Among…other things. But that’s all Daimon needs to know.
In the blink of an eye, he’s standing in front of me, hovering so close that Graylen lets out a low warning rumble from hischest. I squeeze his hand and test the tense bond between us, the feel of it there but weak.
“If he wasn’t interested, he would’ve tried to kill us already,”I soothe Graylen. He straightens beside me, so I know he heard the words I sent into his mind.“Play nice.”
“I will until he gives me a reason not to,”Graylensnaps.
Tendrils of darkness snake off of Daimon, his magic reaching for the shard. When the shadows near it, they pause, jolting back as if revolted by the feel of it. Daimon straightens, leaning away from my palm and meeting my gaze.
“Name your price,” Daimon says slowly. “Though releasing all of the souls you’re searching for in the Vale is not on the table.”
Ellerry’s face flashes through my mind, along with Annora and all of the other people in the trial who don’t deserve to be there. I knew it would take something more than information to get them out, but my chest still tightens knowing it isn’t enough.
“Let me and Graylen go.” I pause, taking a deep breath. “And keep this—us being here, us having the shard—to yourself.”
The message is clear enough: keep it from Vidaris. There’s no doubt she knows where the dagger is since one of her little minions has it, and she’ll likely assume it was me who got Graylen out.
But I don’t need her knowing about the piece of Nightfall.
Because if she knows we have it, she might put together that I was able to use it to get in and out of the Vale—that I was able to wield it.
Daimon’s eyes glimmer, bouncing from the shard to me. “You want me to lie to the Goddess of Vengeance.” He hums and tucks his hands behind his back, then begins to slowly pace in front of us, one lazy step after another. “To not tell her you possess the missing piece to Nightfall—in exchange for information alone.”
He pauses, tilting his head to the side. I can see the wheelsturning in his mind, thinking through the pieces of the story I don’t want him to know. But there’s no avoiding it now.
“You harnessed magic from the shard,” Daimon mutters. His mouth presses briefly into a thin line. “That’s how you got in and out of the Vale.”
I hold his stare. I can feel Graylen’s focus on me, too, but I nod to Daimon, my patience wearing thin.
“What was the price?” Daimon asks softly, the words deceptively…caring.
A flicker of hope sparks in my chest that there may be more to him than what I’m seeing.
Then he tilts his head to the side, and that hope diminishes. There’s a curiosity in his midnight eyes, a look that makes me feel like I’m a dancing monkey rather than someone he cares about. There’s a sharp ache in my chest at seeing the man who’s supposed to be my father not react the way a father should.
I shove it away, just like all the times I did with Reichardt growing up. Daimon doesn’t need to know that I gave it pieces of my magic…my soul—in fact, things could goverybadif he realizes that was the price.
Even with my Essence intact, he could easily overpower me and steal the shard for himself. But he doesn’t seem to realize it could lead him to the dagger—otherwise, I have no doubt that’s what he would’ve done.
“I don’t know yet.” The lie glides out of me smoother than I thought it would.
A surge of worry pushes down the tether between Graylen and me. He knows I’m lying, and judging by the way Daimon narrows his eyes, he knows it, too.
My muscles tense when he opens his mouth—no doubt to catch me in my lie—but instead he says, “Shame.”
I blink, my brows pulling together as he moves on. It takes me a minute to realize he’s talking again, the words not reaching my ears as my brain rushes to catch up.
“What?” I breathe.
Graylen’s hand tightens on my shoulder, giving it a quick squeeze.“He said he agrees to the terms,”he murmurs into my thoughts.“He’ll let us go and keep our secret.”
Daimon watches us closely, his mouth tilting into a frown.
He’s going to let us go. And the sooner I can get Graylen somewhere else, the better.
“The shard,” Daimon says sharply.
My stomach turns at the thought of giving it to him, but what other option do I have? We know where the dagger is; we’ll have to worry about how to get the shard back later.
