Page 18 of Daemon Master

As he recounted his adventures for a third time, he racked his brain for a plan. His aetheric reserve was slowly replenishing while he spoke. Perhaps he could sustain a full meld with Heartrender long enough to flee into the forest. That would at least get him out of his bonds. Coupled with a clever enough illusion, it might work.

He issued a mental command to Heartrender, instructing the daemon to ready its technique for a distraction. To his astonishment, she did something he’d never seen a bonded daemon do before—she refused.

It shouldn’t have come as such a shock. With so much of Heartrender’s personality maintained through their bond, itmade sense she’d keep her free will too. Hadn’t he always wished for bonded daemons to be more than unthinking automatons?

“Tell me about this journal,” Kali interrupted once he’d reached his discovery in Crastley’s lab. “I assume you have it with you?”

He considered lying, but until he arrived at a proper plan, honesty seemed his best hope of remaining alive and unharmed. He nodded.

“Good. Did you read it?”

“Later, in the Arbiter’s office. Most of it was indecipherable, except for a note at the end.”

“I see. And what did the note say? Leave nothing out, or I’ll know.”

Again, he tried to convince Heartrender to craft an illusion, and again, the daemon refused. He shoved down his annoyance. In general, he was ecstatic to have a bonded daemon that wasn’t mindless. But did she have to be so spirit-cursed stubborn?

“Crastley spoke of his work for the Seeker Division on Project Paragon. He said he’d fled with a specimen and described an aetheric symbol that allowed bonding a willing daemon.”

Kali expressed no surprise at his outrageous claims, nodding as if she’d expected no different. Either she’d already known all this, or she didn’t care.

“I will, of course, take that journal with me when we’re through here. Anything else you wish to tell me before we continue?”

Heartrender chose that moment to send him a series of impressions through their bond—the beginnings of a rough plan. His eyes widened before he could school his expression. She couldn’t be serious…could she?

I really hope you know what you’re doing,he responded. The flash of assurance he received felt far less certain than he’d have liked. Still, he took a deep breath, squared his shoulders, andmet Kali’s bored look with a defiant glare. Time to intentionally antagonize the most powerful daemon master in the region.

“You know, now that you mention it, thereissomething else. Are you aware that your employers are an enormous fraud? The entire organization deserves to be shut down, and anyone who willingly supports them should be brought to justice as traitors to the League.”

Kali quirked an eyebrow. “You realizeyouwork for Serenity Corp, right? As did the man you know as Crastley before he fled here with their property in a vain attempt to escape their reach. Nearly a quarter of the League’s citizens serve in one capacity or another.”

“Perhaps. But once Crastley realized the truth, he repented. As have I. You and everyone else in the League will do the same if you have the slightest bit of sense.”

“Sure,we will,” she said dryly. “No doubt it will work out as well for us as it did for him.” Adrian fought down a shudder as she all but confirmed what he’d suspected of Crastley’s fate. “Now, as amusing as this little outburst is, I believe I’ve heard enough. Tell me more about—”

“No,” he interrupted. “I’m done talking to Serenity Corp lackeys. This interview is over.”

Kali sighed, her aether pulsing around her like an azure halo. He winced as the pressure of her aura bore down on him. “I warned you what would happen if you didn’t cooperate. Perhaps a few minutes alone with Shadowlash will soften your stubbornness.”

Spirits below, this isn’t working!He’d hoped insulting Serenity Corp would strike a nerve, but Kali was proving remarkably levelheaded for a murderer. If she manifested Shadowlash, any chance he had of escaping would vanish. He needed to find a way to throw her off balance.

“What’s the matter?” he asked desperately. “Not willing to get your hands dirty, so you need your daemon to do it for you? Oh, but I forgot—the last time your poor daemon tried to harm me, it ended up at the bottom of a river. Is that why you’re afraid to face me yourself?”

Kali moved swifter than his vision could track. One second, she stood a few paces back, regarding him impassively. The next, she crouched beside him with one fist still buried in his gut and the other wrapped loosely around his throat as he struggled to wheeze in air.

“Nothingscares me,” she hissed. “Not anymore. I take no pleasure in hurting you, boy, but one way or another, tonight ends with your death. The only question is whether I will make it quick…” Her fingers tightened around his neck. “Or slow.”

Looks like I found her sore spot.

Heartrender growled, but Adrian sensed she recognized the futility of attacking. An echo of his own frustrated helplessness reverberated through their bond. Fumbling at Kali’s side, his bound hand wrapped around a hilt, and he drew forth one of her gleaming daggers.

Kali chuckled. “Be careful with that, or you’ll put your eye out.”

A blush colored his cheeks. She was right to laugh. He could barely wield the thing, let alone manage a strike capable of puncturing her aether-hardened skin.

This is what I get for taking advice from a spirit-cursed daemon,he groaned inwardly.If we’d gone withmyplan, we would’ve at least stood a chance.

Heartrender sent irritation through their bond, followed by…something else, something he’d never experienced. Waves of aether crashed over him, surging through his tired body and reinvigorating him until he felt better than he had all day. Better, in fact, than heeverhad before.