they’ve been killing the Unending for years, over and over, just to preserve all that Spirit put in place. To keep themselves in power,” I said, looking at Maya. “You know as well as I do that if the Unending gets free, she’ll make them all mortal again. That’s what I’d do, if I were her.”
Maya nodded slowly, and I felt a little less crazy for talking to her.
“I can only imagine what she’s been going through, especially now that she knows her father is leading the charge against her. Poor Valaine.”
The door screeched open, and Maya vanished. Danika came in, casually holding a heart in her hand. My throat closed up as I watched the blood dripping from her fingers onto the stone floor. She gave me a sideways glance.
“I have a proposition for you, Derek.”
“You don’t even realize how crazy you look,” I muttered.
“I’m merely doing my job,” Danika said. “We have to bring the Spirit Bender back before we lose it all.”
“Whose heart is that?” I asked. She knelt and placed the heart on the same charred spot where she’d burned the first one. Whispering a spell, she watched the purple flames engulf the crimson organ, its muscle twitching and sizzling as the fire consumed it.
“Iklas. He was the second slowest among us,” she replied dryly, unaffected by what she had to do to meet her objective. By all possible definitions, Danika was a sociopath, and I wondered if she was even capable of loving anyone—including her son. She’d killed her husband, so what would stop her from doing the same to the boy if push came to shove? “I’m trying to take them down by order of physical prowess. Some of the Whips are smart, but not the most agile. Others have excellent instincts, but slower brain activity. Rodique was at the bottom of the pile. Iklas was right behind her. Anyway, these details are unimportant. Like I said, I need to talk to you.”
“What do you want, Danika?” I asked, unable to take my eyes off the burning heart. The crystalline shard was revealed, and she carefully scooped it out from the shimmering ashes and slipped it into a fine leather pouch.
“The Black Fever is doing quite the number on us,” she said. “Worse than ever, actually. We’ve already lost about three thousand Aeternae in the imperial city, plus thousands more in the provinces. Whatever made the curse manifest itself sooner has also made it much more aggressive. It’s killing us faster.”
I narrowed my eyes at her, though she couldn’t be bothered to look at me. “Am I supposed to feel sorry for you?”
“Corbin is mounting a full-scale operation to track Valaine down and kill her. Eventually, he will find her, and it’s very likely your wife and your friends will be stupid enough to try to protect her. They will die, and you will suffer. While that would give me nothing but joy, it would also reduce the Aeternae numbers to dramatic new lows. The empire cannot afford that. The faster we get to Valaine, the more of us will survive.”
“What am I supposed to do?”
Not that I had any intention of doing something—let alone something that Danika might require—but I wanted to know what she was planning. This conversation was going somewhere, and the more she talked, the more information I gathered.
“Come out with me. I’ll call a gathering and make sure your people hear about it. They’ll be there, for sure. You’re all foolish enough to follow one another into the pits of darkness and death if you have to,” Danika said. “Announce that you’re on my side. Make a public plea for Valaine to surrender herself. I’m certain if Sofia sees you on that stage, she’ll think twice before holding on to Valaine. You’re her husband. Valaine is simply someone who needs to die in order to save lives.”
I laughed mockingly. “You’re joking, right? You want me to tell the people of Visio—and my people, too—that Valaine should surrender so that she can die?”
“It’s an option I’m giving you, Derek. Like I said, I’d love nothing more than to watch you suffer for an eternity, but I must worry about my empire first. I’ll sweeten the deal for you. I’ll grant you and your crew safe passage off this planet if you do this. You’ll get to leave Visio behind and move on with your lives, and we’ll get to continue our sacred traditions.”
“Your sacred traditions are unethical, unnatural, and illegal!