Page 89 of Demon Touched

“But even with what should be a complete list of the runes we need, something’s been missing. It just hasn’t—” he threads his fingers together “—fit.”

“You’ll have a fit if you don’t calm down,” Aster comments, stretching out.

Again, it’s as if Viz can’t hear her. “And now I know why. None of my formulas have lined up because none accounted for that thread of consent between you. An inverse ritual will need to revoke that permission before the bond will break. Otherwise, even if we strip everything else away, you’ll still stay linked to each other.”

“And let me guess. You need a rune for that?” I say.

“Yes.” Viz grins, his mood downright exuberant now that he has the answer. “An extra one. And I know just the book to find it in. Aster can fetch it for me the next time she goes to Infernum.”

She groans. “Tomorrow,” she says. “I’ll go tomorrow. Let me sleep today.”

“All right, then we’ll try breaking the bond the day after,” Viz says. “I’m sure it will work now.”

I meet Syrus’s gaze, a stream of unspoken things passing between us.

The day after tomorrow, we’ll be truly separate for the first time since the day we met.

I know there’s good reason for it. Breaking the bond will save me from death when we get to the third trial. It’s hard to argue with that.

But now that I’m looking into Syrus’s eyes and it’s becoming real, it feels like a little piece of me is already dying just thinking about it.

Syrus

I’m still sitting on the couch after Leah has gone, staring at the spot where she sat. Aster returns from sneaking Leah out, putting a hand to my shoulder.

“How are you holding up, my dear?”

I blink wearily, unable to muster more than a grunt.

“You know, if you want me to lose that book on the way back from Infernum, I can.” She lifts her eyebrows meaningfully.

Viz’s head snaps up. “You’ll do no such thing.”

“Oh, shush,” she snipes back. “Why should I care what you want when you treat me like some kind of errand girl, making me traipse through Strata every time you decide you need a new scrap of paper?”

“Well maybe if you weren’t out late every night, darkness knows where, you’d have more energy for it,” Viz says.

“I’m doing recon, and you know that,” she says primly.

Miraculously, Aster has won over our security, and they let her hang out in other parts of the Seraph Seat keeping them company—supervised at all times, of course. Ephilium that a few months ago wouldn’t have so much as spoken to a demon seem almost at ease around her. If I ever want to send an actual, genuine diplomatic mission to Aradis, she’d definitely be the demon for the job.

Viz makes a noise at the back of his throat.

“Look, I’ll try to work on a direct rift between Aradis and Infernum. It’s just the aether’s being tricky.”

Aster glides over to Viz and pecks him on his bony cheek. “That’s all I ask, darling.”

That seems to appease my chamberlain, and he strides off to get started. Meanwhile, I haven’t escaped Aster’s attention, as she pivots back toward me and gives me a studying look.

“So,” she says.

“So,” I reply, then sigh, knowing she won’t leave me alone until I give her more than that. “I’m glad Viz figured it out. Now Leah can be safe here.”

“But not as safe as if she always had you watching out for her,” Aster says knowingly, settling down in the spot Leah occupied a few minutes ago.

I think about the wolf in the first trial, and teaching Leah how to use her sword, and disposing of that murdering classmate of hers. Leah thanked me for that a week ago, though assured me she would’ve dealt with the cockroach on her own terms eventually. I took it as a good sign she wasn’t angry about the lengths I’d go to protect her.

Even if they include cutting myself out of the picture.