Page 15 of This Dark Descent
“That’s not tr—” Mikira broke off at the look on Damien’s face.
“What we’re about to do is both dangerous and difficult,” he said mildly. “Let’s not make it more so by lying to each other.”
Mikira bit her lip. How had he learned all of this?
Damien interlaced his fingers. “What I’d like to know is what your exact bargain with Rezek is.”
Mikira folded her arms. “If I win the Illinir on an unenchanted horse, he’ll pardon my father and forgive our debts to his house.”
“Well, that was a stupid bargain,” Reid muttered, and Mikira considered upending his cup of tea over his head.
Arielle’s hand stilled where it’d been reaching for one of the books. “That’s why you want one of my enchants? To win your bargain?”
“If I lose, he gets my family’s ranch and my father,” Mikira told her. There was no point in hiding it. Damien was right; for what was to come, the least she could do was be honest. “My family will be put on the street.”
Arielle’s fingers curled slowly into a fist, but she didn’t speak again.
Mikira eyed Damien. “And what about you? What do you get out of all of this?”
Damien stood and approached a drink cart behind the chaise. He poured two glasses of whiskey, returning to offer Mikira one. She took it, uncertain of his intentions.
“I want this to be a partnership, Miss Rusel, and for that, I need you to trust me.” Damien swirled his drink. “I want to see this city change. The Council of Lords fuels the Eternal War for their own gain, and no amountof repudiation from House Ruthar is going to stop them. Not when they all stand to lose so much.”
Mikira’s breath quickened; this was dangerously close to treason. It was no secret that the greater houses benefited from the war. Verillion, gemstones, enchanted objects—they all had a stake in one of them, and those industries were thriving beneath the wartime demand. She’d thought these things a thousand times herself, but it was something else entirely to hear them from him.
“I want to put an end to the Eternal War,” Damien continued. “But only the Council of Lords has the power to do that. Which is why I’ve made my own bargain with Rezek Kelbra: his family’s rights to run the Illinir against House Adair’s racetracks and horses. If we win, it’s the first step in my plan to stop the war.”
An end to the war—it sounded like a dream, and she felt foolish for wanting to believe in it. But what if he could do it? House Adair was the first in ages to usurp an old house, granted their position at the newly crowned King Theo’s behest some twenty years ago. Perhaps Damien had ties she wasn’t aware of, a means of influencing the Council of Lords.
Damien lifted his glass to her. “So what do you say? Do you want to help me tear the Kelbras down?”
Not for the first time, Mikira had the distinct feeling she’d walked into a game she wasn’t prepared to play. Some part of her knew that Damien wasn’t telling her everything. It whispered that he couldn’t be trusted, that he’d left out how exactly taking the Illinir from Rezek would change anything, but she also couldn’t ignore what he offered her: a life free from the Kelbras.
And she’d help deal a blow so vicious to them, it would take them a generation to recover.
“To conning House Kelbra.” She lifted her drink, the glass cool against her hot skin, and tapped it against his, the clinking sound like a chain pulling taut.
CHAPTER 6
ARIELLE
LISTENING TO DAMIENtalk was like watching a conductor lead an orchestra.
She’d seen one once, a woman in a traveling band of Celairen musicians who’d performed in her town edah. She and Rivkah had snuck out to the town square to watch. The woman had been so calm, so controlled, each smooth motion she made reflected in the sound that swelled from her musicians with the organization of a well-oiled machine.
Damien was the same in the words he chose, the actions he took. He’d done his research on Mikira, but rather than use it against her, he showed his hand, knowing the truth was what she needed. Together they would both get what they wanted.
He’d used the same trick with her.
Conning the Kelbras was akin to sticking your hand under a falling blade and hoping it wouldn’t cut you. By doing it with a bunch of strangers she’d only just met, she might as well be holding the blade herself. If Damien had told her this back at her workroom, she might have refused his offer. Instead, he’d waited until she’d seen the room he’d offered her on his gated estate, the guards patrolling the perimeter with their imported Sherakin shotguns. He’d wanted her to see that she would be safe here, and it was the only thing that kept her from walking out the door.
That, and the table full of books.
Each and every one was about Kinnish history and lore, culture and society, from a leather-bound Arkala full of prayers and teachings on the Harbingers she’d never read to books of ancient mythology. How much did he know about who they were?
More than I do.
She felt again that longing to be like him. To be in control not just of herself, but of the world around her, so no one could ever hurt her like those thieves had again.
