Rubbing his neck, he turned to face Valteri. “Tell me, godless one, what do you truly seek?”
Right now, he’d settle for Belial’s head on a platter and his lifeless body in a pool at his feet.
Yet…
He couldn’t get rid of the image he’d seen. Those red, unholy eyes.
Just who or what was he dealing with?
Unsure, Valteri stared at him, giving him due space as he tried to find a logical reason for the trick his eyes had played.
Surely it’d been the flame of the lantern that reflected the red light, or mayhap some trick of his mind.
Aye, that must be it.
I don’t believe in demons.
Other than those inner ones that constantly plagued him during silent moments.
Or men who pretended to be good while plotting the foulest of deeds against others for no reason or cause.
And while he might not know what had caused Belial’s eyes to shift color, one thing stood certain—he’d be damned long before he confided in the man before him. “What do you care?”
A slow smile curved his lips. “Since you married my sister, I have a vested interest in your future.”
With a stupidity that defied belief, he picked the braid off of Valteri’s shoulder and dropped it to trail down his back. “I saw the careful instructionswritten in the marriage contract. How you left all your property to her in the event of your death.” He leaned in closer to whisper in Valteri’s ear. “Is that what you seek? Is death the dream that haunts your sleep?”
Valteri tensed at hearing his fondest desire put into words. Aye, he longed for death, had done so since the day he’d slid from his mother’s womb and not had the good sense to strangle himself with her umbilical cord. Every time he went into battle, he did so hoping someone’s blade would at last end his pain.
Belial pulled a dagger from his belt and held it beneath Valteri’s chin.
Without flinching, Valteri studied the shining blade. A golden dragon head protruded above Belial’s fist.
Raising his gaze, he noted the emptiness of Belial’s eyes.
Soulless.
There was no emotion there of any kind. He was as ruthless a killer as Valteri.
One corner of Belial’s mouth turned up into a regretful smile. “Nay, I cannot kill you, but you could kill yourself. Tell me why a man who wants nothing more than death has never heeded its call?”
Valteri refused to answer this question. He refused to admit aloud that he had never given up hope that one day his life might change, that mayhap he would someday find a place where he belonged.
A place where no one mocked him.
That in the end, he was just too damn stubborn and stupid to quit.
For that stupid, treacherous hope, he would never end his own life. He would trust in the same cruel fate that had delivered him into such a brutal life to alleviate him of its burden one way or another.
In due time.
Belial smirked. “Do you fear damnation more?”
Valteri’s gaze narrowed. “I fear nothing.”
“Then here, take my dagger and end all you have suffered.”
Knocking Belial’s arm aside, Valteri sneered at him. “You think little of your own life to seek me out with your simpkin wit. Begone now before I yield to the desire I have to endyourlife.”
