The leaden sensation in my belly spread. “What truth?”
“You didn’t tell me who you are.”
My mouth went as dry as sand. “Listen, Bunty, I?—”
“No.” He held up his hand. “I can’t help you. You’re an Onyx, not a Denton like you claimed. You’ve been lying to everyone.”
Blood rushed to my ears, turning them hot. “How did you find out?”
“A little blood, a little spell.” He shrugged.
What kind of spell could reveal my identity through a blood sample? None that I knew of. “What were you trying to do with my blood?”
He rolled his eyes. “A little persuasion to have you work for me as a favor.”
The bastard had been trying to compel me.
“Oh, don’t look so betrayed,” he continued. “If anyone should be put out, it’s me. The spell didn’t work because you’re not human. Got me to wondering what you were hiding and why, so I did a little digging. Rabbit holes, you know. Finally came upon an old image print in the news archives of an Ariana Onyx and her daughter after a most terrible tragedy. You look just like your mother.”
“Okay, so you know. So what? You hate the Arcanus just as much as I do, so?—”
“Hate them, yes, but magic is my business. I have commissions. Contacts. If anyone finds out I’ve been helping you, then I’m done. I’m sorry. Our business relationship is over.” His gaze dropped to the trap. “Just leave the critter and go, we can keep the truth between us. No one else needs to know who you are or where you live.”
Where Ilive? The heat from my ears cooled to ice. “Are youthreateningme?”
“Ah, Ana, don’t be so dramatic. I need the critter, and you need my silence. Think of it as a business deal. Last thing your mother needs in her condition is to be harassed.”
“What my mother needs is the tincture. You don’t understand how much pain she’s in. It’s the only thing that helps. The only thing that allows her to continue to be here for a little longer before…” My voice cracked, and a lump began to form in my throat. I was damned if I’d cry. “Bunty, she’s dying, and your tincture is the only thing allowing her any quality of life in the interim.”
“If I got emotionally invested in all my business transactions, I’d never make any coin.” He sniffed and went back to work on whatever crap he was fixing. “Make sure you close the door firmly on the way out, you know it has a tendency to unlatch.”
I wasn’t surprised at his reaction to finding out my true name. That part I understood, that part had happened too many times for me to be surprised. But to deny a dying woman relief from pain? That was simply evil.
“You bastard.”
His expression hardened. “Now, now, Ana, don’t make me rescind my most generous offer.”
There was no way out of this. I needed his silence. I set the trap on the floor.
“Please, don’t. Don’t leave me here.”
“I’m sorry.”
I turned and began to walk away.
“It’s karma, you know,” Bunty called out. “All the pain your mother’s going through?”
I slowly turned to face him, heart pounding my ribs as heat rushed up my body. “What did you say?”
He flinched but held his ground. “I said it’s karma.”
“You think my motherdeservesto die?”
“I think it’s fitting that her story comes to an end.”
I took a few steps toward him. A red haze filling my vision, I crouched and picked up the trap, bringing it close to my mouth and whispering. “Are you still hungry?”
“Yesss.”
