The Frozen Prince (The Beast Charmer #2) - Maxym M. Martineau Page 0,42
I’d done it with Brody, it’d felt good. Wrong, but somehow right. The contradiction ate away at my insides, and I ground my teeth together.
Darrien dropped his gaze, returning instead to the books strewn across the table. “You’re the only one with the power to raise the dead. Zane’s blood lives in your veins.” His fingers traced what looked like a network of bloodlines and family trees across two pages. “I can’t replenish my numbers when a job goes south. I’m asking for your help, and in exchange, I won’t orchestrate any more ambushes.”
I let out a cold, brittle laugh. “Orchestrate all you want. You won’t succeed in capturing me or forcing me to relinquish my power early. And if that fails and you kill me instead, the power passes to the assassin of my choosing. We all know that isn’t you.”
My gaze slanted to Kost. My second. The man who would live or die by Cruor’s code. He angled his chin high and glared at the traitor.
Darrien growled. His restless hand had moved to a new book laid open beneath the first. Yet another family tree with swirling black ink played across the pages. His nails dug against the names and crinkled the paper.
“I will keep trying if I have to.”
“You came after my pair bond. I should kill you for that alone.” The memory of Leena’s wound burned in my mind, feeding the frenzied red haze claiming my senses. Control. I needed to stay in control.
Fingers dawdling, he picked up the scrap of parchment that Gaige had dropped. “And I’m sorry for that.” He let the paper fall to the table, gaze roaming back my direction. “Talmage wouldn’t want this. He’d want us to continue on. All I’m asking is that you raise an assassin for my guild every now and then. I’m not looking to amass an army. Just keep those who followed me safe.”
Kost broke. “How dare you mention his name after what you did.” He clenched and unclenched his trembling fists. “Talmage was my friend too. Kill him, Noc. Get this sorry excuse for a man out of our home.”
I bit back the rage and settled on an icy response. “I won’t raise the dead for you. You made your choice when you left Cruor. Recruit normal, human assassins and leave the shadows to us. That’s my final verdict.”
Voice surprisingly soft, Darrien’s response was barely audible. “Are you sure?”
“You’re not offering me anything in return. You’re simply asking for a favor. And after all that you’ve done, it’s hardly warranted.” Slowly, I extracted my hands and flexed them, ignoring the bloody welts marring the skin of my palms. “Get out.”
Something foreign raced through Darrien’s expression. “If that’s your final decision…”
The way his words trailed off rattled my nerves. Something was wrong. I expected him to argue, to defend his case longer. I’d known Darrien for decades, and he never caved. He’d stand by his beliefs, however misguided, with everything he had. The only person who was ever able to convince him to see things differently was Talmage.
Unease crept under my skin. “Ozias, get him out of here.”
Darrien stood in a hurry. The slightest hint of a grin tugged at one corner of his mouth. Without so much as a single complaint, he allowed Ozias to shove him out of the library and into the main halls of Cruor. My breath froze in my lungs until the double doors leading to the outside world banged shut, and Darrien retreated from my home.
Kost broke away, muttering to himself as he stacked tomes together and arranged loose papers. I caught a glimpse of two titles from Gaige’s stack, A Brief History of Wilheim and Zane and the Fallen Leaders. Kost continued to close spare books with more force than necessary and knocked over an inkwell. He cursed at the mess before fishing a cloth of his breast pocket. Ink slowly spread toward the small piece of parchment, coloring the edge, and Kost snatched it up before it could soak through entirely.
“Something is wrong. Darrien had to know I’d never agree to raise assassins for him.” Running a tense hand through my hair, I replayed the conversation in my mind. Why hadn’t he fought back? What was I missing?
“Noc.”
I turned to find Kost still holding the stray parchment. Face pale, he looked at me over the top of his spectacles.
“What is it?”
“He knows who you are.” Kost upended my world with his words.