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An Escardian with not only two blessings, but one who was interested in Luka. If this was the man he suspected, acting rash would get Jarek nowhere.

He sighed. “Neir, I take it?”

“Very discernible of you, God Eater. Who told you about me? Was it this one?” Neir motioned in Luka’s direction. The terrified boy flew up from behind the counter, lifted at the collar by an invisible fist. “What’d you tell him, Luka? All good things, I hope?” Luka didn’t answer, eyes locked on Neir through the fog of his heavy breathing. “Regardless, it’s always a pleasure knowing my reputation has reached such heights.”

Neir’s voice held mocking pride, but he bled nothing the Serpent could latch onto. His aura was colorless. Jarek hadn’t seen such control since he’d met Brialis.

Jarek chuckled. “So yours also belongs at the bottom of the regal barrel?”

A smile appeared in the dark. “You’ll have to try harder than that to get under my skin. Spending as much time as I have in your opposite’s air teaches you to hold onto something no one should be able to take from you.”

His opposite? “I carry no bond with the Vulpes.”

Neir tilted his head at Luka. “Not yet.”

Without warning, he thrust his hand down, and Luka was thrown roughly to the floor.

Jarek winced at the brutality.

Without a trace of emotion, he couldn’t manipulate Neir away from the boy, and without shadows, he wasn’t guaranteed to be quicker than Neir’s invisible hold. Jarek hadn’t felt so useless since rising from the Coffers.

If he could get close, however, his strength would outmatch Neir’s.

“Don’t you move,” Neir seethed at a sniveling Luka, “or I’ll snap another finger.”

“What I was told is true.” Jarek drew Neir’s attention away from the boy.

Neir cocked an eyebrow at Jarek. He admitted to spending time with whomever had the Vulpes. Jarek could use the questioning to get his attention off of Luka.

“I’m curious how you managed to get Chiman to imbue you with multiple blessings. Valen wouldn’t think of doing it, not even for his most loyal subjects.”

Neir furrowed his brow. “The Romons are gone. More assuredly than the Evelians or the Ivrans, and they have been for some time.”

Surprise clogged Jarek’s throat. Chiman was dead? That Jarek could believe, but the entirety of his bloodline was too? If that was true, who was the new vessel for the Vulpes?

“It wasn’t out of malice or faulty loyalty,” Neir continued. “Times have changed and so has its people and where they put their faith.”

“Ghostsoil?” Jarek asked. “Is that where their faith is?”

Neir snickered. “As much as I’d love to entertain your ignorance further, I’m short on time.” He glanced over his shoulder as if expecting someone would walk through the door. “You haven’t seen the Evelian reincarnation, have you? Last I heard she was with you.”

Jarek clenched his jaw. How did he know that?

Neir’s gaze drifted beside Jarek, where his emotional aura—his curiosity—lingered. He smirked, knowingly.

Of course. “You’re the one who infiltrated the camp,” Jarek said.

Neir shook his head. “Answering me will get you closer to Luka than you might think.”

Jarek’s stomach roiled at the thought of Lilith walking in here before he did. “The Evelian isn’t your concern right now.’

“I’ll have to disagree with you there, Atwood.” Neir paced toward the counter, dusting off stray papers and rubble. “I’ll admit, I was one of the few glad to see you left the Coffers alive, but I’m told you’re now gallivanting around Eizreth with a shadow that doesn’t belong to you. And working with the Argents too? Even I found that surprising.” Pinching agitation filled Jarek’s chest. “Did they give you that new name to try to ignore that they’re harboring Valen’s incarnation turned traitor? His failure, who tossed aside everything he was gifted?”

Jarek launched in a serpentine run at Neir, stopped not by the Stalker’s force, but by a blade. He nimbly dodged the swipe, jumping backwards.

Neir lifted the short sword, the skinny blade adorned with pulsing, bright red veins. “I was going to tell you I find your decision incredibly admirable.”

The Serpent coiled inside him. Defensive, scared, like a snake encountering a hawk in its path. “Where did you get that?” Jarek hissed.