Page 19 of Daemon Master

Is this what everyone else feels like? Like they’re full of pent-up energy longing to be spent?

Kali didn’t appear to have noticed his newfound strength. She was too busy describing in excruciatingly vivid detail how she’d punish him if he refused to cooperate. He ignored her, marveling again at the windfall of aether. Where had it all come from?

When Heartrender sagged against his side, he realized the answer. Daemon masters could share aether with their daemons, but he’d never heard of a daemon capable of performing the same feat in reverse. Was that another benefit of the true bond over Serenity Corp’s bondstones?

There’d be time to figure it out later. For now, he sent his gratitude to Heartrender and focused his attention back on Kali. The assassin leaned in, her cold eyes boring into his own. When she noticed his renewed interest, the barest hint of a smile flitted across her lips.

“Perhaps the reality of your situation is finally sinking in. I have enough to complete my report. Any last words before I learn exactly how much punishment your body can withstand?”

“Yeah,” he said, gathering the aether roiling within him. “Give Shadowlash my regards.”

The rope coiled around his wrists restricted his range of movement, but thankfully, he didn’t have far to go. Kali’s eyes widened, shock slowing her reflexes as he jerked the dagger still grasped in his right hand up with all his borrowed might. She’d barely begun to pull away when the dagger’s tip gouged into her left eye. Blood splattered Adrian’s tunic. The assassin screamed, flailing backward while clutching at the blade and wrenching it free of his grasp.

Adrian didn’t wait to see how much damage he’d caused. He scrabbled on bound hands and knees for his satchel and Crastley’s journal. Then, before the last of Heartrender’s lentaether could fade, he used what remained to dissolve into a stream of energy and flow into Heartrender.

With Trailseeker, a full meld had always left him completely in control. This felt different. Heartrender’s will pushed back against his own, maintaining command over her own body and leaving him a passenger rather than the pilot.

All right, girl, let’s get out of here.

Heartrender yipped in agreement and bolted toward the waiting trees. She’d barely traveled half a dozen paces, however, when a black shape cut off her path. Adrian’s stomach lurched at Shadowlash’s familiar sleek form. Kali had managed to summon it despite her wound. The dark tentacles already writhing across its back gouged divots in the dirt as it charged.

Heartrender dashed to the side, conjuring an illusory duplicate beside her. She split to the right, sending her image to the left. The deception made little difference. One of Shadowlash’s tendrils shattered the illusion while another whipped toward the real Heartrender.

Before the blow could connect, a muscled arm wrenched the tentacle aside so that it smashed harmlessly into the ground. Heartrender skidded to a halt, and Adrian watched through her eyes in disbelief as Tremorfist pounded its chest, the extra maw there releasing a deafening roar. Shadowlash’s movements slowed as it strained to regain control of its paralyzed muscles.

“What are you doing, you idiot?” Heartrender whirled to reveal Seymour dashing past them toward the treeline. “Unless you have a death wish, I suggest you stop gawking and start running!”

A mental nudge from Heartrender snapped Adrian back to his senses. She was right—explanations could wait. For now, he urged her after the retreating watcher, away from the battling daemons and toward the ancient boughs of Overlin Forest.

five

Into the Woods

Adrian remained melded withinHeartrender until his aether gave out, depositing him in a tangled heap of limbs amid the dark trees. Heartrender skidded to a halt and nuzzled at his side. Her frantic yips urged him to pick himself up and keep running. Gritting his teeth, he did exactly that, even as his mind whirled with half-formed questions.

How had Heartrender gifted him her aether?

Why had his archnemesis helped him escape?

And, most importantly, what happened next?

He managed a half-jog, Heartrender adjusting her gait to match. Her encouragement via their bond dragged him onward like a tether long past the point his legs would’ve given out. When that no longer proved enough motivation, he pictured what Kali would do if she caught him.

Hardly any moonlight filtered through the canopy of trees. Even with his aether-enhanced vision, he stumbled every few paces. He kept expecting to lose Seymour in the gloom, but thewatcher remained the same distance ahead. He must’ve been monitoring Adrian’s progress.

Some interminable time later, Adrian’s legs collapsed beneath him, and he sprawled in the damp underbrush. Leaves crunched beside him. He looked up to find moonlight glinting off the golden spikes of Seymour’s armor. The watcher kept his eyes fixed back the way they’d come.

“Rest while you can,” Seymour said. “We continue in a few hours.”

Adrian mumbled something unintelligible in reply as his mind slipped into dreamless sleep.

Adrian awoke to an armored knee pinioning his chest and a gauntleted arm pressed to his throat. Panic engulfed him, receding only slightly when he realized it was Seymour, not Kali, straddling him. He couldn’t tell how long he’d slept, but night still shrouded the world.

The watcher glared at him, little more than a black silhouette. “I’ve let you rest as long as I dare. We need to go. But first, you’re going to tell me how you did it!”

“Get off me!” Adrian’s shout came out a gurgle. Darkness threatened the edges of his vision.

Seymour eased off his throat enough for him to gasp in a breath. “Spirits below, I forget how weak you are.” His voice dripped disgust. “Which proves my point—howdid you do it?”