The corner of her lips curled into a dark smile as she took a pinch of something from one of her jars, adding it to the cauldron. The concoction hissed. “Quick one, aren’t you?”
“And you’re okay with that?” I asked. I needed to keep her talking.
She barked a laugh as she stirred. “I’m more than okay with that, RonanBlackthorne.” She spat my last name like she knew who I really was. After putting down the spoon, she finally turned to face me directly, putting a hand on her hip. “And if it makes you feel any better, I’m doing my best to ease your suffering. This sleeping draught will knock you out completely for the last day, so you won’t even feel it happening. Because I can only imagine how painful it’s going to be.”
Last day? Fuck, that meant she’d had me for two days already. How could I have let myself get so careless? I only had three days left now, my fragmented soul yelling at me to hurry up.
Because she wasn’t wrong about the pain I was in for if I didn’t find a way out of here. I’d seen a demon lose a deal once when I was a child, and sometimes I could still hear his screams as he died.
“Aren’t you generous,” I joked. “I didn’t realize you had such a soft heart for me considering all the times I’ve beat you.”
Her shoulders tensed. “Look, I can see the benefits bounty hunters provide. Some truly despicable people are able to hide under extradition protections that should be brought to justice.”
She came closer, crouching in front of me. “The problem with the system, though, is thatanybodywith enough money can hire you, and you don’t do enough work to vet the clients or the jobs. That means innocent people like Sage get hunted down and brought back to their abusers, and you don’t even care. I mean, you’re arrogant enough to even put your soul on the line—that’s how sure you are you’re doing the right thing.”
“In my defense,” I started, shifting on the floor. This wasn’t the most comfortable position to be sitting in, and the adamantine cuffs were a bitch. “It’s the handler who vets the clients, not me. And besides, are you telling me we should know better than to accept a job from a fucking Premier?”
She clicked her tongue against her teeth and shook her head in disappointment. “Is that what you tell yourself to help you sleep at night? Or is it the lack of soul that does it?”
I released a long, heavy breath, the smoke from her potion making me cough slightly. “Honestly, I’ve been sleeping like shit recently, but thanks for asking.”
Rolling her eyes, she stood back up. “It’s just as well. Soon you won’t beburdenedwith such a heavy toll anymore, hm? I wonder—if a demon from Ignareth dies in Cindralis, but his soul is in Noctis, which god welcomes him in the afterlife?”
“I didn’t take you for one of the devout, Morgana.”
A wispy tendril escaped my hand, snaking along the darkened corners of the room.
“Hardly,” she snorted. “After knowing what happened to Sage, it’s hard to believe the gods could have ever existed.”
I needed to keep a level head as I steered my power around the room, but every mention of what Sage had gone through stirred a deep-seated, inexplicable need in my gut for retribution. I mean, I wasn’t a psychopath, and I certainly wasn’t so apathetic that I couldn’t see where Morgana was coming from. Maybe I had been too eager, runic signs flashing in my eyes as I happily signed away my soul to get these jobs done without ever thinking who was the real victim.
“Even if you let my deal run out,” I said, trying to keep her distracted, “he’s just going to hire somebody else. For the amount of money he’s offering, I bet half of Lundaria would be willing to hand her over.”
Her eyes shifted towards me. “Perhaps. But I have a feeling he’s got a countdown of his own that will be ending soon. And then Sage will truly be free.”
I growled, low and deep in my chest. “Look, if you’re going to let me die anyway, just tell me the truth about what happened.”
She whipped her head around. “Do you think you’re in any position to be making demands right now? Besides, isn’t that the point of being a bounty hunter? You get hired, and you don’t ask questions. Why should it be up to me to satisfy your sudden curiosity?”
I watched through the periphery of my vision as the tendril slithered up the corner of the wall right by the perch, where her familiar watched our exchange.
“Because I agree with you. I’m not a terrible person—most of the people I catch are crooks, through and through. And I don’t feel an ounce of guilt bringing murderers and thieves to justice. But I knew the moment I started looking for Sage that somethingdidn’t smell right with this case, and unfortunately by then I’d already signed away my soul. So at least let me die knowing I was right.”
My tendril was poised and ready, waiting for her reveal.
But she just laughed. “I told you, demon. It’s not my story to tell.”
I was starting to get pissed, but then my shoulders relaxed. “You spelled yourself, didn’t you? So that you couldn’t say.”
She winked as she picked up the spoon, pointing it at me. “Exactly.”
That was smart. Too bad it wouldn’t save her or Sage, though.
“Well, is that sleeping draught finally finished at least? I’d like to just get this over with.”
She waved the pungent cloud towards her nose and breathed in deeply. “Yes, it’s ready now.”
“Perfect.”
