“My magic is multifaceted,” I said, thinking quickly. “I can relax someone enough that they will spill all their secrets. They won’t even think of lying.”
At least I hoped I could. It wasn’t specifically something I’ve tried before, but in theory it would work.
Something flashed in Lord Stryker’s eyes and if I didn’t know better, I’d say it was fear, but it was quickly wiped away. He stepped away from me, removing the blade from beneath my chin. I let out a sigh of relief, but it might have been premature.
“Prove it to me,” he said with a gleam of calculation in his gaze.
“How?” I asked.
He crossed his arms over his chest and shrugged. “Figure it out. But don’t even think of using your magic on me again, or I’ll run you through without a thought. If you want to stay alive, at least for another day, prove to me you can be useful in this way.”
He called out to his guards and the two that had strapped me to the chair entered the room, along with another I didn’t recognize. They looked to their lord for instruction, but Lord Stryker just stared at me, waiting for me to prove my worth.
I assessed the three guards, trying to tamp down my panic and come up with a plan. I choose the guard in the middle for no other reason than he looked a little shifty to me, as though he might have secrets.
Centering myself the best I could, I pushed my powers onto him, starting with calming and then moving on to contentment. Then I started to layer on more feelings and emotions. Security. Comfort. Vulnerability. The feelings of being validated, of being supported. Anything I could think of that would make a fae feel both safe enough to reveal their secrets,and inclined to do so. The fae’s eyes started to appear glassy after only a few moments and then his posture slackened.
Manipulating my magic like I never had before, I did my best to weave emotions together to make this fae believe he was in a safe environment. So that nothing he said was of any consequence, and he’d feel encouraged to talk.
The fae’s eyes went to half-mast and he swayed a little, almost as if he were drunk. I hoped I hadn’t pushed him too far. I’d never done this before, and if I failed I would surely die.
“What is your name?” I asked him.
He stumbled a little and one of the other guards had to help him remain standing. The two looked at Lord Stryker in panic but he only nodded, as if telling them to let this play out. Perhaps I’d laid my magic on too thick. I pulled some of my power back, worried I’d overwhelmed him.
My heart was in my throat until he answered, slurring the syllables, but finally telling us his name was Garrett.
I could tell by the look on Lord Stryker’s face that it was correct, but he wasn’t impressed. He shrugged. “Getting a fae to admit to their name is hardly the same as pulling a hidden truth from someone.” He tested the sharpness of the tip of his dagger with the pad of his finger, his eyes never leaving mine. A clear threat.
I swallowed, wetting my dry throat. “Garrett,” I said, hoping against all hope that these weren’t the last words I would ever utter. “What do you think of your lord?”
I was betting that Garrett, or any of the guards working for Lord Stryker, had hidden animosity for their cold master.
Garrett’s gaze didn’t even shift to the Ethereum lord before he answered. “My lord is a strict ruler, but fair.”
Oh no, this wasn’t going to prove anything.
“But he has so many riches that he could be sharing with the rest of us,” he went on without any prompting.
Okay, now we were getting somewhere. Surely Lord Stryker would agree that his guard wouldn’t normally speak so freely around him.
But Garrett wasn’t done. “That’s why I like to help myself to a little bit of his treasure every now and then when he asks me to watch over it. He has so much, I’m sure he won’t miss the amount I swipe from time to time. Besides, my wife has expensive tastes.”
I caught my breath and the two guards standing beside him began to back away slowly as if they knew this wasn’t going to end well, and they didn’t want to be associated with him in any way.
This was incriminating evidence for sure, proving I could convince someone to tell the truth, but I hadn’t wanted the guard to actually get into trouble. Stealing from your lord was a serious offence, and the stormy look on Lord Stryker’s face said that this guard’s deeds wouldn’t go unpunished.
I felt sick to my stomach and was just about to pull my power back, stopping Garrett from admitting anything else, when he damned himself further.
“But the heist my brother and I are planning next month will mean that I can live like a lord for the rest of my life. After we sack the royal treasury, we’ll go live in the Midlands. Lord Stryker will never find us. The fae there hate him and will protect us.”
I yanked my magic back and immediately the guard straightened,snapping to attention. He looked at his lord and dread filled his eyes, then his gaze swiveled to me and filled with hatred.
“What have you done?” he screamed. Pulling his sword, he started toward me.
I was practically defenseless, still trapped in this blasted chair, so I gathered my magic to lash out and protect myself in the only way I could.
Before I had a chance push extreme panic on him, black shadows shot from Lord Stryker’s palms and wrapped around Garrett’s neck and face, smothering him completely.
