There was a shake of Mercurial’s head. “You’ve already found her.”
“I have?”
He pressed his lips together. “Once. Others are after her now. You’d be wise to leave this place quickly. It’s not good to have too many Guardians under the rule of one man—even if not every Guardian is aware of their identity.”
So, Kane had no idea of his true origins. How like my father to withhold such information.
Mercurial lifted his eyebrows. “And your father intends to keep it that way. There’s not one man on this earth who should have that much power.”
“Like you aren’t lining that power up for yourself,” I snarled.
“I am no man. I am Afeya.”
“Be that as it may, I can’t exactly leave right now.” I held out my palms, tied down below my hips. “You’re not here to free me, you’re not here to free Lyriana, or Meera. You would have done that by now if you were.”
“Bravo. Your deductive reasoning skills are surely limitless, my lord. Very impressive. But you are correct.” His eyes turned to slits. “My magic is still bound. Curse of the Afeya and all.” He flicked a non-existent speck of dirt from his shoulder. “I cannot go around offering free favors just to anyone. Not unless they pay.”
“Let me guess. You’re here to offer me a deal?” I asked.
“I think in this case, you’d be wise to take one.”
“And for what price?” But I quickly shook my head. “No. We’ll figure it out ourselves.”
“Have it your way.” He shrugged, and rocked back on his heels. “The stakes are higher than you realize, my lord.I would speak with Lady Lyriana, but I cannot reach her at this moment. Rest assured that my interests lie in my debts. I want her to fulfill her end of the bargain.”
“And yet you came to visit me.” I watched him carefully through my swollen eyes. “There’s something else. Something you’re not telling us.” I frowned. “And you’re lying about your magic abilities. You’re not supposed to be able to do any magic unless it’s requested by someone. Afeyan magic only works by request. Lyr never paid you for her ankle after her first habibellum. Nor did she ask to be healed. You did that for free.”
The Afeya’s eyes narrowed, his lips curling viciously upward. “Not free. Not at all. That was paid for. By someone else,” he said slyly.
“Someone else wanted her ankle healed?” I asked, suspiciously. “Someone else knew and requested it?”
Mercurial stepped back, his aura suddenly dark and thick like a shield around him.
“Who?” I asked, my hands fisting. “Who!”
“That’s a question, my lord.”
“Of course it fucking is.” Something shifted inside of me. The need to protect Lyriana was overriding my senses. “Go ahead, Mercurial. What’s your price? Who wanted her healed? Who wants her tied up in this quest? Who are you truly serving?”
“You have far more to lose than you know when you ask that question. Careful. That information is not the kind even I would dare to trade for.”
I stepped forward. “Are you kidding me? You were open for business a moment ago. But not for this?” I was onto something. Mercurial didn’t refuse deals. And he didn’t offer favors. All this time he’d been fucking with us, and it was on someone else’s behalf. “How high is the price?” I asked again.
“There is no price. It’s not for sale.” His voice darkened. “Do not ask me again,” he hissed. “Just be happy that your actions a millennia ago left Shiviel weakened, even unto this day. Thanks to you, he is the only one of you without a vorakh—or access to one as Lyriana is. Otherwise …” He clucked his tongue. “You’d have been dead long ago. Not even your father would be able to control him now.”
My heart thundered at the warning. I still didn’t understand, or have the full memory of what had happened. The vision had come so fleetingly when I was upstairs. Lyr had been so scared, and in so much pain. But I remembered being Auriel, and Asherah had saved me from the brink of death. Together, we’d killed Shiviel.
“Not quite,” Mercurial said, reading my mind. “It was something far more dangerous that you did to him. In the end it cost Asherah her life. It certainly should have cost you yours.”
“What did I do?” My memories of being Auriel were returning, but not quickly or fully enough. Most of what I knew was still sparse, hazy and unclear.
Mercurial tutted. “That’s another question.” His eyes narrowed.
“She healed me. Healed Auriel, after …whatever it is we did to him,” I said.
“Asherah healed you by taking onRakashonim. Just as Lyriana healed you earlier using the same. But she wasn’t strong enough. Not then. And certainly not now.”
“Rakashonim?” I said. “Yourkashonim.” I rolled the translation around in my head, and then the High Lumerian. The word seemed to resonate in the back of my mind. Familiar, and yet, I couldn’t place it. I’d never heard that term before. At least … not in this life. “What do you mean by not now?”
