Page 35 of Reap & Sow

“So,” the old woman said finally, “you’ve cocked up and now you want to rope me into your nonsense.”

“I have not cocked up,” Eda snapped, gripping her cup. “I know what I’m doing.”

“Fifty years, lamb.”

“You don’t need to remind me. And I’m not a fucking lamb.”

Robin’s eyebrows shot up. For the first time, she smiled. “My mistake. Those pretty eyes and golden curls are a convincing distraction. But a woman with a crass mouth is one after my own heart.”

“I grew up with two brothers,” Eda explained tersely. “And that’s why I’m doing this. For them. They would die for me, they will die for me, if I can’t—” She swallowed.

I’ve spent my life watching others sign away their so-called souls, she wanted to say. No one understands better than me.

Pacts could not be made if they would interfere with another, and the bargain she’d made today didn’t directly affect her father’s. But Eda would rather avoid the topic altogether. Kit didn’t know that she was tied to another Pact, and she was in no hurry to tell him. Once Ben and Lawrie were free, and the mirror found, they could go their separate ways. He needn’t ever know she had dealings with the very demon that hunted him.

Dying light shone through the portholes, limning Robin’s wrinkled face in gold. She glanced at Eda’s hand. “You’re a brute,” she reprimanded Kit, gathering pots from her shelves. “You didn’t have to make such a large cut.”

The demon in question lounged across the other bench, unfazed. “I was in a hurry.”

Robin set about cleaning Eda’s wound. She let her, bemused but willing to take the kindness for what it was. She hissed as dried blood was wiped away and a thick, sharp-smelling ointment patted into the cut by calloused fingers.

Eda felt unmoored. She’d sought Kit out for his power—if a shape-shifter could not liberate her brothers, no one could—but her hopes of a quick rescue were rapidly dwindling. Kit was, by his own admission, limited in his abilities. Was this the case for other demons? For Mr. Night? He’d raised Emmeline from the grave. It seemed unthinkable that he could not remake the nature of the world with a mere gesture, that he might be anything less than omnipotent. And yet, for all the miraculous ways he fulfilled his Pacts, she had never witnessed them herself. Could any of it be the mundane simply masquerading as the magical? Theatrics and parlor tricks? If Mr. Night had any limitations at all, he certainly wouldn’t want them known.

Perhaps Eda had overestimated demons. Regardless, she hadn’t really asked Kit for his power—she’d asked for his help. Now she might have a safe place to lay her head at night. That, she conceded, was a helpful start indeed.

“How do you know one another?” Eda asked.

Kit made an amused sound.

“I was in the city when Kit’rath first arrived here,” Robin said. “He was badly injured, and we made a deal in return for my help. Not a Pact, you understand, though he offered one. A simple trade. Some shavings from his horn—a rare and powerful ingredient. He’s been bothering me ever since.”

Understanding dawned. “You’re a witch!”

Robin’s hand twitched around her own. “I’m a student of the alchemical arts, the same as all those poncy magic users in the Faithhood. Only difference is that when you’re sanctioned by the Faith, you’re called an alchemist, and when you’re not, you’re a dissident hex-peddler.” She wrapped bandages around the meat of Eda’s hand. “I may have no formal training, but I never needed it. Useful way to make coin on the river. Basic charms and enchantments are valuable.”

Magical practice was not strictly outlawed in Wesland, but it was certainly taboo if you weren’t invited into the Alchemists’ Cloister. Such rare gifts were to be used in service of the Faith or not at all. Eda supposed there was some merit in that, for within the Cloister one’s magic might be properly trained and put to noble use. Whatever the Faithhood deemed noble, at least.

Kit said, “I’m willing to part with more of my horn in return for room and board, Robin. The woman and I need somewhere safe beyond the city gates until this Pact is done. I won’t even ask for any of your witchy magicks. I can retrieve the brothers on my own.”

“It will take more than brute force.”

“I’m aware.”

“Are you? Fell Keep is well guarded. The very walls repel the demonic. You will need to plan accordingly.”

Eda said to Kit, “Let me help. They’re my brothers.”

“This whole thing will be done faster if you stay out of the way and let me work.”

“Not strictly true,” Robin said. “You may be powerful, Kit’rath Ansellis, but your very nature will be hard to hide from the Blades. Use the girl. She is human. Together, you might resemble something like a well-balanced team.”

Kit sneered.

Eda brightened. “Does that mean you’ll let us stay?”

“Hm. I have run out of demon’s horn…Very well. But if any Blades come sniffing, you shall be out on your arses and I’ll be halfway down the Embel before their boots touch the ground.”

“Perfectly fair of you,” Kit said. “Go on, then. Get the cheese grater.”