Page 101 of Daemon Master

twenty-four

Jailbreak

Adrian awoke to handsroughly hoisting him to his feet. Terror gripped him as he reached out to his daemons. Heartrender sent back worried hesitation, but Lockrod immediately shrieked a battlecry. Surprised shouts and a cacophony of daemonic roars followed. Adrian flared his aether, bolstering his muscles enough to wrench free. He had to run, to—

“Easy, Adrian,” Jasper said. “This is your wake-up call. Nothing to be alarmed about.”

It took a moment for the words to sink in.The airship. Jasper had warned him he’d arrive with an escort in the morning. Adrian went limp, allowing the watchers to manhandle him. The less of a scene he made now, the more likely they’d be to relax their guard later.

Jasper cleared his throat, a hint of wry amusement creeping into his tone. “Thank you, Adrian, but would you mind calming your daemon as well? He’s upsetting the watchers.”

Adrian’s cheeks heated when he realized Lockrod had continued his rampage, knocking a watcher off his feet and brandishing hisUnbendable Rodat a pair of crouched daemons to keep them at bay, the weapon nearly invisible in the darkness of the cell.

Lockrod, enough! We need to play along…for now.

Though unhappy about it, Lockrod obeyed. His weapon vanished as he plopped onto the floor. Heartrender padded forward to sit stiffly beside him.

Adrian had anticipated what would happen next, but he still tensed when a pair of watchers stepped forward with bondstones.All part of the plan. Heartrender had escaped unscathed after wearing a bondstone for days. A couple hours wouldn’t hurt them.

Even so, he couldn’t resist asking, “Is this necessary? We won’t make a fuss.” He winced as the disgruntled watcher Lockrod had knocked prone staggered upright, glaring at him. “Or at least, any more of one.”

“While I appreciate your cooperation, we must take appropriate precautions,” Jasper replied. “You have my word that, so long as you behave, none of your daemons will be harmed.”

Adrian watched with gritted teeth as his daemons stilled, their eyes dulling thanks to the bondstones. As before, the devices restricted his bonds, making them more difficult to access. He sent his concern and love through what remained of the links anyway.

When watchers yanked his hands behind his back, he tensed.This wasn’t part of the plan.Cold metal tightened around his wrists, leaving his arms bent at an uncomfortable angle. He didn’t need his aethersense to know the manacles would be aetherforged for durability.

“Am I really such a threat without my daemons?” he asked Jasper as the watchers herded him and his pacified daemons into a torch-lit hall.

A faint smile played over Jasper’s face. He seemed to be in a particularly good mood today. “Consider it a compliment. Proof of how seriously we take you and your true bond.”

More watchers waited in the hall, bringing his escort to over a dozen. They shepherded his daemons into cages of aetherforged steel and locked the doors.

Adrian tried to keep his rising panic off his face. It would seem Jasper wasn’t as lax on security as he’d assumed. He’d anticipated guards and bondstones, but having his hands shackled behind his back would make it difficult to reach his hidden relics, and the cages would stymie any effort to free his daemons.

He took a calming breath, recalling his many training sessions with Seymour.I suppose I’ll just have to improvise.

Jasper surveyed the procession with a critical eye, then nodded. He leaned in and whispered something to a woman Adrian assumed was in charge. She saluted the seeker and beckoned the watchers down the hallway, ushering Adrian and his daemons along with them.

Jasper turned to Adrian, his good humor persisting. “All appears to be in order. Behave yourself, Adrian—I’d hate to have to make an example of you or your friends.”

“You’re not coming with us?” That, at least, was some unexpected good news, especially when Adrian still had no idea what daemoforged relics the seeker might possess.

“No need to sound so glum,” Jasper chuckled. “I’ll see you again soon enough.” Shoving his hands into his pockets, he ambled off in the other direction with a noticeable spring in his step.

Adrian watched the seeker go with a small frown. Considering his admitted investment in Heartrender, Jasper seemed disconcertingly nonchalant.Am I missing something?

Shaking his head, he shoved down his unease. No sense trying to decipher Jasper’s twisted mind. He had to stay focused if he hoped to find an opening and enact his plan for escape.

When they paused outside another cell door, Adrian’s heartbeat quickened with anticipation. Sure enough, the guards dragged Seymour out several moments later, though from the screams and Tremorfist’s characteristic roar, not without a scuffle. Adrian suppressed a fond grin. Leave it to Seymour to pick a fight against impossible odds.

A bit battered and bruised, a shackled Seymour stumbled next to Adrian while the watchers loaded a pacified Tremorfist into a cage big enough it required two men to lift. Shadowlash, Adrian noticed, was already in a cage when they carried her out of the cell. This must not be the first time Seymour and his daemons had caused trouble.

“You all right?” Adrian asked, leaning in.

“Never better.” Seymour spat a wad of blood onto the stone and grimaced as they carried a pair of unconscious guards from his cell. “I’d hoped to take at least three of them with me. Pity.”

Adrian chuckled, then lowered his voice. “Keep close to me, and you’ll get your chance.”