Kieran could barely get the name out: “Elias.”
The man nodded politely.His skin appeared chapped from the wind, redder than it had been back in the mushroom forest.There was something jovial about him—Kieran wondered if he’d been anticipating this moment for some time.
Kieran, meanwhile, felt his dinner moments away from reversing course.He didn’t have the Hilt or the Stave with him—they were safely locked away back on the ship—but that didn’t mean that Elias wouldn’t do something to him to get them.After all, his mercenaries didn’t seem to care about keeping Kieran alive.For all he knew, Elias could be seconds away from seizing him by the shoulders and pushing him over the banister to his untimely death.
“It’s been too long, Kieran,” Elias said, as if they were old business partners sharing a glass of whiskey.“You’ve given me the runaround for a while now, haven’t you?That pilot of yours is quite proficient at shaking off my men.Not to mention”—he gestured at Seaweed—“I suspect that little monster has been eating my listening bugs, considering the crunching noises I’ve heard the second they land.”
Seaweed growled again, seemingly waiting for Kieran to give her permission to attack.He, though, was too frozen to evenconsider it.Not when he felt ready to dissolve into a quaking puddle of anxiety and terror.
“What do you want, Elias?To finish what your mercenaries keep failing at?”
Elias chuckled.“Goodness, I would have expected a Pelumbra to keep a stiff upper lip at a moment like this.My dealings with your family have always been so…rigid.Very serious folks.Never even wanted to stay for a drink when I had them over back in Gellingham.Your father especially.Tell me, has he ever smiled?”
“You didn’t answer my question,” Kieran said, ignoring the statement entirely.He didn’t have the wherewithal to argue over how like or unlike the Pelumbras he was.“What do you want?”
Elias smirked.“Perhaps you’re more like him than I anticipated.Pity—I would have liked to simply chat.You’ve impressed me immensely these last few weeks.”
Kieran blinked.Impressed him?
“You handily disposed of all my mercenaries,” Elias went on.His eyes had gone to his hands, examining the rings he wore on each finger.Kieran wondered if they were enchanted.“And you turned my assistant against me.I had to hire a new one, and on such short notice too.”
“A new one?”
“I heard you met them earlier,” Elias continued conversationally, even as Kieran’s muscles all stiffened at once.“Handsome young thing, aren’t they?Hélène, I mean.And so good at their trade too.Better than Sebastian, I might argue.And certainly with more flair.”
Kieran’s mouth went dry.“Their…trade?”
“Oh, my boy.”Elias chuckled, hand over his heart as if the laughter was simply too much to contain.“Sebastian still hasn’t told you?Perhaps you aren’t as close as I first thought.Well, in that case, I suppose all I can offer you is a bit of advice.”
While the first part came out breezily enough, his voice turned cold on the final words.Kieran’s hands were clammy, bile crawling up his throat.He found himself unable to speak.
“Tomorrow, when that hunt for the Crown begins,” Elias began, casually turning his hands over as he adjusted the placement of his many rings, “a second hunt will also kick off.While I’m off securing the Crown, my dear Hélène will be looking for you.I’ve told them to avoid deadly force, if possible, but I question their restraint.”
Kieran’s heart stopped for a moment.He really hoped he hadn’t heard that right.Because if he had, that meant Sebastian’s ex might try to kill him tomorrow.
Unfazed by the color draining from Kieran’s face, Elias continued: “Of course, that can be prevented.If you would prefer not to risk it, I’ll happily take the Hilt and the Stave from you in exchange for your life.After all, it would be a pity to die over…what was it?Some petty little curse you cast?Seems a bit too small to throw away your life for, if you ask me.”
Kieran sputtered, “How did you—”
“I have my ways.Remind me—what was your beau’s name?Ashmont Bartelle?He seems perfectly nice.Safe, even.”Elias chuckled to himself.“Much safer than Sebastian and his bloodlust, that’s for sure.If I were you, I’d head home, where you belong.Go find an easier way to break Ashmont’s curse, say you’resorry, get your happily ever after.Then you can go back to your simple little life of making coffees and worrying over the electric bill.No more dabbling in a world that’s far too sharp for a soft young man like yourself.”
Hearing Ash’s name come out of Elias’s mouth was almost enough to push Kieran over the edge.Seaweed began to growl again.Magic sparked at Kieran’s fingertips as he spat out, “If you lay afingeron him—”
“Oh, come now.I’m a reasonable man, Kieran.I don’t just go around hurting teenagers for fun.”Elias straightened, tucking his hands into his pockets as he turned to face Kieran fully.“I’ll give you the rest of the night to think about it.If you’d like to make the trade, meet me here tomorrow before first light with the Hilt and Stave.And bring Sebastian, if you wouldn’t mind.He has a broken contract we need to discuss.”
Elias cracked his knuckles, though his face remained unchanged.“If you don’t, I suppose I’ll see you in the ice caves.Pity the coven will have to clean up the mess.”
With that, Elias tipped his head pleasantly to Kieran, then took his leave.“Goodbye, Kieran,” he said over his shoulder.“And good luck.You’ll need it.”
Chapter Twenty-One
After standing on the balcony, nonplussed, for nearly half an hour, Kieran decided to return to the ship.His rabbit heart had been kicking against his ribs nonstop as the resting panic twisted him into tighter and tighter knots.Elias’s threats floated through his mind, each punctuated by the image of the man’s sempiternal shit-eating grin.If Kieran were braver, he would have sicced Seaweed on Elias and thrown a punch right into those pearly teeth.
But he wasn’t brave.He was a sniveling, pathetic little creature who was in way,wayover his head.And he needed to get out of there before panic consumed him and he turned into nothing but a quivering, shaking lump.He needed somewhere familiar where he could lock the doors and feel safe, and this castle was about as far from that as he could get.
He told himself that Elias’s grace period applied to his friends as well.He wouldn’t risk Kieran’s compliance by hurting one of them tonight.At the moment, as much as he’d love to go findthem and make sure they were okay, the animal part of his brain had taken over.He needed to hide.He needed to pull the covers over his face and squeeze his eyes shut until he could think normally again and not like a creature being hunted for sport.
When he made it back to the ship, it was clear everyone else was still at the castle.His sweaty fingers shook and slipped on the locks as he latched every door and window on the ship, listening for footsteps.When he was done, he went down to the observation deck.The windows that usually showed views of the world below were now completely covered by snow, leaving the deck dark and enclosed.Exactly what Kieran needed.
