Yeah. I’d figured that out all by myself.
The draugr remained in the shadows, but I could feel his mad gaze resting on me. It was a sensation that was hard to put into words. It felt like when you come out of a deep sleep and lie in bed motionless, convinced there was something in the dark watching you. Waiting.
I rolled my head back to gaze in the direction of the draugr.
“Don’t suppose you’d like to take care of them. Maybe save both of us a little bit of trouble.”
He shook his head. “It’s not me they’re hoping to kill.”
“You never know. You could be next on their list. You already heard Victor say he plans to get rid of Angela the moment he no longer needs her. What makes you think you’ll fare any better?”
His lips stretched to reveal dark, rotted teeth. “He doesn’t hold the power to destroy me.”
“You never know.”
Stranger things had happened. Like a doctor who served in the civil war coming back to life and massacring and eating a bunch of people.
“They have your treasures,” I tried. “You as good as heard Victor admit it. Why continue to help them?”
He cocked his head, his face as pensive as its grotesque form would allow. “Liar. They have done nothing but help me—pointing me towards those who’ve been tempted.”
Great.
Really, I hadn’t expected anything else, but it had been worth a try.
“Though if you were to prove it, I would have no reason to hold back. I bet thieves taste mighty good.”
I gave him a look, holding his mad gaze with my own. Could I trust him? The madness lurking behind those brown eyes said no, most definitely not. My shitty circumstances asked if I really had a choice.
Not if I wanted any chance of making it out of this alive or undead.
“I can’t prove it here. Any attempt would fail with me chained up like this.”
I raised one hand, jingling the chain. My arms and lower legs were numb, the silver’s poison deadening everything around it. Sometime during the day my clothes had shifted and the metal now rested against my skin. I really hoped its effects were reversible.
He hopped forward, his head rotating and cocking as if it had no bones to make it obey human limitations. I grimaced and looked down at the chain, not wanting him to see the disgust in my eyes.
“Where? Where should we do it?” his voice hissed with greed.
“Think you can get them to your grave?”
His pupils shifted back and forth. He lowered his head, turning partially away from me. “Not there. I don’t want to go back there.”
“Only place I can think of,” I said. “The wolves will be searching the cemetery. They work as both an incentive and a distraction. You want to get your treasures back, don’t you?”
He hissed, full of rage. His eyes deepened to a midnight black, madness ready to spill out and consume everything at any moment.
I jerked back. A fine tremor shook my body.
It took several tries to get enough moisture in my mouth to continue.
“Good, then you’ll help me convince him to move this little party to a better location.”
His cracked lips parted as his eyes rolled. My stomach twisted. That was not a sight meant for human sensibilities.
“I will think on this.”
No, I needed him on board.
