Within These Wicked Walls(49)

“They told me you refused the job,” I said, forcing myself not to cry, even with tears burning the backs of my eyes. “Why?”

He looked at me like it was the dumbest question he’d ever heard. “What do you mean why?”

“You’re the only debtera alive who has experience with a hyena. Magnus probably would’ve paid you more than he’s paying me.”

“I’ve told you a thousand times, it’s dangerous to take a job purely for money. Wearing an amulet doesn’t mean you should deliberately tempt the Evil Eye.”

“But even without the money, he needs our help.”

“So?”

“How can you be so selfish?”

“Selfishness is a good survival habit.”

For a moment we didn’t speak, but the room was loud, regardless. My heart pounded in my ears, my throat was tight with a trapped sob. “All I need to know is how to cleanse it.”

“You’re not going back to that house.”

“You don’t get a say in my life anymore.”

“Then you don’t get to ask for my help.”

“Fine,” I said, grinding my teeth. I opened my satchel. “It’s not a favor, then. I’ll pay you for the information.”

Jember opened a drawer on the side table and took out his amulet. It was bigger than mine, on a heavier chain, most of the silver wrapped with black iridescent thread. He held up his amulet in my direction, warding off the money as I took it out from the secret pocket. “I’m not taking your tainted money.”

“This tainted money?” I said with a smirk, and dropped some on the dirt floor.

His glare was as cold as the castle I’d left. “Pick that up.”

“God knows you need it, old man.”

He put on his amulet. “I never accept money from a household that hasn’t been cleansed yet, and neither should you.”

I rolled my eyes. “Nothing bad has happened to me.”

“Your bandaged hand says otherwise.”

I froze, the memory of the beast chilling me all over again, even in the heat of the desert, and suddenly I had no desire to tease him anymore. I picked up my money quickly and put it away. “You’re the only debtera in the past twenty years to have successfully cleansed a household of a hyena—that’s why the church recruited you. But you’ve never talked about how to cleanse it. Please, Jember. You’re the only one who can help me.”

Jember sighed and hung his head, resting his elbow on his knee to rub his forehead, while I held my breath. After a moment he sat up again. “It can’t be cleansed like other Manifestations, only removed and barred from its host, then released to find another one. So, you know what you do?”

“What?”

“You leave it the hell alone.”

I groaned in frustration. “Why did I ever think you would help me?”

“I am helping you. You want to live? Get out now. Leave the castle to rot. When the family dies the Evil Eye will go off to find another greedy victim to infect. End of story.”

“You ruin my career prospects and then think you can—?”

“Ruin? I did you a favor.”

“If you don’t tell me how to cleanse it, I’ll read every scroll I can get my hands on. I’ll find another debtera to ask. Either way, I’m going back to that house to finish the job.”

“Andromeda, wait.”

I’d already turned, already stormed toward the door, but his voice halted me. I spun on my heel to look at him. I shouldn’t have cared about what he had to say. I should’ve kept going without looking back.

Jember was scooting off the bed, and I went to him without questioning myself and dragged his leg out from under the bed. The wood was rough and a little chipped, the leather straps and pads worn. The metal end was still sturdy, just a little scratched, but if the wood gave it wouldn’t be of much use. I held his leg out to him by the peg end. I should’ve left him and let him do it. He’d been doing it for weeks without me.

“You going back just to spite me?” he asked, taking his leg from me. “Because I know you’re smarter than this.”

“I’m going back to save someone’s life.”

“This is not going to end how you want it to,” he said, strapping his leg on. “I can attest to that.”

“Then help me. The two of us together can fix this.”

Jember chuckled bitterly. “You’ve always been unrealistically optimistic. You certainly didn’t get that from me.” He took off his amulet and held it out to me. “You want to act like an idiot and go against a hyena? You’ll need better protection.”

Neck pain might be an issue if I wore his heavy chain for too long. But this was the same amulet he’d used to face the Evil Eye before. This was the only help he would offer me, and it was all I needed. I could deal with a little aching.

I hesitated before reaching for it. He held it out of my grasp, his eyebrows raised.

“This is not for you to take. I’ll let you go back, on the condition that you construct yourself a hyena-proof amulet.”

I gaped at him for a second. “What? But you never taught me how.”

“And, technically, I’m still not going to.” He held it out to me again with a slight grin. “But you’re smart enough to study this and figure it out.”