“Anything?” the rumbling voice questioned. “Do you know anything about elves or drekkans?”
I nodded. I had read a great deal about both elves and drekkans.
The monster brought his head closer to mine. “And you would do anything a drekkan asked in a land ruled by elves?”
“Anything,” I clarified, “if you send my brother home.”
A hand wrapped around my ankle. “No, Callista,” Alastor whispered. “I’m the one who started this.Youshould go home.”
“You’re in no state to argue,” I whispered back. “At least I can keep us both alive.”
“No, Callis—”
A hot cloud of ashy smoke from the drekkan cut off Alastor’s words. My brother rolled over, groaning and coughing.
The drekkan faced me. “I am willing to let him go if you stay here, bound to me with a mistek bond as assurance. Ifhecrosses into my lands again, I will killyouinstantly.”
My eyes widened. “You… want me to be a slave?” I hadn’t known drekkans could create the slave bond.
“No,” his voice rumbled. “You would not be a slave. You would be a prisoner. The mistek bond simply creates the collateral I believe necessary to allow a creature like him to live.”
“The collateral being my life?” I asked.
He nodded, tipping that great head down once. “Yes. You would be perfectly safe unless he crosses my magic border again.” Venom dripped from his voice. “I will feel his cursed fae magic inside my lands. And if that happens, you willdie.”
“Such a strange request,” I muttered, as my mind listed all the potential dangers of such an arrangement.
“Not so strange,” the drekkan breathed. “I believe he cares about you enough to leave my kingdom alone in safety.”
Alastor didn’t move, but his breathy whisper was easy to hear in the eerie silence that hung heavy with my choice. “No, Callista. Go home.”
I knelt down by my brother for the last time and brushed a lock of black hair out of his face. He groaned, no doubt as much from the pain as from frustration with his inability to fight more. This was an easy choice. I would live in a prison if it meant Alastor couldlive.
I kissed the top of his head, above his round ears, and blinked back tears. “We’re both going to live, Al. Move to the human town. Start a new life. Find love–”
His hand gripped mine. “Callista, you cannot trust a monster.”
“I don’t trust him,” I whispered. “I trust you. Don’t come back, and I’ll be fine. We’ll both live. It’s a good deal.”
“She’s here,” he whispered back. “I felt her magic when I was hunting.”
“Motab?” I asked.
He nodded.
That explained a lot. But it didn’t change the situation at hand. “I’ll find her,” I promised. Hopefully, I would find our mother. I didn’t know why her magic—or something similar to it—kept appearing around the drekkan, but I wasn’t opposed to having time to find out. We’d expected her to be here for years—maybe some good could come from this unusual deal.
The drekkan’s voice filled the valley. “Are you in agreement?”Apparently, we’d reached the end of his patience.
I stood up. “We are.”
He shifted closer to me, raising his head and extending a clawed finger as long as I was tall. “I must put my finger on your back to form the bond.” It was the softest he’d spoken yet, though his voice still came out harsh and raw.
He did not move after his explanation. Was he waiting for permission?
I nodded my agreement, and he carefully touched the middle of my back. His touch was warm, almost hot, but gentler than I’d expected. If I hadn’t seen his claws earlier, I wouldn’t have known he had them.
“You will have to identify yourself and agree to the bond,” his gravelly tone whispered slowly.
