count on you being stupid enough to wander into the only lords meeting Malice has hosted for a decade.” He underlines something with a few quick scratches.
“I didn’twanderin,” I correct him. “I was dragged in.”
He nods, as if he’ll give me that much. But that’s only because he probably thinks I wound up near that door by accident. Andthat’sbecause he doesn’t realize I knew exactly what was happening this afternoon—that I understood his and Syrus’s conversation last night.
Realizing I can understand Cyrax brought it all home. This—this link between Syrus and me, this fucked-up possession bond—isn’t just worming its way into my head and my body, making me do and feel things I definitely shouldn’t. It’s fundamentallychangingme. And I can’t let that happen.
So I tried to listen in on the meeting in the hope it might give me some—any—leverage to help me get out of here. Whether it was something I could use against Syrus to get out of the deal, a way to sneak out of Malice, or—I don’t know what. But I needed to dosomething.I’m getting desperate.
I scratch the rash on my wrist already forming from where the demon’s blood splashed me. In a way, I’m glad to see the return of my allergies. They’re like an old, annoying friend in this strange place, in this body that’s less and less my own with each passing day.
It makes me think about something Lady Jing said.
“Viz,” I say, moving closer to him.
“Yes, mire rat?” he asks. The nickname feels almost playful now.
“What did Lady Jing mean when she said Syrus should be taking ‘the necessary precautions’?”
“You’d have to ask the Lady of Baine that, I suppose,” he says, not looking up from his paper.
“Viz,” I say sternly.
He tuts, rubbing a hand across his face, leaving a smudge of ink on his pale skin.
“Are you all right?” I ask.
“Yes. No. I just…need you to tell me something,” he says.
“Okay?” I blink.
“My mother could always get me to confess when I was lying about something,” he says abruptly. “She was an expert in psychological warfare, and she wasn’t above using it on her children. Try sitting through advanced interrogation tactics when you accidentally break your mother’s favorite vase.”
“That’s…interesting,” I say, confused by the sudden change in topic.
“It put me off mind games for life,” he explains. “So I’ll be direct and offer you a trade, mire rat. I’ll tell you what Lady Jing meant, and you’ll tell me how you’ve been kicking Syrus out of your head lately.”
“What? But I haven’t!” I protest.
He gives me a hard look, watching my face carefully. “Haven’t you?”
I cast my mind back to yesterday and think about that moment in the dance hall when I told Syrus to leave. Hedidleave…but I just assumed he listened to me. Though, come to think of it, why did I think that? Why would he do something like that when he’s been nothing but an invasive, arrogant bastard about lurking in my head this whole time? Could I really have succeeded in blocking him out without realizing it?
If I did, then there’s hope.
Viz is still looking at me expectantly, and I weigh up his offer. If Viz knows I’ve been blocking Syrus out, then the Lord of Malice definitely knows, so I can’t lose too much by admitting to it now, especially if I downplay it. It’s worth it to know what Lady Jing was talking about.
