Chapter 44 Bayn #2
Still, I hesitated for no small amount of time before telling them the truth. As soon as I did, they’d have power over me, which I despised. How could I turn this to my advantage?
“First, tell me what you would have me do. How could I help you?”
“Two ways,” the nymph replied, taking over from the dragon who clearly didn’t want to give away their secrets.
“First, by breaking the binding collar on Izzy, or loosening its control enough so she can overpower it before she fights Saldrea tomorrow. If she kills or subdues Saldrea, wouldn’t that help your cause? ”
“It might.”
The nymph nodded.
“Second, would be to have your allies on campus help us raid Saldrea’s dungeon. We’d do it when she wasn’t there, to minimize casualties, but we need a strong force to overpower the dragons she has guarding our shifter friend.”
This was no surprise.
“You’d kill your own kind?” This I said straight to the dragon.
“Any of my kind who cannot see the truth about Saldrea deserve what they get.” He spoke so quickly and with such heat, it took me by surprise. I hadn’t expected that level of betrayal for his own kind.
Which spoke of something much deeper.
He was in love with the half-breed. And — it was a guess — but he also knew her true heritage. Something in how he’d said “the truth about Saldrea,” made me think he knew Izzy was a royal and Saldrea a false princess.
I smiled. Oh yes, they were desperate. There was no way they could achieve what they desired on their own. They needed me.
Which meant I could trust them… a little. “Betray me — tell anyone what I’m about to tell you — and I’ll kill that half-breed wench myself,” I said by way of warning.
They both bristled.
Yes, this nymph had to be related to Izzy, given how her anger flared.
“Your friend is safe,” I said with a more sedate tone, “as long as you keep my secret. Agreed?”
“Agreed,” the nymph said quickly.
I looked at the dragon.
His jaw twitched, clenched so hard, ire in his eyes. But he blew out a huff through his nose and slowly unclenched. “Agreed.”
Hopefully I could trust them, if only for this one venture. We both needed each other with an egregious desperation.
“Saldrea has my sister,” I said, the words pulled from my soul.
Never would I have imagined sharing such a thing with the enemy, but in this case…
they were the lesser of two evils. “She tortures her and makes me watch. It’s not bad, nothing a titan can’t endure, but it’s enough for Saldrea to show her dominance.
That’s how she controls me. Free my sister, and I will help you. ”
“We’ll free her as soon as Izzy is safe,” the dragon said, easily accepting my dire secret it seemed.
“No. You need me more than I need you,” I asserted control. “Free my sister first, then I’ll help you, not a moment before. Once I’ve seen my sister is safe and no longer in Saldrea’s dungeon, then I will do as you ask.”
“There isn’t time!” the dragon hissed. “Izzy’s trial is tomorrow morning!”
“Wait,” the nymph said, once again laying a hand on the dragon’s shoulder to calm him. “You said your sister was in Saldrea’s dungeon? Then this works perfectly. We can all go in and free her and our shifter friend, then you can weaken Izzy’s collar, and she’ll defeat Saldrea.”
I gave them a sour smile.
“If only it were that easy. Your shifter is no real threat to Saldrea, so she has him in her personal dungeon, at her residence. I, however, pose a much more dangerous hazard to the false princess. Hence, my sister isn’t in her normal dungeon, but a fortified bunker well off campus.
” The nymph’s shoulders slumped, her hopes falling.
She was about to say something when I spoke over her.
“I know where she is and can give you the location, but you’ll have to find some way in to free her.
I do not doubt it will be dangerous, probably far more so than freeing your shifter friend.
But I will not move a muscle to help you until my sister is safe.
That is my condition and I will not move on it. Take it or leave it.”
As much as I wanted to get my sister out of that place as soon as possible, I didn’t need to free my sister right away. Yet these folks needed help this instant. I could make the terms as amenable as I wanted. They had to accept them.
“Fine,” the nymph hissed. “Tell us where and we’ll free her tonight.
But you’d better be available to do everything we’ve asked as soon as we free your sister.
” Her voice grew cold and vicious. “Betray us and trust me when I say there will be no place in any of the three realms, or the human realm, where you can hide from us. You may be strong, but against all of us together, you’d have no chance.
If my granddaughter dies because of you…
If you betray us…” A nasty smile spread on the nymph’s pretty face.
“Then your life will be measured in hours, not days.”
So, I’d been right, this was Izzy’s grandmother. And I believed her threats. If all of Izzy’s followers — or her family in this case — were as devoted as these two, then I’d be in trouble. Not that I was truly worried, but still, I took her threat seriously.
“Someone’s coming!” the incubus said, rushing back toward us. “We’ve got maybe a half a minute.”
“Deal,” I said to the three of them, and I quickly explained where the fortified prison was and what little I knew of it.
Lastly, I let them know how to contact me, putting their information in my phone with a special ring tone.
All they’d have to do was send me a picture and I’d know they’d freed my sister.
Once I’d verified it, I’d help them with their plans.
“Now go, you don’t have much time before your friend dies,” I said, and saw how much the three of them knew it.
They hurried away.
Soon after, Golana, with two dragons as her escort, found me in the stables.
“Saldrea wants to see you,” the dwarf said with little emotion.
“I still have some time off, can it wait?” I said, paying more attention to Skycleaver.
“No. Come.”
I bristled at the command, but just like I had Izzy’s friends over a barrel, the same was true of Saldrea and myself. I went with the dwarf, wondering what was so important it couldn’t wait.
When we didn’t head for Saldrea’s residence, I asked, “Where are we going?”
Golana gave a grim smile.
“The administration building… to torture a certain half-breed.”