Page 6 of Obsession

“Are you the one Aris took magic from?” I ask.

“No.”

No? The negative shocks me. If Jaegen isn’t Order, then who is? Is there a whole pantheon of evil gods?

“That isn’t important. I am here because I’d like to propose a bargain,” says Jaegen.

“What?” I say, whiplashed. One moment he’s friendly, then he’s showing godlike wrath, and now… bargaining? I can’t get a read on him.

Why offer a deal when he can just take what he wants?

I feel the need to point this out but hesitate, wondering if this has occurred to him. Surely, he knows. “Why?” I finally say, glancing between him and the light behind him.

He found me so easily. Who else might show up? Does Aris know where I am?

“I like bargains,” he says plainly and shrugs his huge shoulders, the movement so human that I’m momentarily taken aback. “All expectations laid out at the beginning, with a clear understanding between both parties.” He pauses. “You regard this suspiciously. I understand; Aris is a tricky being.”

I hold back a scoff. That’s one word for it.

“But I am an honest party,” Jaegen continues. “And you need something from me, do you not?”

I shift nervously on my feet. Even if I hadn’t been deceived and betrayed literally yesterday, I’d still distrust bargaining with a god. At my very best, it would be difficult to play ball with him, and impossible to outsmart him. He knows everything I think and feel, anything I could ever want before wanting it myself. It would be so easy to take advantage of me. What’s to say he’s not doing so already?

“You feel as though you have nothing to offer.” His gaze softens, the intensity of his presence flickering. “How unfortunate that he has brought you so low. I can fix that.”

His expression is earnest, unwavering, but I can’t tell if his sympathy is real or not. “You haven’t answered my question,” I say quietly.

“Ah. What can you give me… Well, it’s simple. I would like your help in disposing of Aris.”

I blink. “Disposing…?”

“Removing. Permanently.”

A swell of something strange rushes through me. I’m not sure there’s a word for it exactly… maybe stupefaction. Doubt? Aris has dominated my life for so long that it feels impossible to imagine him gone.

And can he even die? He said it couldn’t be done, but, then again, he’s a liar. And if anyone could kill him, it would be another god.

Slowly, and then all at once, hope flushes through me. It feels like I’m finally being rewarded for everything: the horrible end of the Institute, Henry’s betrayal, my pathetic night in the woods. The three years I spent trapped in a basement. This is exactly what I wanted, and Jaegen is offering it outright. I didn’t need to summon him; he came to me!

The part of me familiar with loss pauses here. When things are too good to be true, they usually are.

What he’s proposing is something that I thought was impossible ten minutes ago. When I planned to summon Jaegen to stop Aris, I figured we could trap him again. But this is…

To permanently be rid of Aris…

“How would I do that?” I ask slowly.

“Firstly, you would need to infiltrate his ranks. Get close to him.”

I still, brows pushing together from the effort to keep my face composed. I have to bite my lip to stop myself from immediately yelling, no, no, no!

Jaegen spoke so casually, as if it’s not the biggest ask in the world. He wants me to return to Aris. Just when I’ve gotten away.

“That’s a… lot,” I say carefully. I rub at my necklace and catch myself in the act with a start, dropping it.

He shrugs his big shoulders in easy acquiescence. Yes, it is no easy request: returning to my tormentor, who broke my heart and betrayed my trust. To go back, where he will mock and laugh at me for returning willingly. And that’s if he and his followers don’t kill me on sight for my petulance of abandoning them in the first place. And that’s if he doesn’t find out I’m working against him.

The blood of the mages hasn’t yet dried, my hair dye has hardly even set. I have been free for maybe a day. I still see the expression on Henry’s face behind my eyelids when he told me Aris was in him. Can’t I have… a break?

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