Page 75 of Rook of Ruin
“You’re right. Onlybestfriends do that.” Vetter shrugs. “Have I asked anything of you? No.” He looks me in the eyes before asking, “Shall we?” He gestures to the other side of the well-lit purple room. “And only best friends give the best gifts—though I wouldn’t sit on the sofas. I doubt they’ve been recently cleaned.”
Vetter’s crazy minions drag a man, who reminds me of a squirrel, into the room through a side door. It’s been like this for years with Vetter; we’re always one step behind. Years of secretly trying to murder the Panther—until we captured his second and I found out where the Panther was hiding in Enthe. Then Vetter decided to try to take out the Panther on his own, and where has that gotten us?
I open the velvet box of memory stones, and Orlaith’s voice whispers through my mind, “Fight for me.I’ll always fight for you.”My chest starts to burn again.
Striding up to the squirrely man, I tap the box to gain his attention. “Do you know what these are?”
He does—anyone who has lost a memory feels the thrum of magic pulling them to their memories when the stones are presented. Everyone fears what they do not know, and when they see their own memories sitting in a stone, it scares them to their soul.
“No! I don’t want to see!” He cowers and pisses on the floor.
“Pissing on the rugs?” Vetter clicks his tongue. “I’d think, as the proprietor of this establishment, you would have more decorum.”
My voice is laced with violence. “You will sign your brothel over to myfriendhere.” I would roll my eyes at the word “friend,” but I don’t care enough to. “And you will tell us exactly when the Panther is going to be in Acros, or I’ll give these back to you.”
The squirrel of a man stutters. “Y-yep—I’ll s-sign whatever. I don’t w-want them. I don’t want to s-see them!” Vetter presents a deed, and the squirrely man nervously signs it. “Three months f-from now, he’s s-supposed to come in. It’s not the P-Panther you need to worry about though, it’s those d-damn weirdos chanting by the docks. They k-keep saying shit about s-some darkness coming. They—”
“What did you just say?” I ask, my emotionless mask on tight.
The squirrely man sighs. “I said—”
“He heard you!” Vetter growls. “Out!”
Vetter’s minions collect the man and shove him out the side door; he will more than likely be found in a few days—dead—along with anyone chanting.
Vetter’s black eyes narrow. “Tell me what you know about the darkness, Spider, and I will return the favor.”
I hold out my hand. “Swear it.”
He sighs loudly and takes my hand. “I swear.” A soft light glows between our hands. We both know those two words will destroy him if he doesn’t abide by them.
“When I went through the minds of those demons, I saw people held in captivity under the Serus Mountains. The Wraiths are using dark magic to possess them, to turn the prisoners into demons in order to help search for something. I don’t know what it is, but they believe whatever it is will shroud the world in darkness once again.” I fold my arms and lean back on my heels. “The queen’s council is still debating on sending scouts. Send yours. We need to free them.”
Vetter takes a deep breath and walks back over to the bar for more whiskey. “It’s not dark magic—it’s corrupted magic of Old.”
Obviously, Vetter knows about the Wraiths and the magic of Old. The smug bastard was probably just seeing what I knew to further his own fucked-up agenda. Remaining quiet, I allow his arrogance to shine, and I’m rewarded with more information.
“Before the war with Tynan, when dragonswere among us, when there were curses not even the greatest of fae could stop, when the Warriors of Old came forth—that’s when magic was pure and abundant. That is the magic the Wraiths are using.”
For fuck’s sake. I can feel the monster within coil at Vetter’s words, but I keep my face impassive so he will continue.
“If Wraiths found a source, someone to wield it—thunderous mercy, it could destroy us all.”
I need to make sure we find this “source” and remove it before it helps the Wraiths end the fucking world.
The large scars on Vetter’s face seem even more heinous with his worried brow. “Scouts, I can send. But a rescue? No, Spider,that is not something I can do. I am spread too thin as it is working against the Panther.” He takes a sip of the whiskey, and I move closer.
“Do you believe King Aneurin will offer Acros aid?”
Vetter gazes off into the distance as he carefully considers his words before he speaks. “King Aneurin is aware of the threat the Wraiths pose, he knows about the poison they distributed in villages to create chaos, and he wants a new treaty with Acros. He is willing to send Tynan warriors to aid, to shore up the mountain border, but your queen has refused. She has even refused healers.”
Fuck. There are too many threats. Showing a little emotion, I tilt my head in confusion. “Why would he care? Tynan may border the mountains, but your king had no interest inhelpinguntil a few months ago.”
“He is notmyking, he isaking. I can assure you he has helped, more than you know, but I cannot say why he cares. I am not privy to King Aneurin’s inner thoughts.”
Oh yes, myfriendknows more than what he is saying—he is walking that fine line.
“I can only tell you he has a vested interest.” Vetter’s frowns at the memory stone case in my hands. “What do you want to do with those?” I toss the box to him, and he drops the whiskey bottle to catch it, but not before a soft blue stone slips out. He reaches for it, and his eyes glaze over as it touches his skin.
