A soft breeze moves through Sidarphion’s silver hair as he tilts his head. He’s listening. He’s intrigued.
“Here is my offer: I will help you get vengeance. Make me your pawn. Your soldier. Your High Priestess. I can hurt them the way Triche hurt you. I can trap them for more than a century. I can make them all suffer for an entire millennium, or for all of eternity if that is what you wish.”
He sucks the blood from his teeth. “And in return?”
“You bring Cassius back. You let him live a long, happy, curseless life alongside Claudia. And you leave Claudia alone for the rest of her days.”
Claudia’s heart races. Her emotions are at war—she hates Odette for killing Cassius, but if the girl is willing to relinquish her fate to Sidarphion in exchange for bringing him back, Claudia will forgive her immediately and entirely.
The god’s stare intensifies upon Odette while he ponders. Reaching down, he hooks her chin with his finger. Odette gathers her sweat-soaked hair and pulls it off her neck, offering her skin up to Sidarphion’s teeth. All he has to do is bite, and the bargain is made.
He leans down to her ear and says, “No.”
The wind ceases. The world stills. Odette stiffens against his mouth. “No?”
Claudia’s throat tightens. Her stomach bottoms out.
“No,” the god confirms. “I will not raise the blood of Dracoemagyl for you, and I do not want the vengeance you offer.” He grabs her by the shoulder and throws her out of his way as if she weighs nothing. She lands with a thud and a cry on the ground. Claudia almost smiles.
Sidarphion steps up to Claudia and cups her cheek. “I wantyou.”
She swallows a retch, slapping his hand away as hard as she can. It doesn’t budge. She can’t escape his touch. “I hate you.”
“What did I tell you about lying, Starling?” He kneels in front of her, leaning in so their foreheads touch. “Now, do you want Cassius back or not?”
Her body trembles with grief and rage. Hot tears streak down her face, pouring over Sidarphion’s cold hand. “What more do you want from me?”
“I’ll bring him back for you under this condition: He gets you during the day. I get you at night.”
She blinks, breathless. “What?”
“Every night from hereafter, you will come to the Realm of Nightmares. If at any point you want to stop, I’ll let you go, but I’ll take back Cassius’s life. His survival hinges on your tether to me. That’s my only offer. Do you love him enough to promise part of yourself to me?”
She looks down at Cassius’s lifeless form beside her, then back up at the devil who wants to bite her soul. Again. His teeth drip. He’s so eager, so hungry.
But there’s something else in his eyes. Something softer.
They stare at each other for a long time, close enough to share breaths. His fingers twitch against her cheek as though he’s fighting the urge to touch her more, to pull her closer.
As if he’s trying to be gentle.
“Please,” he says, his face twisted in discomfort.
Claudia remembers what Triche said to her when she was locked away in that cell.
The god of stars and nightmares got on his knees and begged for me to let you go.
The High Sage also said that it wasn’t because Sidarphion cared; wasn’t because Claudia was special. He said it was only because Sidarphion’s freedom hinged on her life.
But that’s not the case now. The god is free, and still, he begs.
He begs for her.
She doesn’t know what he thinks she can offer him now, but she knows this new bargain won’t be like the last. It won’t threaten her life.
Because, for some reason, Sidarphion wants to keep her alive. Even when her life shouldn’t matter to him anymore. Even when he has nothing more to gain from her. Even when keeping her close means raising the blood of his enemy—Dracoemagyl.
Why?Why?
