Chapter 23 #3
"Let me?" Peri Ayse's voice remains silk-soft, but something dangerous flickers beneath the surface. She finally tears her gaze from me to glance at Nesilhan, and the look is almost pitying. "Child, you seem to misunderstand your position here."
She gestures around the cave without breaking eye contact with Nesilhan.
"You are dying. Your friends are dying. Your stolen magic is feeding a parasite who stands beside you, draining you with every heartbeat.
And your enemies—" She tilts her head, as if listening to something distant.
"—are minutes from breaking through these dimensional barriers. "
Her attention returns to me, dismissing Nesilhan as thoroughly as if she'd ceased to exist. "One night of your company, shadow lord.
One night, and I'll heal your fairy, then transport you all safely to the Forgotten Grove, seal your passage so thoroughly that not even the Veil itself will find your trail.
" That burning gaze holds mine. "I promise you'll find the experience. .. educational."
I feel the trap closing around us like iron jaws.
This creature doesn't want simple payment—she wants me.
Everything else is negotiable, but that hunger in her ancient eyes is not.
And there's something else, something she's not saying, lurking beneath her perfect smile like sharks beneath calm water.
A night with this creature. One night, and everyone I love survives.
Simple arithmetic. So why does my chest feel like it's caving in?
Why can I feel Nesilhan's heart breaking through our bond, even damaged as it is?
I've done worse things than spend a night with a beautiful ancient being.
I've tortured, murdered, destroyed. This should be easy.
But the way Nesilhan is looking at me—like I'm already gone, like she's already lost me to this creature—makes something crack in my chest that I didn't know could still break.
From the main chamber comes the sound of stone grinding against stone. Our pursuers have found the entrance.
"Time grows short," Peri Ayse observes, though her tone remains pleasant.
Her gaze never leaves my face. "Shall I assume you've reached a decision?
Or shall I leave you to face the Veil creatures alone?
" She gestures toward the lamp with elegant nonchalance.
"I'm quite comfortable in my copper home.
I can wait another few centuries for more. .. agreeable clients."
I look at each of them in turn. At Nesilhan, whose twilight magic flickers with exhaustion but whose jealous fury burns bright enough to light the cave.
At Elcin, her warrior's composure barely masking the desperation in her eyes when she thinks of Banu dying alone in the outer chamber.
At Yasar, carrying the weight of his betrayal but still somehow thinking he deserves to have opinions about our survival.
The choice isn't really a choice at all. But I'll be damned—more damned—if I let this ancient creature see me beg.
I step closer to her, matching her feral energy with my own, and watch her pupils dilate.
"And your night with me? That's going to be the most educational experience you've had in millennia.
I learned cruelty from Erlik himself, Peri Ayse.
I've spent two centuries perfecting the art of beautiful suffering.
Are you absolutely certain you want to play games with his son? "
For just a heartbeat, something flickers in her ancient eyes. Not fear—beings this old don't fear easily. But recalculation. Recognition that perhaps she's chosen prey that has its own teeth.
Then that slow, knowing smile returns. "How deliciously unexpected.
" She traces one finger along her collarbone, the gesture deliberately provocative.
"A shadow prince with bite. How rare." She pauses, and I see her weighing options, adjusting her strategy.
"Very well, then. Two requests instead of three.
Fifty years each from the four of you for the fairy's life.
One night with you for safe passage to the Forgotten Grove. "
Her lips curve wider, ancient and knowing.
"Though I suspect, shadow prince, that you'll find there are always hidden costs in deals made with desperate people.
Some prices reveal themselves only after the bargain is sealed.
And some nights..." She lets the sentence hang, pregnant with implication.
"Some nights last far longer than the hours between dusk and dawn. "
Nesilhan makes a sound like a wounded animal, but before she can protest further, Peri Ayse raises one perfect hand. Golden power begins to build around her—ancient, terrible, and absolutely capable of destroying us all if we refuse.
"Do we have an agreement?" she asks, and for the first time, I hear the steel beneath the honey. This is not a request.
I meet her burning gaze and smile with too many teeth. "We do. But remember—I'm not some frightened supplicant grateful for your mercy. I'm Kaan Karanliko?lu, son of Erlik, Lord of the Shadow Court. When our business is concluded, you might find yourself wishing you'd stayed in your lamp."
Her laugh is music and threat combined. "I look forward to discovering which of us leaves more scars, shadow prince."
The grinding sound from the main chamber grows louder. Stone cracking. Dimensional barriers fracturing.
"Then let's begin," Peri Ayse says, and the golden smoke that birthed her begins to swirl once more. "Your fairy first. Bring me to her."
The real game is just beginning. And this ancient predator is about to learn what happens when you try to play with something even darker than yourself.