Page 144 of Bedeviled

“Happy, sugar?”

I bite back my retort. Goddess, but how I hate endearments coming from any other lips but Memnon’s.

“Thank you,” I force out.

“Now,” the Bargainer says, folding his arms, “tell me about this fairy.”

I draw in a deep breath. “When I first met Eislyn in 54 AD, she was already old…” I begin.

I don’t know how long it takes me to tell him everything I know, but somewhere during the conversation, Memnon’s power finally releases him. I see his body sag a little and his breath shudder out of him. But even once his power is tethered, he keeps silent, letting me talk.

The Bargainer, for his part, has taken to pacing the office as he listens, looking increasingly agitated.

When I finish, the fairy runs a hand over his face.

“Fuck,” he curses under his breath.

When he drops his hand, he looks resigned. “This is what I get for retiring,” he mutters to himself. Louder, to us, he says, “I’ll help you—for a price.”

Memnon’s the one who says, “Deal. But I’ll be the one paying.”

CHAPTER 35

“This is such a fucked situation,” Sybil says Friday afternoon.

She lays sprawled on the bare mattress in my room at Henbane, waving her hand lazily about and making shapes with her lilac magic. There’s dirt trapped under her nails, and I swear her canines are just a tad sharper than I remember them.

But maybe that’s just my imagination.

“First witches were being trafficked,” Sybil continues, “then we were being killed by demons, and now we have to leave Henbane.” Her voice cracks, and she covers her face with a hand, her magic dissipating.

I lean against one of the newly bare walls in my room, Nero sprawled out near my feet. Sybil and I have found a random moment alone, and we’re trying to make the most of it.

This is the first time I’ve been back to the residence hall since the day after the attack, and for Sybil, she’s been away for much longer. She never got the chance to move back into Ravensmeade, and now she never will.

Several pack members are currently hauling the last of my best friend’s things down the stairs, and Memnon and my father, who’ve been helping me pack throughout the day, have now taken the last carload of my things to our house, leaving me to say my goodbyes to my housemates. I’m trying not to dwell on the fact that my husband and my dad have hit it off, but I’m caught between happiness and sheer terror at the prospect of them being buddies.

“Maybe this is just temporary,” I say, my mind distracted. I can’t be at Henbane without thinking of the recent demon attacks, and I cannot think of the recent demon attacks without thinking about Eislyn. And thinking about Eislyn leads me to thinking about the Bargainer and the deal Memnon struck with him, which was namely lots and lots of money, and a single, undisclosed favor the fairy can cash in on at any time.

It’s a terrible deal in my opinion, but Memnon took it without dispute. So now the Bargainer, Memnon, and I have a game plan: the moment Eislyn appears to be making a definitive, actionable step toward taking over the Flora Kingdom, we call on the Bargainer, and he helps us stop her.

“Do you really think that?” Sybil asks from behind the hand covering her face.

“Hmm?” I say, my attention dragging my attention back to my friend.

“That Henbane will reopen soon,” she says. “Do you really believe that will happen?”

I shake my head. “I have no idea,” I say honestly. I’d like to be hopeful, and usually I am, but things have been so bleak for so long that even I have my reservations.

After a moment I softly confess, “It’s my fault.”

Sybil’s hand falls away from her face. “What do you mean?”

“The attack on our coven sisters—that was my fault,” I say. Earlier today I filled my best friend in on the long, in-depth version of what’s been happening in my life since we last saw each other: Eislyn, the demon attacks, Memnon slowly losing himself to his power, my soul mate violently breaking the bonds of trafficked supernaturals—all of it.

Sybil sits up now. “Oh no, we’re not going down that self-sacrificing train of logic today. It’s not your fault evil assholes do evil asshole shit, okay?” she says, raising her eyebrows.

I swallow, not sure I agree with her. If she knew everything I did…