Scorched Treachery (Imdalind, #3)(56)

“Then you know about the Vil??” Cail turned, his back against the window, blocking some of the light that was able to come in through the dingy bottle-glass window.

“The what?” I didn’t miss the confusion, the need in Ilyan’s voice. I had to hand it to my brother; he played his cards well.

“Make me a deal, and I will tell you.”

The room was silent except for the clicking of Cail’s nails against the windowsill and the constricted breathing from Talon’s chest as he fought the desire to protect Ilyan from my brother. I half expected them to just disappear and leave us both hanging, but they didn’t.

“What deal?” Ilyan breathed out, his eyes narrowing.

“Protect my sister,” Cail said without hesitation, his finger nails still clicking against the wooden frame. “When the time comes, I will stop the zánik curse that my father has already begun infecting her with.”

I inhaled roughly, Cail had been holding back. No wonder he had been handed a death card. He knew far more than he had been letting me know. Even Edmund had never used the zánik curse. That level of pain and suffering was reserved for the ultimate of traitors, which I guess I was.

“The zánik curse?” Ilyan asked, a wicked glow lighting up his face. “My, you have gotten yourself in some trouble, Wynifred.”

“If you take her now, he will kill her before even you will have a chance to stop it,” Cail said, fear lighting up his eyes even though his face was still hard. I wasn’t sure anyone else would have caught his panic, but I could see it. “But, let us walk into their trap, and I will bind the curse and take my father’s control from it. Then you can take her.”

“Why wait?” Ilyan asked, as he leaned toward Cail in an obvious attempt to establish authority.

“Now, Ilyan,” Cail taunted smoothly, “do you really want to give up a chance to attack your father? Besides, if we wait, I will not only be able to bind the curse inside of Wynifred, but I will also be able to siphon the curse through me using Edmund’s power. I may be able to curse him instead.”

Everyone eyed Cail curiously, my breathing increasing at what he was saying. I was sure my eyes looked ready to explode from my face. What was he saying; siphon the curse? That wouldn’t just kill Edmund; it would kill him as well.

“It will come at a cost,” Cail continued, ignoring my panicked intake of breath. “You will have to remove her from my care quickly.”

“What are you saying?” I gasped, my words lost in my panic, the hard edge that was always in my voice all but gone.

“I may lose my mind.”

To use so much magic that his mind would crack – I couldn’t let him take that risk. What’s more, if he failed then Edmund would live knowing that Cail had attempted to use his magic without permission. That alone was a risk I couldn’t allow him to take. The ?tít was there for control; he had been warned about what would happen if he utilized it any other way.

“Cail, you can’t,” I pleaded, knowing he wouldn’t listen, even if he heard me.

“Don’t show your emotions, sister, it is incredibly unattractive,” Cail spat. I stepped back, my disgust still evident on my face. “Once my job is done, keep me from her. Then, on the day the curse fulfills itself, when Edmund has died and when my mind has returned to its own, then you will get me out.”

“Sounds fair enough,” Ilyan said at once, my gasp of surprise echoing around us.

“There is only one hitch,” Cail continued, finally stepping away from the window. “If I can only bind the curse, not send it into Edmund, and I die before my father, then the curse will be unbound and it will be unstoppable and Wynifred will die. To save her life, my father must die first.”

“You drive a hard bargain,” Ilyan said with a smile, his hand dragging through his hair as he contemplated everything in front of him. The minutes dragged on as we waited. I tried to catch Cail’s eyes, to plead with him not to do this, but he avoided me, his focus only on Ilyan.

“I will agree to your request Cail, if you both consent to my terms. Cail will bind the curse, with a future promise of sanctuary, and Wynifred will give up her fire magic.”

“Deal,” Cail said at once, his hand extending in an attempt to seal the promise.

I could not move. Cail was risking everything for me, putting his life on the line in a crazy attempt to get me to Ilyan and hopefully into safety. I could do nothing more than return the favor, even if it would be years before he could redeem it. I would do anything to save my brother, just as he would obviously do anything to save me.

“Deal.”

“Tell me of the Vil?s,” Ilyan said the instant the word was out of my mouth.

“Edmund has found a way to make a Vil? strengthen his magic,” Cail began, and everyone stiffened. Everyone knew that Edmund had captured the little things, but even I didn’t know what he was doing with them.

“There are cages of Vil? he hides underground, harvesting their poison in the hopes of someday creating a child more powerful than you. He plans to inject his next child with enough poison to either kill it or turn it into a weapon. He also keeps a Vil? by his bedside, letting him bite him every night, on his mark, in hopes of increasing his power.”





Everything washed over me, the onslaught of memories coming in such a rush I couldn’t help the wave of bile that expelled itself. I felt my stomach empty itself, heard the dull splat of liquid against stone, and my vision swam, the cold prison coming back into focus.