Page 20 of Keeping Sarah

I let out a groan of frustration. “This is why nobody gets along with you, Rex! No one can trust you!”

“Then I can only imagine you will be glad to be rid of me,” he said. “Let me go.”

I stepped forward in my imagination, shoving him back into the passenger seat of my mind. “I will not let you go until I have a binding treaty between us.”

“Binding?” he mocked. “How could you bind it?”

I jutted out my chin. “If you do not leave me and the conduits alone, then we will be forced to execute you.”

“I told you before, Sarah, you cannot kill me in a way that matters.”

“What does that even mean?” I asked.

But he didn’t let the answer to that slip. Not even a whisp of what he was talking about. I could not read his thoughts on the matter.

“You might as well just give up on the idea of a treaty,” he growled irritably. “Those bitches—"

“The conduits,” I corrected him. “Don’t talk shit about them.”

“They want me dead. So I want them dead,” he grit out. “This is a zero sum situation. There is no treaty that would stop the conduits, nothing they would agree to if it were to limit their authority. That’s what happens when someone gets their first taste of power. They go mad with it.”

I found the conversation interesting. “Is that what happened to you? Have you gone mad?”

“I have always had power. Its effects on me are moot.”

“But I—"

“Are you scared, Sarah?” He cut in, his voice dropping. “Is that why you will not release me? You think I would attack you for this kidnapping?”

“It has to have crossed your mind, Rex.”

“I will not harm you.” His voice became quiet. “I will not let my people harm you. If you release me, I will ensure your safety until you reach Valor’s lands again. After I leave you there, I cannot vouch for your safety, but until then, I guarantee it.”

I shook my head and curled my fingers around the railing securing his balcony. “You went back on your word when it came to the conduits.”

He sighed deeply. “Yes.”

“So why would I trust you when it comes to my safety?”

“Understand, I only did that because they were going to attack me. You saw Augur—"

“I saw you gut a woman you had sex with, Rex,” I seethed angrily. “Explain to me how that isherfault. I dare you.”

Instead, he went silent.

From the balcony, I walked into the manor. I was in his bedroom, I realized. The floors were a cherrywood plank, but the massive bed was some other wood that I didn’t recognize. But its four posters were almost black, like the carved headboard. The bedcovers were as well. No fur on top of the sheets like with the Ladrangs. Windows lined the wall of the balcony. The walls were brick red, with golden crown molding. The paintings on the walls had a similar frame. Even though the room was ostentatious in its size and décor, there was something welcoming about it. Fancy, but still cozy somehow, much like the rest of the manor.

“You have a nice bedroom,” I complimented him.

A clipped, “Thank you.”

“Rex, why did you kill Augur?” I persisted.

He huffed. “You made it plain that explaining my actions would result in your further disappointment in me, so I thought it best to keep my reasons to myself.”

“Try anyway,” I pushed him.

After a quiet moment, he spoke. “Augur was my ally, until that night in the swamp when she tried to kill us with her drecks. To be honest, I was shocked you were naïve enough to offer them a deal after such an offense. They tried to kill you and you offered to make peace. How could you do such a thing?”

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