Page 62 of V for Vilified
Cash’s emotions intensified, but I ignored them. “You’ll let them go if I make this contract with you?” I demanded.
A smile crept across my enemy’s face. “I will.”
“And their memories of me will stay intact?”
“They’ll be left the way I found them here, yes,” Aram agreed, his smile growing and exposing his fangs. “But the contract means you can’t escape or leave my side until the Season’s finished. Should you, you’d be breaking it.”
“And what happens if I break it?”
“Normally, it’ll divest you of your magic and possibly even kill you,” Aram mused, his eyes tracking my mouth. “But I don’t much care for that idea, so instead…” His gaze lifted to meet mine, beaming red. “It’ll wipe all your memories of them and that realm. It’ll leave you only with your memories of being with me.”
Of fucking course. I wasn’t dealing with some stupid oaf. This was the Devil himself I was striking a deal with. But without my ability to use time to get us out of this predicament, it wasn’t like I was swimming in choices. Either way I went, shit was fucked.
I wasn’t going to fall in love with him. I wasn’t going to agree our bond was meant to be. I’d still want him dead in a month or two’s time no matter what tricks he played. Nothing he did would make me forget what he was willing to do to everyone I cared about. If it was one thing I was good at, it was being a vengeful bitch.
“But that’s wholly one-sided. You’re losing nothing in this exchange,” I said, proud when my voice didn’t shake. “Leaving them alive but separating us isn’t high stakes for you.”
He hummed, impressed by my negotiation prowess. “It’s a fair point, I suppose.”
“Aram,” Rayis warned.
He ignored his brother, cocking his head to the side. “Say I add a price for failing to convince you by the time our contract ends…”
“What kind of price?”
“Exactly what you’ve come here to do,” Aram whispered, close enough to kiss. “The contract will kill me and render my brothers vulnerable to you.”
“You have to be bloody fucking joking,” Rayis mumbled angrily under his breath.
Aram put up his hand, the smile never leaving his mouth. “Do we have a deal, little hybrid?”
“Bloody fucking bond,” I heard Rayis mutter.
I slapped the white-haired villain’s hand away from my face and stepped back. “Deal.”
Chapter 25
A Little Help From a Friend
I’d been on the other end of a lot of weird-ass shit, but flying was a new one. Carried like a princess by a feathered self-proclaimed god wasn’t how I saw this day going for me.
I was a Hunter who feared nothing, but not having my feet on the ground was uncomfortable, and I clung to the giant Fae without meaning to. It wasn’t the impression of strength I planned to project after accepting Aram’s terms.
I’d left all my favorite people back at the not-volcano. If they were smart, they wouldn’t come looking for me. They’d been frozen, not deaf. They should all know why they couldn’t.
Hopefully, Jo would talk some sense into the protective three. When my gaze met hers, it was the same look she gave me whenever she trusted me to do what I needed to do. She knew I had a plan.
Until the Season was finished, I’d be Aram’s prisoner.
Well, at least I’d act the part. Really, I’d exploit the up-close and personal with the powerful Nether Royals and find out the best way to get each of these Fae assholes in the ground.
Because I wasn’t stupid. Aram was too willing to strike a contract that would kill him, so it must’ve meant it wouldn’t. Or not at least the way I wanted.
He might be sure he could sway me, but a small part of him was anxious. I didn’t act the way he expected—the way every person who crossed his path did. Everything I said and did perplexed him, but unfortunately, it only made him more determined to have me.
Go figure.
Villains weren’t known for their sound minds.
