Page 47 of Vicious Little Vows
He is bound by contract. As am I.
I relaxed a little. If the guardian was just sensing the contract Sebastian had created binding Mistral to the land, then I was back to wanting to save him. Not that I wouldn’t regardless, but if he was hiding things, he deserved to sweat a little.
“He made a contract to help Mistral keep the goblin magic contained,” I explained. “He’s not responsible for what’s happening now. The magic is simply too powerful.”
Then he created a contract doomed to fail.
I couldn’t argue there. “I need him alive to fix it. I need him to come with me. I will forge a pathway to the goblin realm, but I can’t do it without him.”
You? But you are half human.The guardian had turned its form back toward Sebastian, looming over him ominously.
“That’s why I need him.” I stepped closer, reaching out my hand toward the guardian. “Please.”
When I was close enough, tiny stars danced around my outstretched fingers, but they weren’t coming from me. They came from the guardian, attracted to me like tiny magnets.
The guardian turned toward me, and since it had no facial expression for me to read, I was worried I’d made a horrible mistake in getting too close. More of the stars composing it danced toward my outstretched fingers.
You would unmake me?
I lowered my hand with a gasp, trailing a few stars. “No!” I lowered my voice. “No, that’s not my intent. You do a good jobprotecting this place.” Sebastian snorted, and I spared him a quick glare before turning my attention back to the guardian. “I don’t want to harm you. I just need to leave with my companions so we can fix things.”
The guardian watched me for a long while. Long enough that I shifted uncomfortably under the weight of its eyeless gaze. I wiped my sweaty palms on my dress. It was ruined anyway. Finally, the voice returned to my mind.You will return when you are through? You will bring more to this waypoint?
I really had no desire to return, but if we were going to make a pathway for our exploratory missions, it might be easier to do so from here than from the Bogs. “Yes, I will return.”
Sebastian gave me awhat the hells is wrong with you?look, but I ignored him.
The guardian watched me for another long moment, then dispersed, leaving me alone in the dark with Sebastian.
I sighed. “You could have at least transported us both out of here,” I muttered, then crouched to search blindly for Sebastian.
His cold hand met mine as he reached for me too. As soon as we touched, I could feel the golden cord again.
“Thatthingblocked my connection to you,” he said tersely.
I helped him stand, and just the fact that he actually needed the help said a lot about how the guardian had been treating him. All because he’d made Mistral’s contract to the Bogs.
Using his hand, I guided his arm around my shoulders. “I got enough magic from the guys. I should be able to bring us back to them.”
“Eva.”
I had just been closing my eyes. Even though it was pitch black in the room, it was still easier to picture the other guys with my eyes closed. “Yeah?”
“There is something you should know about the contract I created for Mistral.”
I went still. All he’d ever been willing to tell me was that Mistral’s mother had asked him to create the contract when Mistral was ready. “Go on,” I prompted when he spoke no further.
The air shifted, then his fingers grazed my neck, turning me toward him even though it was too dark to see. “He was never meant to control the Bogs alone. He was meant to find a bride—someone to share the burden. Wild magic is more partial to those with feminine energy.”
I was glad he couldn’t see how red my cheeks were, or how red I assumed they were, judging by the blood rushing in my ears. “What?” I choked out.
“I was to tell him, but she did not include that in the contract, so I did not.”
I would have given anything to see his face in that moment, if only to knock him on his ass. “Why didn’t you tell him?” There, my voice barely trembled. He wouldn’t see the hit coming.
“I wanted him to fail. That was the bargain. I would help Mistral at no cost, but if he failed, a measure of wild magic would belong to me. A magic foreign to my sister. She would not be able to fight it.”
He had dropped his hands from me. Probably not wise, since I could leave him right where he was. But maybe he knew me better than that. “Why are you telling me this now?”
