In the silence that followed the Prince’s command, I felt I’d seen enough.
With a scowl, I pulled my face from the crack in the door, careful not to make a sound when I stood. The demons’ conversation replayed in my mind as I crept away. My fate hung in a fragile balance. Sitri wanted to use me. Exploit me. He believed I was privy to Vapula’sintelligence—but I wasn’t. If this mark on my arm was a binding, something Vapula applied to me, and if Sitri could ensnare me the same way…
Then every hour I spent here was a risk, a gamble on how long the Prince’s goodwill would last, and he’d stacked the odds against me.
I couldn’t trust him, couldn’t trustanyof them.
Somehow, Sitri had put together far more than I told him. It was only a matter of time before he uncovered my history with Vapula, the worth he placed in me. I might find a blade at my throat, my soul bound to Sitri, or worse, I might find myself back in Vapula’s custody. Forced to confront the demon I lost my life trying to evade.
And the bridge, the crossing… Zaleos had escorted me across something similar, a stone bridge over a seemingly bottomless ravine. This place was foreign to me. If that bridge was the only way over, and I let Sitri tear it down, I’d be trapped in his domain with no hope of escape.
I couldn’t stop the shaking that took root in my hands, the adrenaline that coursed through my veins. This truce wouldn’t hold. I had to get out before the Prince acted, sealing my fate forever.
