Page 40 of Monster Bride (Shadow Pact 2)

It’s a trap. Of course it was.

Sylas was desperate. But why?

“Sylas.” I pushed off the wall as confidence renewed within me. “You’ve already shown your dominance over shadow and magic here in Kithonia. What do you need a stockpile of nightsteel for so badly you’re out to threaten Earth as well?”

Sylas only just barely hid his own surprise. The truth was, I knew why he wanted the nightsteel on Earth. While his power—like all shadow demons—might be sourced from suffering and death and fear, it had a limit. He couldn’t take out every opposing demon in this world at once.

I thought I’d figured him out. But Sylas watched my reaction and smiled slowly.

“You have much to learn, Aisling,” Sylas said. “About our people. Our history. There are gods to appease, who, if we don’t, will remove us. Their power is real. Their presence ancient. And I intend to make an offering they cannot refuse.”

My eyes narrowed. “What does that mean?” And moreover, what did it have to do with Earth?

Sylas tilted his head, but his gaze was far gone, focused on the window behind me and the distant window beyond it. “My faith installed me as king. I will raise a god exiled to Earth long ago and pull them back through to Kithonia.” A seriousness darkened Sylas’s eyes and, for the briefest of moments, he looked like a madman. But it was clear he believed every single word he was saying. “Dakta will rise, and our world will prosper. Through suffering we prevail.”

Sylas signed a symbol in the air before him like a prayer. A symbol so familiar, the sight of it swept the air from my lungs.

I’d carved that set of concentric circles on every single weapon I’d ever made for Lazarus. As a wardagainstDakta. It must have been.

Lazarus had known. But how?

The Lunar League must have as well. Why else go to the length of promoting your demon hunter status in a world where demons were so rare they were thought of as myth? Why else extend your vampire and other supernatural hunting skills as an afterthought?

Fuck.

I needed time. A lot more time than I had previously thought I needed.

I had to forge a weapon good enough to kill Sylas before anything in this rising Dakta plan happened. But how the hell could I buy something more of what I didn’t have to begin with?

“I want you to join me, Aisling,” Sylas said, his tone far away now. “I need your help—and I will have it, willingly or not. I can give you more powerthan you can ever imagine. We can forge a new path to an endless empire. Your life will mean something. And your suffering will stop.”

Sylas was absolutely insane. That much was clear. Which was a hell of a lot more dangerous than a king being cruel or violent or tyrannical. Aninsaneking who was also powerful was the worst combination. And in buying Mrak time to plan with Karn, I’d placed myself right at the center of that mad king’s plans.

“I will consider it.” It surprised me I could even get the words out evenly, let alone with such a convincing tone. “But I want to see my friend first. Bring Willa to me,andQuinn. Then I’ll let you know what I decide.”

Sylas grinned manically. It was then I knew that perhaps we’d all gotten a bit deeper into this than we’d anticipated.

Suddenly, Earth wasn’t looking like so bad a place to be anymore. Trauma or not.

“Later today,” Sylas said. “I have things to attend to. In the meantime, rest. You’ll need it.”

I swallowed hard. I was going to need a lot more than rest to survive this. And to stop Sylas.

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