Page 26 of Killer of the Bells
“Isa, your cousin Briar’s lover,” I prompted. “The person currently holding your name?” My voice had gentled. Wraith’s mind wasn’t his to control. He was subject to its whims more than anyone, but he had triggers I could work with.
Wraith cared about his cousin Briar, even if he had difficulty remembering details about him. Briar was the only decent family he had, and it had etched itself onto his soul.
“Briar…” The light of rationality replaced the dimming bloodlust in Wraith’s eyes.
“Yes, Briar. He’d be devastated if something were to happen to his lover, Isa, wouldn’t he?”
Wraith glared. “You wouldn’t. You want to study Isa too much to kill him.”
“I want Echo alive more,” I admitted reluctantly. I hated giving anyone that kind of leverage over me, but since I had in-depth knowledge of most of Wraith’s weak spots, it couldn’t hurt to show him one of mine.
Wraith released his hold on the windowsill, jumped to the closest tree, and I followed.
“You’ll leave Isa alone if I leave Echo alone, is that it?” Wraith’s voice was less raspy and had moved into his lucid speech pattern.
“Yes. I’ll pretend that Isa doesn’t even exist when you’re not around.” I still wanted to study Isa due to his connection to Wraith, but I’d stay away as long as Wraith stayed far away from Echo. “In return, you won’t hunt Echo, harm him, or allow him to be harmed if it’s in your power to protect him.”
In for a penny, in for a pound, right?
Wraith’s gaze drifted to a pair of ravens, and I knew I was about to lose him, but he surprised me by saying, “You will promise the same. For both Isa and Briar.”
“Deal,” I said, holding out my hand.
Wraith took it and said, “Deal.”
The magic took effect instantly, binding us to our agreement. Wraith wouldn’t be able to forget with our deal in place. Even if the dreaming took Wraith, and he drifted for months, trapped between realities, he wouldn’t be able to harm Echo.
It was better than any solution I could have hoped for.
“So, you’re in love with the new guy?” Wraith asked with a sly smile.
“I beg your pardon?” I arched an eyebrow at him.
Wraith snorted. “Keep your secrets. I’m out of here. The bells will toll soon, and I don’t want to be around for it.” And without so much as a wave goodbye, he vanished.
I stared absently at the space where he’d been, shaking out my throbbing shoulder. It was healing, but the damage Wraith and I did to one another always took longer to heal than anything else. It would be an hour before all traces of injury were gone. Normally, anything less than a mortal wound would heal in under a minute. Life-threatening injuries took around ten minutes to fully heal.
I eventually broke my reverie and climbed the tower, slipping through the window to see Echo putting his life on the line—once again—after I’d just made a deal with the proverbial devil to keep him safe.
I should have been outraged, but the intense look of concentration on Echo’s face as he worked on an elaborate trap had my mood change in an instant, so instead of shouting at him, I said, “There are easier ways to die, you know.”
Echo ignored me after seeing me, so I moved closer. I almost got his attention, but he ultimately decided not to engage, so I had no choice but to make it impossible to ignore me.
I got into his personal space and asked, “Is it common for you to be here?”
“Areyoucommon?” Echo snapped.
Was that how he greeted strangers in improbable situations?
“That doesn’t make any sense,” I said before moving across the beam, over to the wall. and scaling down enough to be able to meet Echo face-to-face.
Echo gave me an epic glare and said, “I never make sense.”
Untrue. After unintentionally getting into his head last night, everything he’d done had made perfect sense to me. But since he didn’t remember any of that, I had to put on an act, so I acted like I always did around people I didn’t know.
I was an absolute ass.
I put on a bored look and said, “When you fall to your death, do try not to make much of a mess. I like to come here to think,and that will be ruined if it takes too long for someone to clean you off the floor.”
