“No—”
“I am not going to begin this relationship with lies. I have told you all I can within the constraints set by the fates. Is there more I wish I could tell you? Yes, of course, but for now the talisman is where we must start. Whether you come to hate me or trust me by the end of this, please know this was my only choice. You will understand once you find the talisman.” The god of the undead leveled her with a stare that saw right through to her quaking heart.
“And this all goes back to the deal that went wrong. The reckless dealyoumade that is now slowly killing my kingdom and your realm.” She held his stare, her mouth drawn tight. She knew it was unkind, but she needed to hear him acknowledgewhythey were all in this mess. A mess that he was now expecting her to clean up.
His eyes darkened. “Yes, Ms. Parker, because of my error. Trust me when I say that I have spent every day regretting that deal for a myriad of reasons, but one above all the others.”
“And what would that be?”
Blue eyes blazed into hers. “A conversation for another day. Do we have a deal?”
Elysia closed her eyes, disappointment crashing over her. The sorrow burrowing through her was not just for herself, but for all the Kavians who would not be getting their magic back.
Not tonight. Possibly not ever.
She knew an unachievable deal when she heard one, and she was wise enough to know when to walk away. She exhaled a small, bitter sound. “It sounds like we’re both just going to have to live with our regrets then. Then again, I’ll probably be seeing you soon enough unless I leave Kava.” Elysia looked around as if the dead were suddenly going to appear and she could ask them what it was like to die.
“You shouldn’t speak of such things.”
Elysia’s eyes flicked to his, noting how terse he sounded—as if it angered him to hear her speak so flippantly about her own death. “I didn’t think someone like yourself would be so precious about death. Happens to the best of us after all, doesn’t it?”
There wasn’t a shred of humor to be found on his face. “While the timing of mortals’ deaths is out of my control, I am deeply aware of the undue trauma of an early death upon a soul.”
Elysia softened at his response and found herself wishing she could keep talking to the pale, blue-eyed god in front of her. He appeared harsh, maybe a little compulsive or even obsessive, but there was a depth to him she found alluring. She got the feeling he was someone who would be happy to muse and ponder the mysteries long into the night so long as his day’s work was done.
“Since we’re being honest, I think I might like you. I feel like you’re someone I could talk to, and that’s a rare thing for someone like me. But my answer remains the same—no deal.” She studied him openly now, feeling oddly at ease with her disclosure.
The god of the dead wore a practiced impassive face. “I will give you two weeks to change your mind. Return when you are ready and give your final answer. Simply call my name three times.”
“That won’t be necessary.” Her words were matter-of-fact. His offer was nothing more than a wild goose chase without even the lure of a golden prize.
She stood to leave, but paused, giving him one last chance to give her a better deal. “There is an entire kingdom decaying and its people alongside it. People who are sick and people who are being hunted for being unlucky enough to be cursed with some broken remnant of magic. And your best offer is a quest for a talisman?” She stared at him beseechingly.
The fires in his eyes cooled and his shoulders drew back. “My name is Aidan. Until your return.” He touched his fingers to his lips, and then cupped the back of her neck, pressing his fingers firmly behind her ear.
There was a small twinge of heat upon her skin, and then she was gone. Ripped from the land of the dead with nothing to show for her efforts.
She had failed. Kava would remain exactly as it was—hopeless.
Chapter 34
Elysia’s eyes flew open,and a cold sweat coated her body. Her fingers grasped the bedding reflexively. Checking and testing. Making sure this was real.
She’d made it back. And she was in her room. She patted a hand down her body. In one piece at that.
Beatriz sat slumped and sound asleep in a chair with her feet propped up. Drool trickled down the corner of her mouth, and one hand was half shoved into the waistline of her pants. Jessa lay stretched out on the floor with an arm folded behind her head.
Footsteps sounded outside the door. Elysia was standing with her knife drawn before the door so much as cracked.
The Doorman entered with an amused smile. “Charming, aren’t you?”
Elysia’s shoulders slid back down, and she tucked the dagger away. “Is it odd that I’m almost glad to see you?”
The Doorman wrapped her fingers around a mug and nudged Jessa with the toe of her pointed leather boot, but Jessa’s mouth just opened wider on a soft snore. “Between these two, you would have been dead had anyone else snuck in here.” The Doorman glanced up. “Also, did you know there’s a mansitting on your roof? Looks an awful lot like a certain prince, but what do I know about these things...”
Elysia groaned and grabbed a pillow off her bed, launching it at her sister’s face where it hit its target with a satisfying smack.
Beatriz startled awake with a garbled sound and promptly snatched a brass candlestick holder from Elysia’s nightstand, brandishing it violently through the air.
