Page 164 of Bitten & Burned
“Tell me anyway.”
Rellin sneered. “Go fuck yourself.”
Vael smiled faintly. “Now, see… I could take offense to that. But I won’t. Because you’re still imagining this is a negotiation.”
He rose to his feet slowly and circled behind Rellin—just out of reach, just close enough to feel.
“This isn’t a negotiation, Rellin. This is your one opportunity to matter.”
“I matter plenty.”
“To whom?” Vael asked, gentle as a blade sliding out of a sheath. “To your brothers? Your dogs? The things you traveled with?”
Rellin’s jaw twitched.
Vael stepped closer. “Tell me about the man who sent you.”
Silence.
“I’m not asking who he is,” Vael clarified, still circling. “I’m asking what he promised. What made you crawl down a mountain to take something that doesn’t belong to you?”
More silence. But there was hesitation now. Breathing gone ragged. Sweat prickling at the back of Rellin’s neck.
“You were promised something,” Vael continued. “You’re too stupid to be here on your own. So someone offered you something valuable. What was it?”
Rellin’s voice came out hoarse. “Land.”
Vael paused.
“A place to settle. Wards. Shelter. He said it’s ours when this is done.”
“What place?”
A beat.
Then, two words. “Dun Drummond.”
Anton inhaled sharply. Quil’s whole body shifted, like he was preparing to lunge. Even though I now had all the pieces of the puzzle, I couldn’t make them fit together.
Dun Drummond. That was Silas’s family estate. So he sent them. This wasn’t just a case of him happening upon Ashborne blood wards, using one, and pissing them off. He was working with them. All to get me.
Gods.
But Vael remained still.
Still behind Rellin. Still patient.
He didn’t even blink.
“I see,” he said softly. “And what were the terms?”
Rellin laughed. “Wasn’t no bloody terms, bloodsucker. Just an oath.”
Vael circled him slowly. Calm. Impeccable. Measured.
“I’ll ask you again, differently,” he said, voice barely louder than a whisper. “What did he promise you? What was his oath?”
Rellin made a wet snorting sound. “The land.”
