Page 17 of Daemon Master

Before panic could fully overcome him, his injected aether snapped into place, and a deluge of alien sensations flooded his mind.Heartrender’s thoughts, he realized, his skin prickling with wonder. Crastley’s true bond hadn’t transformed the daemon into an empty husk like the bondstones did. Instead, its will was a tangled knot in the back of his skull. The daemon wasn’t in pain, as he’d feared. Instead, it was…happy. Its joy radiated through their bond, filling him with warmth.

Notit, he thought.Her. The daemon’s sense of self was crystal clear in his mind.Thiswas what a genuine connection between daemon and daemon master ought to feel like. Not the slavish obedience and the empty eyes, but this shared camaraderie. How broken his bond with Trailseeker seemed in comparison. How brokeneveryone’sbonds seemed in comparison.

“Impossible.”

Seymour’s whispered denial jerked him back to the present. Heartrender shuffled closer, nuzzling Adrian with her smooth snout to lick at his sweat and blood. Her concern for him pulsed steadily through their fledgling bond like a second heartbeat.

“Not impossible.” He pressed his weary face into Heartrender’s side. The hairs on his cheek rose at her crackling touch. “Simply unknown. Until now, at least.”

The astonishment on Seymour’s face gradually faded to an unreadable mask. Adrian half-expected him to command Tremorfist to attack, or maybe take a few swings at Adrian himself. But the watcher appeared lost too deeply in his own thoughts.

Footsteps rustled the grass, and Adrian twisted his head to see a woman step into the light of Seymour’s torch. She wore a fine silver tunic, its sole adornment the spiked crescent moon of Serenity Corp pinned on her chest. Her face was beautiful despite its harsh lines, and her eyes, twin flecks of gray ice, measured Adrian coldly. When she unveiled her aura, its raw power left him gasping for breath. Even Seymour winced and took an unconscious step back.

“Hello, Adrian,” Shadowlash’s master said, her glacial voice the same as he remembered from the Arbiter’s transmission. “I told you it was only a matter of time.”

She fixed him with a mirthless smile, and he shivered. No sign of Shadowlash, but judging by the twin daggers strapped to her waist, she didn’t need the daemon’s help to eviscerate him.

“I-I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage.” He was proud to catch only a faint tremble in his voice. “Who are you?”

“You may call me Kali.”

She hadn’t named a division affiliation or even a title. Did that mean she operated outside of Serenity Corp’s official channels? Arbiter Janice had called her an agent, and the watchers seemed eager enough to obey her, but that might be a product of her aetheric might. Adrian knew how difficult it was to refuse an order from someone who could squash you like a bug.

“It’s an honor to meet you, Kali.” He bowed his head as respectfully as he could while lying trussed up on the ground. “Though, I wish it were under better circumstances.”

Kali didn’t reply. She crossed her arms, studying him.

Watcher Seymour cleared his throat. “The fugitives are in custody, as you requested. Shall I transport them back to town?”

Kali’s gaze shifted to Heartrender. “The daemon doesn’t look restrained to me.”

Seymour grimaced. “The beast fled before we could subdue it and has only just now returned. I have several bondstones if you…” He trailed off, likely remembering the bonding ritual he’d witnessed minutes earlier.

Adrian had no idea if a bondstone would still work, nor any intention of finding out. “No! No bondstones.” He draped his restrained arms around Heartrender, pulling the daemon against his side. “She won’t try to run. You have my word.”

“She?” Seymour said.

“It’s fine, watcher,” Kali said with a wave of her hand. “We can forgo the bondstone for now, so long as they both cooperate. As for transportation, that won’t be necessary. I think it best I conduct my interrogation here.Alone.”

Seymour looked about to protest before squeezing his mouth shut and issuing a rigid salute. “Of course, ma’am. I’ll remain within shouting distance in case you need me.”

With one last parting glance that lingered overlong on Heartrender, the watcher trudged toward Overlin Forest, Tremorfist trailing after him. Darkness swallowed Adrian and Kali without Seymour’s torch, their only light the moon’s faint radiance and Heartrender’s glow.

“Tell me everything that happened to you today,” Kali said once the watcher was gone, her voice adopting a business-like quality. “Leave nothing out, no matter how insignificant.”

Adrian inclined his head again, thoughts racing. “Of course. But I’ve already given a full report to the Arbiter.”

“It’syourinterpretation of events that interests me, not your Arbiter’s. And before you protest again, let me clarify that this is not a debate. You will answer my questions thoroughly, without complaint, or I will manifest Shadowlash and have the beast whip you until your voice is raw from screaming. Do you understand?”

It wasn’t the threat of violence alone that sent a shiver down his spine. He’d faced plenty of those from daemon masters more powerful than him. No, what struck him was the disinterested way Kali said it, as if she saw brutally torturing him as nothing but an irksome chore.

And I thoughtSeymourwas heartless…

He swallowed. “I understand.”

“Good. Now, give me your report, starting from the beginning.”

Adrian obeyed. He closed his eyes as he spoke, both to avoid meeting Kali’s emotionless gaze and to pretend he was back in the Arbiter’s office, when an end to this nightmare had still seemed imminent.