Page 12 of Queen of Darkness
My stomach sank. He was clearly warning me that I would not like what he was asking for in return. Not that I was forced to pay. I could always choose not to hear his answer.
No, I can’t. He has me trapped, and he knows it. I need to be rid of this stupid death warrant so that I can focus on Elenia and not have to watch out for random bounty hunters getting in the way of things. I don’t have a choice.
“What is it going to cost me?” I asked, deflated.
A wicked smile came over his face, curdling my blood and nearly forcing me to take a step back at its dark promise. It was a stark reminder that while he might dislike Queen Elenia, he was definitelynotmy friend. I’d forgotten that at some point, but now it felt like I was getting a harsh reminder.
Slowly pulling one hand out from under his chin, he pointed one pale, creepily long finger at my arm, where the bands were clasped around my biceps.
“Those.”
Chapter Eight
“These?” I fingered the rings nervously.
Could I even give them away? The Rings of Kline were the relic of an ancient, long-dead shifter god. I didn’t know much about Kline, the god of mind and body, but his rings had been all that stood between me and death on multiple occasions. To part with them would be … bad.
Are they even yours to give away? Vir gave those to you. They belonged to his brother. He was really just loaning them to you, wasn’t he?
“A bargain must be made,” Duke Hamelin said, prodding me in the face of my indecision. “I cannot accept less than what the information is worth.”
“I doubt these are of equal value,” I pointed out.
“Value is what someone assigns to something,” the Duke replied. “To others, you might be correct. However, I suspect that to you, the information I can give will be just as important as these. If I’m wrong, however …”
I grimaced. He was right. I didn’t have much of a choice. Without knowing how to get rid of my Blood Letter, I couldn’t follow through with my plan of killing the queen. If she were dead, she couldn’t cancel it. Meaning, for the rest of my life–which could be forever now that I was effectively an immortal vampire—I would be forced to defend myself from the threat of a bounty hunter.
I did not want, or need, that stress. The letter had to go.
“Very well,” I said, my throat tight as I slid the first ring off my arm and placed it on his desk.
Vir would have to be okay with this trade. After all, he had told me to use them as I needed. If this were what Itrulyneeded, then he would support that. Wouldn’t he?
I didn’t know. I could only hope.
I slid the other one off, placing it on the Broker’s desk next to its twin, and a tremor wracked my body. I was really doing it. I was giving up one of my most powerful advantages.
Regret blossomed, and I lifted a hand, ready to reach out to take them back. Maybe I was making a mistake. Perhaps I should keep them and find another way.
Then how will I deal with the Blood Letter? I don’t know anyone else who can help me with it.
“There,” I said sharply, putting my hand back down, forcing myself past the indecision. I had to move forward, to start fixing my life, so that I could kill Elenia and take her throne.
Only then could my mother and I finally live in peace.
The Broker reached out and collected the rings, placing them with some care into a drawer in his desk. Once they were out of sight, he leaned forward. Due to his height and my lack of it, we were still nearly at eye level of one another.
“There is a loophole, as you say,” he began. “Did you read the contract of the Blood Letter when you issued your own?”
“No,” I said. I hadn’t realized therewasone. Mr. Orrin, the shadowy contact with the Bounty Hunters Guild, hadn’t said anything about a contract. Only what I had to do to put out a Blood Letter.
Idiot! Of course, there has to be a contract. Something more to it. If you’d been thinking, you could have asked him and read it yourself.
I wondered if the Broker would go back on our deal now and give me the rings back. Unlikely, since he’d already revealed where I needed to look. If anything, he’d get angry at my attempt to renege.
“The fine print states that the bounty is collectible via body or blood.”
“Blood?” I asked, the question popping out before my brain could catch up with my mouth.
