Page 19 of Insidious Monsters
Well, that explained why we hadn’t seen any eldritch. “How long does that last?”
“Inquisitive little thing, aren’t you?” His indigo eyes dropped from my eyes to my mouth and back again.
Telarion growled.
I maintained eye contact, keeping my expression neutral. “If your man came through a rift, we would have picked up on it. I can check once I get back.”
If he lets us leave.
“And you would return and inform me of your findings?” He arched a winged brow.
A reason for him not to try and mind-wipe me.
Time to offer a trade. “Yes, in fact, I think we can help each other. I want to learn about your world.”
He smirked. “You do, do you? And why is that? Why do your people want this information, I wonder?” He stroked his chin in mock thought. “Oh, could it be that they wish to learn of our weaknesses and strengths so that they may conquer us with their technology.”
Alarm bells went off in my head. “What? No.”
He let out a bark of laughter. “Relax. We know your people can’t survive for long in our environment.” He allowed his comment to sink in.
My scalp prickled. He knew about rift walkers and the rifts, and he also knew about our limitations. How had they deduced this fact?
Humans who fell through the breaches before they were locked down probably died here,Telarion said softly, sensing my confusion.
“We have no interest in your world,” he continued. “If we did, we would have acted on it by now. The rifts are an unfortunate event, one we prefer to forget about, and Fer’bidn acts as the perfect buffer.” He raked me over. “Your kind have never ventured this far before, though.” He moved closer, bringing the scent of the forest with him. “Could it be that you’re becoming more resilient?”
Lie. Tell him you’re on a drug that allows you to stay here for a little longer but not many people can take this drug.
“It’s an experimental drug. It only works in a small percentage of us, though.”
His eyes lit up. “Of rift walkers.”
I nodded. “Yes.”
“I think we might be able to help each other. I know many things, and I’ll share them with you, if you wish. Once you bring back what I require.”
“So no mind-wipe, then?”
He smirked. “Not this time.”
I ached to ask him about the gravestone and the rose, but Telarion was right. I needed to bide my time and get to know this creature first. Besides, the gravestone was just over a decade old according to Quentin, and this guy hadn’t been close to a rift for several decades. There was the other possibility that the gravestone wasn’t even related to my mother. I wouldn’t know until I deciphered the inscription. And if I failed to do that and found I could trust this guy, then maybe I could bring the inscription to him.
I could have a helpful ally here if I played my cards right and if he didn’t turn out to be the enemy.
My tablet beeped. Shit, I needed to head back. “If one of your men has come into our world through a rift, I’ll find him.”
“And bring him back to me,” the man said. He pulled a vine from his hair and passed it to me. “When you return, come to the forest, whisper my name, and bury the vine. I will come.”
“What’s your name?”
“Luphin, and yours?”
“August.”
The corner of his mouth tipped up as he stepped away from me, taking the cage of his beasts with him. “I will see you soon, August.”
I made it back to the rift with my heart in my mouth and adrenaline pumping through my veins.
