“I’m not the only demon in the living realm,” I answer, each word feeling like a blow to my sinking stomach. “I’ve brought another with me.”
I gesture to the book.
And three faces follow.
“It’s a sophont,” I say and Ryc’s brows fly high, sending my shame plummeting into the depths of the hells. “Both you and Eve have touched it which means…” I trail off, unable to say it.
“It knows everything,” Ryc finishes, giving my hands a gentle squeeze before releasing me.
“Every detail of your life up to the point it was touched,” I say, curling my hands into fists at my sides. I lower my gaze to the book. “Every thought, feeling, memory… your history has been recorded.”
Ryc pitches at the waist, snatching the book.
“Ryc I—”
“It already knows, there’s little to be done,” Ryc says as he straightens himself. “It cannot return to the hells. We’ll have to find a means to destroy it.”
He flips the book open to a randomblankpage. Confusion crosses his face as he turns a few more pages.
“And if Vaelyn comes looking for it?” I ask. “He knows it exists. He’s the one who left it for me to find, and he knows I brought it with me.”
“Then we tell him it was lost the night of the eclipse,” Ryc answers, his eyes fixed upon a page.
Lost, like the bloodstone dagger.
Easy enough to believe with everything that happened that night.
I nod.
Ryc meets my stare. “What else did you bring with you?”
I blink, taken aback by the question.
How could he know?
He tilts the book toward me, revealing a sprawling, swirling script.
Yggdrasil.
The damned demon is a shit-stirring imp.
If I ever get my hands on it again, I’m going to tear its pages from its bindings and snap its spine.
“I need to see everything you’ve brought,” Ryc says, closing the book.
“Wait,” Eve says, hesitating. Ryc turns to her. “Can I… I’d like to see the book.”
“It’s not a good idea, Eve,” Ryc replies.
“Please,” she says, her stare intense. “There are a few memories I’d like to revisit.”
His jaw tightens but with a small sigh, he hands it to her. “If that’s what you’d like.” Eve gives him a soft smile. “Cyran, please remain with Eve while she has the sophont. Ward your hands before handling it if you wish to keep yourself out of its pages.”
“Understood, Your Majesty,” Cyran replies.
Ryc turns to me as Eve retreats to a nearby tree. She seats herself beneath it, opening the book as she sets it in her lap. Ryc studies me with an arched brow, waiting.
Right.
