Page 54 of City of the Lost
Azren hung his head, hands on hips. “This won’t work.”
“Trust me,” Valance said. “When I’m done, Elora will be planning Miss Bastion’s and my nuptials.”
“Wait. What?”
Valance rolled his eyes. “Keep up, Miss Bastion. I’ve already paraded you around at the ball and told everyone I love leather-clad women. It won’t be hard to convince my mother that her man-whore of a son is fucking, rather than eating, a neph.”
My stomach quivered, partly at the thought of playing his lover, but more so about what she’d do to me if we fucked up the charade. “What will she do if she finds out the truth? I need to know.”
Valance blinked slowly and it hit me that he hadn’t blinked in ages. The whole blink thing was voluntary, an afterthought to fit in. “I don’t know. Elora is mercurially creative when it comes to her punishments, and the contract you signed allows her to mete out punishment for failure to deliver on the terms. If we can hide the connection between the two of you, she’ll vent her frustrations on Azren. Let you watch, to ensure you get the point, and then send you both packing.”
She was going to hurt Azren. This was a definite by the sound of it, and my stomach tightened. “How? What will she do?”
Azren was the one to reply. “It doesn’t matter what she does. What matters is that you remain unmoved.”
“You want me to watch her hurt you and not be bothered by it?”
Azren’s expression was hard, his jaw flexed. “Yes. That’s exactly what you’ll do, because whatever she does to me is nothing compared to what she’ll do to you if she sees you react. Do you understand?” My horror must have shown on my face because his expression softened. “Wila, I have endured far worse than you can imagine. The only thing that can hurt me now is watching you in pain. Don’t give her that power.”
His words slugged me in the chest and melted into my heart. It was the first declaration that he more than cared for me. I blinked and averted my gaze, unable to meet his vibrant eyes. Azren’s anxiety about facing Elora hadn’t been just about having nothing to show for our time searching for the rogue Shedim, it was about his feelings for me. Feelings he’d been fighting. He’d pushed me away the last couple of days in an attempt to dilute the attraction, and now we were out of time and it was my attraction to Azren that could possibly get me killed.
Valance cleared his throat. “Are we agreed?”
That was it, then. There was no option but to play the part. I plastered a grin on my face. “Agreed. And hey, you never know, she may be seduced by my sparkling personality, entranced by my stunning wit and humor, and find me a perfect match for her dashing son. Her heart will be warmed and torture will be off the table.”
Valance let out a breathy laugh. “Oh, Wila ...” He sounded equal parts amused and despondent.
“She has asked you to bring us in personally, hasn’t she?” Azren said.
Valance’s eyes filled with shadows. “Yes.”
A freaked-out giggle bubbled up in my throat, but I tamped down on it. Now wasn’t the time to lose the plot. Now was the time to don a facade and play a role and hope to God Elora bought it.
“Wila?” Gilbert materialized behind Valance, his form a murky residue of the man he used to be. “What’s happening?”
“I have to go, Gil. Elora’s summoned me.”
“Early?”
“Yes. I won’t be long.” I injected a cheery tone into my voice.
He scanned my face. “I have a bad feeling. I don’t think you should go.”
He had no idea. “I don’t have a choice.”
Azren made a tortured sound in the back of his throat and then stormed into the kitchen for real this time.
Valance stood between me and Gil, his chest heaving as a series of emotions I couldn’t quite catch passed over his face, and then he pushed back his shoulders and followed Azren into the kitchen.
“Call Noir,” Gilbert said urgently. “Get a transponder. You need a way out.”
“I can’t. If I run, then I breach the contract, and if I breach the contract, then I go back to the original sentence of death.”
“She can’t get you on this side of the border.”
“I signed a blood contract, Gil. Even the Arcana can’t protect me from that, and if they find out I lied to them about the contents of that contract, Elora won’t get a chance to kill me, because the Arcana will do it for her.”
Gil’s form flickered in agitation, and he drifted closer. His presence wrapped itself around me in a hug and then my skin began to prickle.
