Lord of the Night

Chapter 26: Secrets

When he reached the chair, he stopped and darted a glance at the bed where I sat, just three feet away. Sidestepping the chair, he sank down onto the floor on the far side, six feet from me. His shoulders slowly rolled back against the wall, as if to avoid making any sound. He fished a cuff from his pocket and snapped it over his wrist. Then he pulled his knees up halfway to his chest and strummed his thighs, his gaze fixed on the floor in front of him.

"You can sit on the chair, you know," I said. "I won't hit you."

His eyes remained averted. "You can hit me now, if you want. I'm wearing a cuff, so I'm in control."

His quiet sincerity filled me with cold unease. Like he had no problem with being my punching bag so long as he didn't accidentally hurt me. I wasn't willing to apologize for punching him, not after all he had done to me, but his offer rubbed me the wrong way. I felt like the cruel owner of an abused animal.

"I won't hit you," I repeated, and then I lifted the bottle of zaikut. "Want some?"

At that moment, I wasn't really scheming to get him drunk—I just wanted him to relax a little. But he shook his head, still not looking at me.

"I don't think that's a good idea."

"Worried I'll take advantage of you?" I said, keeping my voice light. "Is that why you're hiding behind that chair?"

"You told me to stay away from you."

"Because I was angry."

"And now you're not?"

I hesitated. I'd been angry for fourteen years, and the events of a few days ago had doubled that anger. But right now, my confusion over the Duchess's revelations—coupled with the warm buzz of zaikut—muddied my anger, softening its edges.

Instead of answering his question, I changed the topic. "The human servant you sent seems happy. A little too happy."

"Not all humans hate Demons."

"So Zuzette truly came to work here by choice? She is not under a slave bond?"

He huffed a bitter laugh. "You Guardians are so convinced that any human who doesn't love you has been brainwashed by a Demon. This is why I hate Guardians. Not only did they imprison Demons with the flowery-worded Accords, but they are self-righteous hypocrites who have tortured as many humans as they've saved."

A spark of anger reignited inside of me, both at myself and at him. Even though I didn't approve of Guardians torturing humans, I hadn't done enough to stop them. But the High Prince had murdered countless innocent humans and Guardians. He had no right to pretend we were the bad guys.

"That's why you were so eager to use Guardians as cows," I said. "You probably smiled while you led them into your barn."

"They're in the dungeon, not the barn. The General wanted to see if he could train any of them first."

The zaikut that had warmed me moments ago now sloshed cold in my belly. I stared at the half-empty bottle, feeling nauseous. "You promised me you'd look for a different option."

He shifted toward me, drawing one knee under the chair. "Remgar, there is no better option. If I don't take lifeforce whenever the Keeper tells me to, more humans will die. And if I don't take lifeforce from Guardians, I have to take it from humans."

I ripped my gaze away from the bottle to blink at him. "The Keeper? So the crows warn when the Morgabeast is about to make another attack? And what you told me at the base was true, wasn't it? That you're losing control of—"

"Stop." His voice was loud and sharp enough to silence me. "Stop," he repeated, quieter this time. "You don't know what you're saying, and you can't repeat that in front of anyone else."