He dropped his ankle from atop his knee and set both feet on the floor to lean forward to scrutinize my carefully expressionless face. The spear went a little askew.
He hefted it. “Do I need this?”
I didn’t respond.
He studied me for a long moment. I couldn’t tell from his expression what he was thinking. He nodded. “You’re playing atcalm—very clever. You don’t fool me, though. I was drunk off my ass when I first met Finley, but I remember the wild look in her eyes. Very similar to you. You’re dangerous, even with your hands tied. Don’t pretend that you aren’t.”
Staying numb to the situation was not easy. It was like this man was battering me with his crazy. He permeated even my most unaffected, unemotional, and unfeeling state. I could probably get a limb hacked off right now and not feel it, but this guy? It was like he was burrowing into my mind and scrambling everything until I couldn’t help but come to the surface to get some air.
“Anyway, that product you speak of...” He smoothed his little mustache, curled at the corners. “I am so curious about it. I’m going to be honest, I’d sample the shit out of it. I mean, I was a hair’s breadth away from being killed by the curse. If it wasn’t the demons, it was people trying to trick me into killing myself by talking about it. I made it though, didn’t I? Mediocrity for the fucking win! I’m sure I can navigate a few recreational drugs. It would give me something new to do in my spare time. Besides, if I had a littlesave meelixir on hand, it would be fine. The addiction would be an issue, but Finley—the dragon queen—concocted something that greatly helps. I could work my way out of it, I know I could.”
“What?“ My head was going to pop off if I kept shaking it this much. Dragon royalty? What was he even talking about? “No.” I breathed out in frustration.
“This is my fault.” He sat back. “We’ve been tracking you down for months. Which means I’ve been cooped up with very square wolves formonths.” He gestured toward himself. “This bitch is a round peg. The situation just isn’t fucking working. The only reason they let me don my professional attire”—he smoothed a hand down his lapel again—“is because I am reprising my role of mediocre guardian.” He cupped his handbeside his mouth and stage-whispered, “I used to be a butler, but it would be absurd to call myself a butler in this situation.” He winked. “But you make drugs! You’vegotto be more interesting than these people, right? I mean, I don’t want to be your best friend or anything. The last very pretty hostage I governed got me into all sorts of horrible, life-threatening situations. I’m bored but I’m notthatbored, you know what I mean? Plus, your fate is uncertain. You’ve killed too many people—you must know that. But between now and whatever terrible fucking atrocity happens later, I think we can be chummy without going over the top, don’t you?”
I twisted my wrists, pulling at the binding. I didn’t give a shit if someone found me later, so long as it was someone else.Anyonebut this guy. I needed to escape this madness.
He nodded at me. “Go ahead. What’s on your mind?”
“You’re— What the— What is—” I yanked harder, twisting, the rope biting into my skin. “I don’t make product that kills,” I finally blurted in a rush of anger.
“I knew I still needed this.” He adjusted his spear.
I ignored it. “I have personally tried every one of my products. Every single batch. My co-creator dabbled way too much, as did a few people in the village. No one has died. No one has even gotten ill. I built a few fail-safes into the product, as well, ones that can minimize the journey if the path turns toward nightmares. There are risks—of course there are—but none of those risks are death. You’ve obviously come for the wrong woman.”
“I like that language—the journey and the path of nightmares. Yes, that sounds right up my alley. Now I’m desperate to try it. Damn it. Why’d you make it so dangerous?” He tilted his head. “You have, though. You do know that, right? Killed people. Unfortunately, you’re the bad guy in this... journey.”
“It is not dangerous!” I bit back. “It might be habit forming for some, but it is not dangerous. It’s natural, all of it. It’s made from plants and extracts. From fire and water. Air. It alters the mind, but it doesn’t alter the body. If someone died it is because they had an ailment, like a weak heart or some other medical issue. That happens with healing elixirs all the time. That’s not my fault. Is a person who made a healing elixir a bad guy because something went wrong and it killed the patient?”
“Except that person was trying to help . . .”
“I’mtrying to help. You said it yourself—life can be dull. A hallucinogen gives people an escape for a time. People who are anxious can take a relaxant. People battling depression can get a lift. People with trouble focusing can clear away the fog. It isn’t my fault if they take it irresponsibly or too often. Habit-forming doesn’t mean addicting. It doesn’t mean dependency. It isn’t any different than ale in large quantities. And if you’re traveling to dangerous areas, into shadow markets, don’t you know the risks? Besides, in this kingdom, the king and queen have given approval for my product to be sold in the main market. Could it really be that dangerous if royalty are allowing it?”
I hadn’t believed that last bit, but I would damn well use it to my benefit now until proven otherwise. Because honestly, if the productdidhave royalty backing, if Alexander was correct, then that essentially nudged it into the confines of the law. If that were the case, these people were the outlaws, not me. They were the bad guys.
His eyes had widened. “My goodness. You’re very smart, aren’t you? If I hadn’t seen the addiction and death firsthand, I’d believe in your conviction. Sadly...” He frowned comically. “I have. We’ve nipped it in the bud in our kingdom—though the queen holds a grudge—but we’d seen it throughout our kingdom and heard about it in others. Why the king and queen here areallowing it, I don’t know, other than they don’t give two shits about their poor constituents. It’s why I’d never come back?—”
“If there is addiction and death, it isn’t because of my product,” I said stubbornly, noting that he didn’t deny the royal backing. “You’ve got the wrong woman. Go into my village. See for yourself. I make the fucking stuff. Don’t you think if there was an issue, my village would be riddled with it? We don’t lock the supply shed. Anyone can get in at any time. If there was a problem, it would be here first.”
“Hmm.” He nodded slowly. “Mm-hmm. Thatisinteresting. The alpha and his acting beta know the situation very well. They’ll be able to figure out if you’re lying.” He leaned forward again. “I hope you aren’t. Tell me, could I ride a horse while high? While on a journey, I mean. That would cut down on the boredom getting from place to place in this kingdom. It’s incredibly spread out. It tookdaysto get all the way out here.”
I shook my head, looking away. Blood dripped down my wrist from the rope ripping my skin. “I have no idea. We don’t have horses in this village. We’ve never tested that out.”
“And you test everything?”
“As I already told you. Yes, every single batch. I make sure it is up to my standards and always try to think of ways to improve it.”
He rested his chin on his fist. “Ireallyhope this is all a misunderstanding. You’d probably get along really well with Finley, not to mention give Arleth someone new to share ideas with. But, sadly, in our experience with your trade, very few people tell the truth.”
“I wouldn’t know. I’ve never dealt with any of them. That was Granny’s department.”
He nodded. “Yes, pity. Sadly, we can’t verify any of this because the person known as Granny is gone.”
I gritted my teeth at his blasé attitude toward Granny’s demise and the role this man’s comrades played in it. He dared lecture me about killing people, yet here they were, infiltrating a village and taking out the residents within.
“Find Alexander,” I bit out. “That swine knows. Ask him. He was with her all the time.”
“Yes, he was.” He clucked his tongue. “Well, this is fucking depressing. As far as first impressions go, I like you, but you’ll need to do some serious groveling if you hope to sidestep the wrath of the dragon queen. She does not have a sense of humor when it comes to the welfare of her people. Not like this festering heap of a kingdom.”
