“I’ve always said that you were too tenderhearted for your missions. But Kadar wouldn’t listen. He liked your pranks too much. Thank you for finally proving to him what you really are.”
Belial tried to loosen the grip on his throat. “Release me!”
Grim tightened his hold even more. “I’ve come with a directive straight from your masters. Kill the Norman and bring them the Arel or you’ll be enslaved to me, personally.”
He dropped him.
Belial choked and coughed, his throat burning as if the very coals of Hephaestus’s forge were wedged in the base of his esophagus.
“Personally, I don’t care which you choose. Either way, I win. You were a fool, Belial. You had Kadar’s favor and you traded it for the blood of Michael!”
Belial reached for him, but he vanished.
Of course he vanished.
Leaning his head back against the ground, he listened to the gentle sounds of the night, the breeze drifting through leaves. So much for compassion.
No good deed goes unpunished.
What now? He ran through his accomplices.
It really was their ass or his.
Ethbert was gone. Mildred had been converted, and Edred had failed. All his pawns had been effectively neutralized.
Where did that leave him?
Between Kadar’s fist and Azura’s backhand.
Sighing, he knew he had no choice.
Betrayal as always.
“Sorry, Ariel. That’s life.”
For three days, Ariel stayed with Valteri while his fever raged. Since his injuries covered his back, they’d been forced to lay him on his stomach, which made it almost impossible to feed him.
She prayed for his recovery before starvation took his life.
Mildred stood at the table, mixing herbs and uttering her own prayers.
“Here, milady.” She handed Ariel a goblet. “This should break the fever.”
She hesitated.
Shame filled Mildred’s gaze as she realized why. “I swear I didn’t poison it.” The old woman took a drink of it to prove it was untainted before she handed it back to her.
“Sorry.”
Mildred patted her on the arm. “I understand your mistrust. I’ve earned it.”
Grateful that Mildred was still trying to make up for what she’d done, Ariel gently guided the drink into Valteri as best she could. But so very little of it actually made it inside him from this position. “Oh, Mildred, what are we to do?”
Sighing, Mildred shook her head. “I know not, Lady Ariel. I’ve tried to find some way to break the curse and heal him, but nothing has worked.”
A soft knock interrupted them.
“Enter,” Ariel called.
