At the mention of Silas, the blood turned to ice in my veins. I hurriedly arranged my face in what I hoped was a look of cool indifference, but the Ringmaster’s chuckle told me he wasn’t fooled.
“Oh, don’t look so worried,” he teased. “I have little reason to speak to Silas. And, if I ever did, I’m certain we would have more . . .stimulatingthings to discuss than a wayward huntress.”
I released a slow breath and pressed my palms to my thighs, trying to rein in my terror. It wasn’t a stretch for the Ringmaster to guess that I was one of Silas’s. Every hunter in the Quarter swore allegiance to him, or they ended up dead.
“I came to ask you a question,” I said, once again wondering if it would be wiser to turn and leave rather than reveal that I was looking for the apokropos stone.
The Ringmaster’s eyes twinkled, and that cunning smile of his became almost cat-like. “Information is currencyaround here. Surely you have not come to my show looking for answers without having something to offer in exchange.”
I gnawed on the inside of my cheek. “What did you have in mind?”
He quirked one snow-white eyebrow. “I’m a male of many interests, huntress. I’m sure there must besomething.” The Ringmaster’s midnight eyes gleamed. “Tell me something going on in the Quarter that would be to my advantage to know. If it proves stimulating, I might be willing to answer your question.”
For whatever reason, my mind went to the handsome dark fae who’d saved me from those demons. But what did I know about Kaden, beyond his name? Besides that, I didn’t know if his presence in the Quarter would be of particular interest to the Ringmaster. The demons, however . . .
I hesitated. There was a good chance he wouldn’t believe me — not when the Quarter was so well-protected. But it was the only thing I had to offer, and there seemed to be no harm in telling him. “Last night, I was attacked by demons in the Quarter.”
The Ringmaster’s pointed eyebrows rose.
“Three of them. One was a fire demon. Another could invade people’s minds. Control them. The third could split itself into many copies.”
Those eyebrows knitted together as the Ringmaster took the measure of me. “Now thatisinteresting.” He cocked his head to the side. “Though not entirely plausible. If you’d truly been attacked by three higher demons, you would not be here.”
Of course he didn’t believe me. I wouldn’t believe me,either, though I was annoyed by the implication that I couldn’t defend myself.
“Tell me, child,” the Ringmaster continued. “If there were three demons as you say, how did you manage to survive?”
I opened my mouth but then snapped it shut. I wasn’t going to tell the Ringmaster that I’d slain one of the demons. For him to believe that, I’d have to reveal that I had a witchwood blade — something even a powerful fae like him might be willing to kill for.
“I had help,” I admitted. “From a dark fae. He told me his name was Kaden.”
At the mention of Kaden, true surprise and something like fear flashed in the Ringmaster’s eyes.
My stomach flipped. Maybe I’d been wrong. Perhaps Kaden’s presence in the Quarterwasof interest to the Ringmaster.
It only took half a heartbeat for the Ringmaster to compose himself. Whatever I’d seen in his face was gone in an instant, but when he spoke next, his voice was low and deadly. “If I were you, huntress, I’d think very carefully before invoking that name again.”
I frowned, simultaneously annoyed and confused. He made it sound as though Kaden were someone powerful — someone evenhefeared.
More questions burned on my tongue, but I swallowed them down. I’d come here to learn about the apokropos stone. I couldn’t waste the information I’d traded to satiate my curiosity about Kaden.
“What was your question?” he asked quietly, his expression still clouded by whatever I’d seen at the mention of the strange dark fae.
I hesitated, choosing my words carefully. Semantics were everything with the fae. I could not merely ask him if he’d everheardof the stone. He might simply say that he had and declare it a fair exchange. Instead, I said, “Tell me everything you know about the apokropos stone.”
Amusement and perhaps annoyance danced in the Ringmaster’s eyes. “That is not a question, huntress.”
I huffed. Ofcoursehe was going to make this difficult. I chewed over all the questions I had, settling on the one whose answer would be most useful. “Where would Ifindthe apokropos stone?”
“That I cannot tell you.”
Another non-answer.
“Can’t or won’t?” I countered.
His eyes flashed in warning, which was as good an answer as any. “I do not know its current location,” he said after a moment. “It was believed to be lost for many centuries, or else guarded by a fearsome beast in the Otherworld. It was not originally a fae object, though it may have the reputation as such due to its ability to conceal our magic. Much the way a glamour hides our true form, the stone can conceal one’s power — even from other fae.”
I knew all of this already, of course. It was the reason I’d sought it out.
