“Money,” he managed without choking on the heat rising to his face.
She was dangerous and she was beautiful. He hadn’t wanted toadmit it in the Drowning Square, but it had been her beauty that first caught his eye. And there was no doubt in his mind she now knew that.
“Not good enough.”
As he leaned in, drawn toward her, the ring around his neck shifted. The hard crystal was all the reminder he needed. He straightened back to his full height, towering above her. “Promise to assist me with this and, if we are successful, I’ll have your father released from prison.”
Her blue eyes widened, fear and hope melting together. She blinked, and they hardened to stone once more.
“Who’s to say you won’t change your mind? Refuse to release my father once you get what you want?”
“I will honor my word.”
“Your word means nothing to me.”
Her accusation dug into him and, try as he might, he couldn’t sew up the fresh scar she’d inflicted. Toran had always prided himself on his honor, but the past year had dealt a blow to that honor. The King had never said as much, but after Toran’s failure in Aeos, he knew he’d lost a bit of the King’s trust. And it hadn’t been until he lost it that he realized just how much it mattered to him, just how much that trust had served as a guiding point his whole life.
Nes continued. “You guards take an oath to protect the innocent. Marnie Sorphel was innocent. And so was every other so-called Witch you guards have drowned. So, Captain, why in the world would you expect me to trust your word?”
“I couldn’t save Marnie, but I’m trying to save others.” He met her eyes again and didn’t flinch at the raw emotion there. “That’s why this mission is so important.”
“Then I suppose you better give me one hell of a reason to trust you,” she snapped.
He saw a part of her then. Saw a girl who’d been burned before. A girl who guarded her trust as fiercely as he’d once guarded his country. She would not help him. Not unless he gave her a bit of his own trust first.
There was only one way. From beneath his shirt, he pulled his ring. Set in the center was the beautiful yellow, storm-clouded crystal. The engagement ring he’d once given to Loriana, making an entirely different promise than the one he was about to make.
“This ring,” he started, then stopped. He glanced around the room and swallowed. He tried again. “This ring holds little monetary value, but it’s invaluable to me.” He held the ring out to her and wondered if she noticed how his hand shook as he did. “Take it.”
Slowly, oh so slowly, as if afraid she might startle him, she took the ring from his fingers. She examined it, studying the cut and smooth lines and bursts of color within. Her eyes lifted to meet his.
“Keep it,” he said, pushing past the lump in his throat. “Return it to me once I’ve held up my end of the deal.”
She clutched the ring in her fist, her eyes never leaving his. Behind the determination and ferocity, there was an appreciation in her gaze, almost as if she was grateful he’d not just seen but also understood this small part of her.
“I help you with this unknown mission and, at the end—successful or unsuccessful—my father is released from prison. No stipulations. No questions asked.”
He nodded.
She lifted her chin. “The money, too,” she continued. “I want it. And you’ll give it directly to me in coin.”
Toran pursed his lips to keep from looking like he was mocking her. The money would be the easiest part. He nodded again.
Her lips quirked, the beginnings of a smirk shining through. “Just know, if I go down for this—for any reason—I’m taking you with me. If you can live with that, then I think we’re in agreement.”
Relief rushed him as she pocketed his ring.
“Okay, Captain,” she said, “I’ll join you on your Witch hunt.”
Part II
The Hunters
“The Goddess searched day and night. Three moons passed her. And then another three moons. So many moons passed her while she searched, she did not notice when the hunter became the hunted.”
—The lost holy book of Nephele: Great Goddess of All,
Book II, Section II, Lines8–11
