His nostrils flared. Yeah, truth was a hard swallow for demons.
“I can pay you. Such riches as you’ve never known.”
“Pass.”
“Power, more power than you can dream of.”
“Don’t care.”
“I can bring your father back.”
The silence ticked by. I raised one eyebrow. “No,” I said, “you can’t. I’m not naïve, Avnas. I know how this universe works.”
“You know what the gods have told you. What they want you to know of the universe. There are things even they don’t have access too.”
“Stop stalling. You didn’t answer my question: Why do you want that contract broken? What’s in it for you? Revenge? Reward? Are you after the throne?”
His eyes went hard, every line of his body more solid, heavier, somehow. The demon features were a thing out of a nightmare behind the polite human mask he wore.
“I could force you to break it.”
The dragon pig grunted, and I snorted. “Oh, yeah. Do that. See how that goes for you. You still haven’t answered my question.”
He glanced at the clock on my wall. We had about twenty seconds left before my sisters barged back in.
“I won’t agree to anything unless you tell me the truth. Now, not later. Why do you want the contract broken?”
He watched the clock’s second hand tick. Then, at the last moment, he said, “Love.”
The door opened. Everyone shoved their way into the house like they’d been watching the clock just as closely as Amy.
Neither Amy nor I looked at them, both caught by the word he’d spoken. Truth vibrated through that word, through our connection.
Love. He loved someone enough to want the contract broken.
I was pretty sure it wasn’t his brother, the king. But there were many kinds of love. It could be fatherly. It could be companionable.
“I would like to remind all of you that I have not been treated well.” Xtelle barged through the door last, her hooves edged with mud, little bits of grass, and something lavender stuck to them. She’d been stomping. I had a feeling my heather plants were goners.
“As a citizen of Ordinary, I am filing an official complaint!”
I still hadn’t looked away from Amy. That truth held, stitching a silk-fine thread between us.
Love. He loved her. He was in love with Xtelle.
What was I supposed to do with that?
Xtelle was essentially married to the King of the Underworld, who was Bathin’s father. Avnas was Vychoro’s brother, and lusting after one’s sister-in-law was pretty uncool.
“Hello,” Xtelle called. She clicked her hooves together like snapping her fingers.
Something must have shown on my face, because Amy’s eyes widened as he realized I was putting two and two together and coming up with a unicorn. Then he shut all emotional reaction down so hard, I felt the mental slam in the back of my molars.
“Are you deaf? Did you both lose all ability to hear?”
“Not at all,” Amy said smoothly. Like he was just a guy, there to serve. Somehow he hid that fire, that passion I had seen when he’d spoken his truth.
Love.
