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“Who has it?” Cosette asked. “Someone in Gales?”
Rayvien sat on one of the pillowed chairs. “No, but for me to tell you anything more than that, we’ll need to come to terms.”
“Ask.” Cosette’s word was brittle and hostile, and I could swear she almost stomped her foot.
“I want freedom from Ziriel.”
Cosette shook her head. “Then you shouldn’t have married him.”
Rayvien looked away for the first time since we started bargaining. “You know why I did.”
I didn’t know, but I knew staying silent sometimes worked better than speaking.
“Do I understand it? Yes.” Cosette sat next to her. “Was it wise in the long term? Clearly not. But you were thinking so shortsightedly, Ray. That’s how you’ve always been.”
“You say that to me now, but then I look at you with the wolf and I think that maybe we’re both not exactly long-term thinkers.”
They both looked up at me, and neither of them seemed happy.
Okay. This was getting ugly, and we didn’t have time for that. “Stop. Whatever you’re talking about, I don’t give a shit. We don’t have a lot of time before Cosette has to be back to her court.” We had maybe a day to figure this all out or else Cosette was going to have to get married to someone else. That couldn’t happen. I wouldn’t let it.
I knelt beside Rayvien. “I need that chip to get Ziriel to cut my lunar tie. Unless you can think of another way.”
“There are a lot of ways you could do this.”
I officially hated—hated—the fey and their bullshit word games. “Any that don’t end with me dead?”
“When dealing with cutting ties, death is always a possibility.”
Circles. That’s all the fey did. They talked in circles and now I wondered if they were working out all their frustrations by being vindictive. “You said you kept track of all the bargains. You know where mine is.” It wasn’t a question. If she didn’t want me to know that, she shouldn’t have told me.
“I do.”
“That’s why you married him.” Cosette reached out to her before stopping herself. “Someone has a bargain from you?”
Rayvien scoffed. “There are a lot of bargains—”
“Not like that. Not one to him.” Cosette was quiet for a second, and I knew she was holding so much back because I was here. Because of the deal she’d made with Ziriel.
“If I’d known, I could’ve helped you.”
“How? You were kicked out. There wasn’t a chance you were coming back, and…” Rayvien shook her head. “I don’t regret my decision—not even now—but you may live to regret this.”
“How can you ever be free of Ziriel?” I wasn’t opposed to helping her, but I couldn’t help anyone else until my lunar tie was gone and Cosette was safe.
“By killing him…and by helping you, I’m going to get that honor.”
“What do you know?” I asked. I was pretty sure she wouldn’t tell me, but I didn’t think it’d hurt to ask.
“I’ve been eavesdropping across the realms, and I saw a path. One where my fate was linked to what you two will do. It’s in my best interest to help you, so I will.”
“Then help us,” I said. “Tell me what to do. As soon as my lunar tie is cut, I’ll help you get away from Ziriel.”
“Absolutely not!” Cosette shoved me. “Don’t commit to something you—”
“Don’t worry so much, Cosette,” Rayvien said. “He won’t have to do anything. I will. But honor for what we were—what Gales used to be—means that I have to warn you that there will be a very, very steep price to be paid by Christopher. Are you sure you want to do this? Running away from your mother might be a better idea.”
Cosette stood and started pacing around the room, like she did when she was nervous, but I knew that I wasn’t going to hide—not from her mother or anyone else. I wouldn’t cheapen our relationship by running from the hard things. “Whatever the price is, I’ll pay it.”
