Redemption Song (Daniel Faust #2)(51)

“What happened?” I asked.

“Malphas happened. He annexed my realm. Conquered it. Brought me, as he puts it, into the fold.”

She stretched out her hand, flipping her fingers out at the restaurant.

“This is my jungle now, along with a miserable scrap of land in hell that I haven’t visited in a hundred years. This is my consolation prize, this and a filthy colonialist’s title. I needed no title in my home. The souls who resided there knew me as their goddess, their protector, and their tormentor. I was their entire universe. What is a barony, compared to that?”

I knew all of this already. Sitri had briefed me before I left. Still, I thought I did a pretty good job of keeping my eyes wide and looking surprised.

“A bum rap from a demon prince? I know the feeling. Sitri and Caitlin both got what they wanted out of me. Then they kicked me to the curb.”

Naavarasi’s fingertips brushed over the back of my hand. I tried not to flinch.

“I know,” she said. “And after you’d done so much to help them. You can’t be blamed, falling for that woman’s tricks. You were on the rebound, after all, and after the breakup with Roxy you’d taken to drink.”

Now my surprise was real. The rakshasi knew way more about me than she had any right to. It must have shown on my face, because Naavarasi chuckled and gave me a soft smile.

“Oh, I know all about you, Daniel. I’ve been watching you for years, from afar. Not constantly, just…checking in, now and again.”

“Why?”

She reached to one of the plates and tore away a strip of smoked meat with her fingers. She tilted her head back and dropped it straight down her gullet without chewing, swallowing it like a snake.

“I can’t tell you that, it would ruin the surprise. I will tell you that I debated, for a very long time, whether or not to intervene. Now you’ve left me no doubt.”

“Intervene?” I didn’t like where this was going. I’d planned my approach well ahead of time, rehearsed and prepared myself for any complication I could think of. This wasn’t one of them.

“We were made for each other,” she said. “Think about it. We’re both outcasts, outsiders, despite our power. We both labor on the edges of a system we despise. We both face the slings and arrows of ants who think themselves our masters. You’re a formidable sorcerer, but you need a patron to become your very best. Someone to teach you, mold you, aim your talents in the right direction.”

I sat back on the divan, figuring out her angle. “And you aim to make a play against Malphas. Break free. Get your jungle back. To do that, you’re going to need arcane firepower in this world and in hell. It’s a dangerous gamble, and you can’t afford to lose.”

Naavarasi picked up a small, covered plate from the table. I got the feeling she’d had it waiting for me. She’d prepared her sales pitch ahead of time, same as I had. She pulled back the lid. Inside was a collar forged from linked plates of hammered brass, inlaid with glittering rubies. Etchings of the rakshasi’s personal seal ringed the inner lining.

“It would be so easy,” she said. “Just say yes, and bare your throat to me. I can fulfill your every dream and nightmare, treat you to sensations beyond your mortal imaginings. Your friends? Protected and sheltered from the coming storm. I’d guard them like they were my own children, and ask them for nothing in return. You would have money, books, a palace if you wished it.”

“And all I have to do,” I said flatly, “is become a slave. What a deal.”

“When Prince Malphas’s severed head is beneath my heel, Daniel, with his brothers and sisters next in line for the chopping block, you will be the most envied man in the world. There is no shame in wearing my collar. In time, I think you would learn to take pride in it.”

No more scraping to survive, no more doubt. A free ride for the people I loved. For a heartbeat, just a heartbeat, I was tempted. Then I remembered my mission.

I had to tread lightly. Naavarasi knew more about me than I bargained for. She also didn’t strike me as the kind of woman who took rejection lightly.

“Is it her?” she asked when I didn’t answer right away. “It is, isn’t it? You know it’s over, but your heart still aches. Did you know that my people are shape-shifters, Daniel?”

Her flesh flowed like melted wax, reshaping and shifting in color and form. An instant later, Caitlin sat beside me. She reached a hand back and flipped a lock of her scarlet hair.

“I can be her, if you like,” Naavarasi said in a perfect copy of Caitlin’s voice. “I can be anyone you want me to be.”

“I’m honored, Baron Naavarasi, truly I am, but I have to be honest. I didn’t come here looking for a patron.”

She shifted back into her former self, tilting her head. Her eyes narrowed dangerously. “Why, then?”

“You’re right,” I told her. “We are two birds of a feather. So I’m here with a proposition that can enrich us both. And…maybe lead to greater forms of collaboration in the future, if it works out to our mutual satisfaction.”

She folded her arms across her chest. “I’m listening.”

“In the 1400s, a man named Gilles de Rais sold you his soul. Do you still have it?”

“My little knight? Of course I do! He’s a faithful guardian and servant.”