Page 34 of Each Their Own Devil

Merivus spoke again. “Fine. But hurry.”

“No,” Aleja snapped. “We don’t need time to confer. Knowing One, we can’t make this deal.”

Merivus’s mask turned to her, twitching in irritation. His was not the only set of eyes Aleja could feel on her. Garm’s panting briefly stopped. Even Amicia, who was still lingering by Garm’s torso, took in a small breath.

“I should have known it was you who would stand in the way of peace,” Merivus said.

“I’m standing in the way of total destruction,” she said. “I know about the Avaddon, just like I know that you and your allies will do anything to see it come to pass. Killing Val will only speed things up. As for the Third, you’d rather he be as far away from the Messenger as possible.”

Merivus tutted. “I see she has gotten to you, Lady of Wrath. The Messenger is a consummate liar and always has been. We suspected she had contacted one of the Otherlanders—that she had an insider here who was coordinating with Val to spread misinformation. I must admit, I’m surprised it was you.”

“Al?” someone whispered. It was Amicia, who had stepped a few feet closer.

Aleja ignored her as Merivus turned his mask back to Nicolas. “Are you really going to let your wife ruin this historic agreement between our peoples?”

Aleja knew what Nicolas would say before he opened his mouth—that she was his High General in waiting, whose counsel he considered above all else. The words would sour his relationship with the other Dark Saints. They would sour his relationship with his soldiers, many of whom had already been prepared to execute Val. She had to be the one to be blamed for this.

Fire roared to life around both her hands, engulfing them in a torrent of red and orange.

“Lady of Wrath,” Nicolas growled. This time, his voice was devoid of the tenderness he always saved for her. He spoke to her as he would any soldier who had disobeyed a direct order from the Knowing One. “Lower your hands.”

Aleja’s flames reflected off a blade to her left—it was not Nicolas’s, but Orla’s, who had stepped around the Knowing One with her sword drawn. “You heard the Knowing One, Wrath. Step down.”

Aleja’s chest hurt, as if her fire was burning her up from the inside. She let herself take one fleeting glance at Nicolas and Orla, standing side by side. Garm took a step forward, coming between them with a low growl in Orla’s direction.

“My, Knowing One,” Merivus said, sounding pleased. “It seems the Dark Saints are ready to tear themselves apart without any intervention from us. Are you going to rein in your wife or is our deal null?”

“Speak of her that way again and I’ll make what you did to your comrade seem like a mercy killing,” Nicolas snapped.

“I don’t know what you’re doing, but you need to stand down,” Amicia said, low and close to Aleja’s ear. “Nicolas and Orla are right. The Messenger can’t be trusted, Al.”

“The deal is on,” Nicolas said. “My Lady of Wrath is merely expressing what we’re all thinking—that if this is a ploy, you will regret living to experience our revenge.”

A question with no answer burned through the marriage bond:Are you sure about this?

Trust me. Please, she thought back desperately, unable to put anything else into words.

I will do what I can to slow the others down, but I can’t just let you go. You’ll have to run.

Aleja pictured Bonnie’s face brightening as she stepped into her garden. She pictured Taddeas taking on a role that he had wanted to avoid at all costs because he knew in his heart that Aleja was not ready. She pictured Amicia’s flirting, and Merit’s curious stares, and even Orla, handing over her sword for Aleja’s last Trial.

Merivus looked between them. “Knowing One, are you really going to extend this pointless war overherfor a second time? I beg you to remember that you are only in this position because of your senseless slaughter those centuries ago. The Lady of Wrath was a war criminal then, just as she is an obstructionist now.”

“She is not obstructing anything. The deal will go through whether the Lady of Wrath desires it or not,” Nicolas said. “Wrath, I’m not going to ask you again. Fall backnowor find yourself occupying Val’s empty cell.”

Garm looked between them, his helmet shining red in the firelight. He was promised to protect her—an oath she knew he would take seriously, even if it meant betraying the Knowing One.

The fire flared around her hands before anyone could gasp in surprise, and then she was pouring it out of the depths of her as she hadn’t done since she had faced her first Astraelis convoy—back when she was still a human girl in love with the Knowing One.

Merivus did not scream. He didn’t even get the chance to raise his hands.

Behind him, the other Astraelis only managed to retreat a half step before her fire found them. While Merivus had been silent, these men were not. The howls from their burning throats were twisted and ghoulish.

Go, Nicolas urged, as her fire sputtered.

Aleja did. Mindlessly. Wildly. With Garm at her side.

She heard Orla’s shouts behind her, but after a moment, they were overtaken by the wind as she reached the hilltop where the Umbramares waited.

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