Even as the lie tumbled from my lips, I knew it rang false.
Evren knew it too. His emerald eyes were cold as they bored into mine. “Liar,” he snarled, shoving me back against the wall.
“Why would I lie?” I retorted.
“Because you’re the Darkseer’s pet.” Evren sneered as his gaze dropped to my thigh. To the tattoo concealed beneath my hospital gown. “Aren’t you?” His tone was laced with disdain.
Despite the danger I was in, my cheeks flushed with indignation at the term “pet,” but wasn’t that what I’d told Zhara? That I belonged to the Darkseer? It was safer to allow the Order to believe Casimir had marked me as his. The problem was, Evren would never trust me if he thought I was loyal to Casimir.
Evren’s grip tightened, hard enough to leave bruises in the soft tissue around my shoulders.
I ground my jaw, panic lacing my every thought. To survive this, I needed to make the Bloodweaver believe I was bound to Casimir against my will. That if I was his pet, I was at least a disloyal one.
“I don’t belong to anyone,” I said carefully. “My… arrangement with the Darkseer was not one I entered into willingly.” Half-truths were more believable than outright lies.
Evren inclined his head, his interest piqued. “Oh?”
“Yes, Casimir tricked me into making a bargain with him.”
Evren’s expression remained skeptical.
“He…”Shit, I was really going to have to make Casimir look like the villain here. “He offered me protection, in exchange for my… company,” I said, wincing at the way Evren’s eyes narrowed at the implication.
“Why should I care about the nature of your bargain with the Darkseer?” Evren said. “Slave or not, you remain his pet.”
I forced myself to reply. “Because I have information that might interest you.”
My attacker blinked in surprise and then scowled in irritation. “Go on,” he prompted.
“There’s something the Darkseer’s not telling me. I think it has to do with the Keeper’s Heir. He refuses to entertain my ideas about who they might be.”
Now I was really exaggerating. Even if Casimir was withholding his suspicions, I had enough experience with liars to know that Casimir wasn’t outright lying to me about the Heir’s identity. But maybe this was a good opportunity to lead the Order down the wrong path. Let them tangle themselves up in dead ends.
Surprise flashed in Evren’s emerald eyes. “You think he knows who the Heir is?” His right hand left my shoulder to grip around my throat. “Why should I believe you?” he hissed.
My mouth had gone bone dry. I struggled to draw air into my lungs as his fingers squeezed?—
“Why would I lie?” I rasped.
His fingers loosened ever so slightly to allow me to speak.
“Y-you Daemons have brought me nothing but trouble ever since you showed up at Ouverham. Casimir’s no different. He’s—”Dangerous. Violent. Sweet.“He’s not someone I can trust.”
“Is that right?” He gave a disbelieving snort.
My pulse was pounding in my ears, my very blood reminding me just how vulnerable I was. Howhuman. A concussed, mortal girl, dressed in a thin hospital gown, at the mercy of one of the worst Daemons I’d ever known.
“You made a grievous error when you refused Devereaux’s offer,” he growled, his nails digging into my skin, carving little half-moons in my flesh.
When I’d thrown Devereaux’s offer back in his face, I hadn’t expected him to forget the slight, but I also hadn’t anticipated that he’d send the Bloodweaver after me. With a sinking horror, I understood that my disloyalty, feigned or not, was not enough. Not nearly enough for someone like Evren to allow me to leave this darkened hallway alive. I had to offer him something else. Something too tempting to pass up.
Inhaling a ragged breath, I ignored the mounting pain in my throat and forced myself to meet his eye. “If you let me go, I’ll make a bargain with you.”
Even as I spoke the words, I knew they spelled disaster—and yet, Evren would never have believed I was disloyal to Casimir for any lesser price. Not unless I agreed to do something truly unforgivable. I waited for his reply, hardly daring to breathe.
Evren’s answering grin was crueler than I could bear.
“My orders are to eliminate you as a potential obstacle,” he said, but then, to my surprise, he released me to fold his arms across his broad chest, still pinning me with a ruthless glare.