And that made Xander smile yet again. “How delightful and felicitous! You know what might cheer you up? Yvlcon!”
Damien touched his hip pouch again where the scroll was tucked away. “It’s already begun, so I’m obviously not going, and apparently neither are you.”
“It’s a summons by the Grand Order of Dread, Bloodthorne, of course you’re going, and so am I. In fact, I’m there right now myself.” Xander chuckled, bobbing his head side to side as if what he said made any kind of sense. “Unless you think you’ll never need them again? Or that the help they’ve given you means nothing?”
Damien ground his jaw. He had been assisted by the Grand Order a number of times in acquiring components for the talisman—the talisman that needed to keep itself hidden out in the forest until Xander finally decided to fuck off. Skipping Yvlcon did potentially jeopardize a number of alliances. But Amma absolutely could not go.
Xander sighed wistfully. “Well, not that you asked, but I’m wonderful. I’ve been terribly busy perfecting translocation. Now, I can use living targets to pop in on strange and new places, provided I’ve marked them, and send other beings to locations based on where they’ve been. Oh, you should have stuck around, really. Even without theancast erfind, I’ve come such a long way since our study sessions. I even had some extra time to figure out how to work that divine resurrection spell from the Lux Codex!” He was really grinning, and Damien couldn’t possibly bring himself to believe him. “But back to you: Daddy Zag’s still locked up in his crystal, I presume? Mother is as well until I find someone who’s been directly down into Archie’s vaults and will cooperate.”
“You found a way to break the binds on the occlusion crystals?”
His fingertips drummed over his chin. “Maybe?”
“Liar.”
“You got me!” Xander laughed, loud and long, throwing his head back. Damien hoped Amma heard him and would stay out of sight. “No, of course I haven’t—but that brings me back to the point of all this. See, I lied back at the tower too—I did quite like our little study sessions, your pet’s presence notwithstanding. I finished translating the rest of the book, by the way.”
Damien scoffed. “Yet you stand here in one piece. Malcolm was more powerful than you, and he couldn’t survive being alone with the thing.”
“Who says I was alone?” Xander’s brows waggled. “It’s funny, the allies you make when circumstance calls for it. But I still need that talisman of yours, and since Kitten’s not rubbing up against your legs and purring, am I to assume you’ve finally…” He slid a finger over his neck.
Why did he even ask—he knew the answer. Damien just grunted.
“Oh, what has happened to you, Bloodthorne? You haven’t slit her throat yet? Haven’t impaled her? Not even alittle?”
“Well, almost,” he muttered under his breath and looked away.
“And to think,I’vebeen fantasizing about ramming a blade into her heart since you told me that talisman was there for the harvesting.” He sighed like it were some mundane task and not killing a woman—killing Amma. “Just the thought of holding that thing, covered in her blood, waving it around in your face—it just gives me chills!”
Damien didn’t feel the noxscura come this time, it was already surrounding him, seeping out from every pore. Even free of the Everdarque and back on the plane he belonged, Damien’s control over the stuff was too closely tied to his disposition. Xander could see it, could likelyfeelit, filling up the forest around him, and yet he stood and paced forward.
“To see your reaction then—would it be like this? All riled up and on the verge of losing yourself? Or would it be sadder? Softer? If I gut her in front of you, what would you do? Would you cry?” Xander draped a hand over his chest, eyes rolling back into his head. “I don’t know ifIwould survive that. I’d probably die right along with her from pure joy.”
“You would certainly die,” Damien managed through grit teeth, voice low.
“Promise?” Xander took another step toward him. He could die now too, if he truly wanted. “A pity I won’t kill her, not if I want the sweetness of knowing you’ve had to do it yourself. I only hope I can be there.”
Damien’s hands clenched, the hilt of his dagger burrowing into his skin. But then he took a breath, reining in the arcana. Amma still wasn’t anywhere to be seen, and even with his threats, as bold and hateful as they were, Xander couldn’t do anything to her if he was here and she was not. Now that he was closer, Damien could see the lump beneath his tunic, two vials hidden around Xander’s neck and not just one. He’d brought much more blood than he needed, prepared for a fight. But Damien wasn’t going to give Xander what he wanted—what hereallywanted—to force him to lash out so that when Amma did show up, he would be useless to protect either of them.
No, he wouldn’t let Xander do this, wouldn’t let him take advantage. Damien had already let his anger hurt Amma, he wouldn’t endanger her further. He would simply let the self-absorbed asshole talk until he grew bored enough to fuck off.
Xander’s dark eyes flitted about, presumably watching the arcana disappear, and he frowned. “Oh, no, I like you best when you’re on the edge—you’re not better than that now, are you? Has she truly left and you’ve moved on?” His lips twisted around in thought. “I suppose time heals all wounds. Or most of them anyway.” He gestured vaguely to his own face and then to Damien’s scar.
If he let Xander keep going like this, if he started talking abouther, he might lose his hard-won grip again, so he spat out the first thing that came to mind. “Do you remember my mother?”
That made Xander falter. A laugh caught in his throat, and he cocked his head. “Your…well, yes. She loved you. It was disgusting.”
Feeling stuck, Damien didn’t move.
“Not enough to stick around, obviously,” Xander stuttered.
“She took us,” he said, tongue thick, “to Eirengaard. I know you remember.”
Xander fidgeted about, lips turning up in annoyance.
“And then Birzuma brought us back.”
“So, you’re indebted to her,” Xander snapped, “and you’re willing to work together again, yes?”
