Page 57 of Taken By the Shadow Prince

Armin says, “That’s why I’m nottellingher anything. I’m just going to catch her in the lie and make it impossible for her to deny.”

“They’re original, Armin. Trust me, alright?”

He tugs gently on my hair as we make it to the bottom of the steps. “I trust you—but I don’t trust her, and I sure as hell won’t take her word for it when she says that she’s somehow created dozens of dishes that taste better than anything I’ve had in Atheya, from seasoned chefs that are centuries older than she’ll ever be.”

I can’t help but laugh. “The only thing you’ll do is flatter her or offend her. I can’t quite tell which one it is yet.”

He shrugs, smiling softly. “Are you sure there isn’t anything I can do to convince her to come with us to Atheya? What if I change your bargain to four years instead of five.”

I roll my eyes at him. “I’m—”

“What?”

I didn’t say it. Armin didn’t say it.

I whirl with a hand to the knife on my thigh, searching for the source of the voice. But there’s no one there.

Or, at least, itlookslike there’s no one there, until Mair is suddenly standing in front of us, eyes wide, cheeks flushed with what might be anger, might be shock.

“Mair.”

“What,” she repeats, “did he just say?”

I avoid the question. “Is there a reason you followed us?”

“Yes,” she bites out, glaring eyes shifting to Armin. “Because I didn’t trust this man you call Alexander—the one you said was a witch. Not when he showed up along with you—though I let myself chalk it up to you having fallen for someone. But I knew something was up for certain when he disappeared—and yes, I noticed he was gone. Of course, I did. Especially with you looking all around you like he might appear at any moment during dinner. But evenmorethan that, I didn’t trust when he conveniently showed back up when those demon witches arrived. I knew something fucked was going on—I just didn’t realize thatyouknew it, too.”

She gestures to him as her gaze turns back to mine. “What the fuck, Mavey? You brought ademonhere? And you made abargainwith it—fuckedit?”

“Him,” I say sharply. “And you know that. If Ender is a she, then Armin is ahe.” She’s just saying ‘it’ to make her words cut deeper, to get her point across that he is not one of us. But if he isn’t one of us, then Ender isn’t either. Then Joula isn’t.

“Armin?” She sounds like she’s choking on the word. “The fucking prince?”

He interjects so softly I almost want to laugh. “Notthe. I’m one of seven.”

She throws her hands in the air. “Who gives a shit?” Her eyes narrow even further. Is she even able toseeright now? “What did you do, Mavey?”

After I tell her everything, she drags me to the council room and signals for a servant to track down the rest of the members.

Mair is pissed.

And I get why. I do. But... I also don’t understand why. It’s not like I bargained my soul away, so I could be a world renowned alchemist, like some people do. I just traded five years for the safety of my country. For the future.

Is there a reason I’m being criticized for that? It’s better that it’s me than anyone else—especially since Armin and I seem to get on well enough.

Auley just stares after I explain the entire ordeal. Ellis does a good enough job of pretending to be surprised, and I’m grateful he’s willing to pretend that I didn’t tell him, either. I think it’ll lessen the sting for Mair.

Leven watches me with a contemplative expression, as if trying to figure out if it was a stupid or smart thing to do. Lillian has broken down into tears, Isa consoles her, and Finch shakes his head, pulls his round glasses off his face, and clutches them to his heart, as if I’m in need of prayers.

And I might be, since I’m fucking a demon. But I sincerely doubt they’ll do much for me at this point.

I say quietly, “I did it for us. I’m sorry if it hurts your feelings, but I didn’t have any other choice. I ran out of Ender’s blood. I had to dosomething.”

“You should have just come home,” Mair says, standing. “Come home, get more blood, keep trying. You don’t just bargain with a demon prince when plan A goes to shit.”

I look her in the eyes, willing my stare to be blank, devoid of emotion. “There was no time for a Plan B, Mair. We had Plan A, and we had Plan Z.”

“Notwe,” she hisses. “You. You had Plan fucking Z.” She shakes her head and rounds the table until she’s standing behind Leven instead of beside me. “I would have preferred you come back empty-handed than with a deal with the motherfucking devil.”

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