Page 50 of Ties of Bargains

She had to get out of here. Get out of here and…and…

Would she return to the Realm of Monsters as if nothing had happened? Report to Diego that her mission was complete and wash her hands of it? Ofhim?

Or she could do what she could to try to free Harm. Perhaps if she contacted the Primrose League, the Wild Fae Primrose—that fae nobleman who rescued humans—would step in or send one of his men to rescue Harm.Or she could figure out a way to rescue Harm herself. She was a mercenary. Being sneaky was part of her job.

Assuming Diego let her out of the Wild Hunt ride he was planning.

Damig spared her a single glance before he gripped the center of the cord and began leading both her and Harm. “I’m afraid I can’t accept the delivery any more than Golbet could. I already bargained whatever human I could secure at the Dragon Moot to Warlord Zaya in the Court of Sand. I’ll be taking both of you to her in the morning.”

“What? No! That’s not how this is supposed to work!” Val gritted her teeth as she staggered forward under Daisy’s weight.

The Court of Sand. She couldn’t go to one of the warlords. She just…couldn’t.

Why couldn’t she just make one simple delivery? It wasn’t supposed to be this hard. None of her past missions had gone like this. At this rate, she’d never get this dragon-cursed rope off and regain her freedom.

Chapter Seventeen

Harm sat on one of the beds in the stone room that dragon had shoved him, Val, and Daisy into. There weren’t any windows, and the only light came from beneath the thick wooden door and from the single lantern sitting on a table beside his bed.

As soon as Val had set her down, Daisy had crawled beneath the far bed, tucking herself as far from the dragons as she could.

Val gave another inarticulate growl before she slammed her shoulder into the door. “I’m not part of this bargain! Just accept the blasted delivery and let me go!”

She banged her fist against the door before she leaned her forehead against it. If she’d been anyone else, he would have thought she was about to cry.

“I’m sorry.” Harm gripped the edge of the bed. He shouldn’t be hurt. He’d known allalong that she was only here to deliver him and be on her way. Nothing more. None of those moments he’d thought they’d shared truly mattered in the end. She would do what it took to save herself.

He couldn’t blame her. Who would want to get stuck in one of these bargains?

“It isn’t your fault.” Val banged her fist on the door again, then kicked it for good measure.

“Still, I’m sorry you’re stuck here with me. I know how much you were counting on delivering me to Golbet and getting on your way.” Harm swallowed, hating the harsh rasp to his voice. “Will your Wild Hunt leader be angry that you’re late again?”

“No, he’ll understand. He knows how dragons can get.” Val slapped her palm on the door one last time before she leaned her back against it, facing him. Her expression remained tight, though he couldn’t quite read the emotion deepening her brown eyes or puckering her forehead. “It isn’t that Iwantto abandon you. It’s just…I’m just not supposed to be here. If I’m stuck here, then I can’t…” She hissed something almost like a suppressed scream through her teeth.

Harm waited. Staying quiet seemed like the better part of valor right now.

Val sucked in a shuddering breath, her shoulders slumping. When she spoke again, her voice was quiet, as if she couldn’t believe she was saying this. “If I’m stuck here, then I can’t do anything to free you.”

She was planning to try to free him. She wasn’t going to just abandon him. The elation lasted only aslong as it took for him to remember how dire their situation was.

“I doubt there’s anything even you can do to save me from this.” Harm’s shoulders hunched under the weight of those words, the truth sinking deep into his bones.

He was going to die here in the Fae Realm. He saw that now. He’d never see his father or brother again. Never return to Tulpenland and its brick streets, canals, and windmills. Never figure out why that mysteriousfeehad meddled by poisoning Gijs and arranging for Harm to be bargained away.

A bargain was just too unbreakable, and Harm was just too weak when compared to dragons and warlords and monarchs. He’d be bound by Bindings, drugged with faerie fruit, and endure the rest of his short life in torment. It was simply inevitable.

“I don’t know. But I can’t find out in here.” Val pushed away from the door and paced at the far end of the ten-foot tether. “And I just can’t…I can’t go to a warlord in the Court of Sand.”

The words seemed almost dragged out of her, as if she hadn’t meant to say that out loud.

She hadn’t seemed this reluctant to go through the Court of Sand before, back when they’d been deciding their route from the Court of Revels. But she was almost as frantic now as Daisy had been when facing the dragons. He didn’t think she’d become that way because of all the monsters. She faced those without flinching.

“Did something happen in the Court of Sand?” Harm worked to keep his tone low as he regarded her.

Val huffed a breath and sank onto the bed across from him. She flexed her fingers on the blanket for a moment before she lifted her gaze to meet his. “I was born in the Court of Sand.”

Harm kept his mouth shut, his gaze unwavering, as he waited for her to continue.

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