Page 48 of The Shadow Heir

He didn’t see my shocked grimace as he stormed toward a thin set of steps carved into the mountainside.

“I will never swoon for you,” I spat as I followed him out into the icy night. As soon as the cold air bit at my skin, I longed for the ocean breeze and warm sunlight of my world.

“Good, it’ll make this easier.”

I wrapped my arms around myself and hurried after the heir as he jogged down the stairs.

A veil of ice rested on the banister, so I held my skirts instead. “Make what easier?” The moonless night meant he was at his peak power, and I wanted to get away from him as quickly as possible.

But at the bottom of the stairs, Casimiro turned, trapping me on the narrow stone steps as he braced one arm on the frozen banister. “Your escape tonight was staged. I must say, you played your part seamlessly.” He ignored my guffaw and pressed on. “I knew you would try to escape, and everyone here knew I would have to retrieve you or let my father suffer. If I didn’t retrieve you, my father would know I was responsible, and—well, let’s just say you don’t want him returning early any morethan I do.” He flexed his hand at his side. “But now I need your help.”

I blinked at him rapidly. “You needmyhelp?”

His jaw tensed, but he showed no other signs of being offended by askingme, a mortal, for help. “Unfortunately, yes.”

The information washed over me like a bucket of cold water, and for several seconds I was speechless. “I don’t want to help you,” I finally admitted, crossing my arms, mostly to barricade myself from the bitter wind.

“I didn’t imagine that you did. But I design your trials, so it behooves you to do what I say.”

“Blackmail. An excellent choice. It befits your station.”

He sniffed. “I don’t need your approval or your admiration. I merely need your compliance.”

“What if I refuse?”

His gaze sharpened. “I will ensure that you never find out about your friend.”

My stomach dropped. “You know about Talia?”

He nodded.

“And you won’t tell me about her unless I help you?”

Another nod.

“You really are foul, you know that?”

Casimiro sighed. “This will only work if you choose to do it on your own. Any magic I place on you to force your hand would be traceable. This must happen without anyone discovering your true role.”

“My true role,” I repeated, brows lifting. “If I agree to this, am I your accomplice? Does that mean we’repartners, Casimiro?”

I threw his given name at him like he’d done to me, and it filled me with a sense of power that shot like lightning through my veins.

His brow quirked at my use of his name. “Think what you like, but I haven’t explained yet how this will work.” He paused, and the longer the silence stretched on, the more threatened I felt.

“Okay, fine. How will it work?” I needed to get back inside. My muscles were starting to shake.

He smiled, but the expression didn’t reach his eyes. “I need you to befriend the servants and find out who is poisoning them.”

“Poisoning them?” I barked, my chest rocking forward, putting me dangerously off balance on the icy steps.

Casimiro’s arm lifted from the banister as if to steady me, but when I straightened, his hand, now no longer streaked with black, quickly settled again on the icy stone. My eyes stared at his hand a moment too long, and when my attention shifted back to his face, I couldn’t reconcile his desire to kill me with his desire to keep me from falling.

“That’s what I said,” he drawled. “Most of the mortals here have been offered some sort of deal to not speak to any fae of the poisonings by whoever is behind it. But your only hope for finding out about Talia is to do as I say. With a word, I can place a spell on the name of your friend that will silence anyone who wishes to speak of her to you.”

“You are despicable, you know that?” It hit me that he would try to kill me again in a few hours.

“People are suffering, and you say I am despicable for wanting it to stop?”

---