Page 5 of Midnight Star

She laughs weakly. “Then get it over with and kill me. But good luck finding your friend without my help.”

Ghost growls low in his throat, but he stays pressed against my leg.

I rest my hand on his head in a subtle gesture of thanks. Because I don’t think I could have stomached all of this if not for him.

Riven remains focused on the dark angel, sizing her up, as if he’s trying to decide if her offer to negotiate is a decoy or not. “What do you want?” he finally asks.

“My life, obviously.” She shifts against her ice prison. “And I want limits. A time frame for questioning. After that, you let me go.”

“And then what?” I ask, since while I’m no expert in deals, there seems to be a lot of holes in this one. “You’ll try to kill us again?”

“We’ll give her the rest of the relaxation potion.” Riven’s cold eyes meet mine, challenging me. “And you’ll drink from her again. Make her as weak as possible before we leave.”

I still at the calm way he says it.

Drink from her again.

As if what he saw me do didn’t disgust him so much that he shut me out entirely.

But I force myself to nod, since his proposal is a practical one. Plus, there’s no denying that her blood will give me extra strength as we continue our journey.

The dark angel chuckles and tilts her head in amusement. “And what’s to stop you from killing me while I’m defenseless?” she asks, although she directs her question to Riven—not to me.

Understandably so. I’m new to this whole fae negotiation thing. Riven’s been doing it for his entire life.

“Not killing you will obviously be part of the deal,” he says, his attention snapping back to her. “And you’ll answer our questions as quickly and directly as possible. No riddles, no games, no manipulation, and no dancing around the truth.”

She says nothing for a long moment.

I hold my breath, worried she’s going to say no and put us right back where we started.

Then, finally, she speaks.

“Thirty minutes of questioning. Complete honesty from me. I’ll drink the potion and allow your girlfriend to feed from me afterward.” She grimaces, then swallows down her disgust. “In return, you’ll let me live, and you won’t seek me out again.”

“Two hours,” Riven counters.

“One hour,” she replies, barely needing a second to think.

Riven looks back at me, and I nod in response. Partly because I’m anxious to get answers, and partly because I don’t think I can stomach this interrogation session for much longer.

“One hour.” He directs his attention back to the dark angel and nods, stepping forward. “Now, here are the exact terms. For one hour, you’ll answer all our questions as completely, honestly, and directly as possible. You won’t attempt to mislead or manipulate us through careful word choice or omission. After the questioning, you’ll drink the remaining relaxation potion and allow Sapphire to feed from you until you’re barely holding on. In return, we’ll leave you alive and unconscious in this cave when we depart. Do you agree?”

“I agree.” She exhales shakily, as if a wall is coming down.

“Perfect.” Riven lowers his sword, his expression as cold as ever. “Then let’s seal it and begin.”

Sapphire

Riven movestoward the dark angel and kneels in front of her, studying her face as if he’s searching for something in her sharp, cutting features.

Then, as if in slow motion, one of his hands moves to her chin, tilting her face up so their eyes lock.

No.

Fae deals can be sealed in two ways: with a handshake, or with a kiss.

The dark angel parts her lips, and my stomach twists at the thought of what Riven might do.

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