Page 20 of Daemon Master

“Dowhat?” Adrian’s own temper rose now that he wasn’t suffocating.

“Anyof it. Your so-called ‘bond’ with that daemon, for starters. That shouldn’t have been possible, not without a proper bondstone.”

Spirits above, he knew Seymour could be thick-headed, but this took denial to a new level. “I told you, Crastley wrote the symbol in his journal. You watched me form it out of aether.”

“I’m not surewhatI saw.” Seymour’s face contorted into a familiar sneer. “Besides, I find it hard to believe thatyoupossess enough aetheric control to do anything of the sort. Another illusion, no doubt.”

Heartrender’s outrage pulsed in his mind. He couldn’t see her from his position, but he sensed her nearby. Seymour must have her restrained too, perhaps by that brute Tremorfist.

He tried to shove Seymour off him, but the watcher merely lifted an eyebrow. Sighing, Adrian sank into the crackling leaves. “To be honest, forming the runes felt…natural. As if my aether had been waiting my entire life to snap into that configuration.”

Seymour snorted. “If it’s so ‘natural,’ how has it eluded the League’s top scholars for generations?”

“Maybe no one’s ever bothered to look since bondstones are so prevalent.” Another thought occurred to him. “Or maybe theyhave, and Serenity Corp covered it up. Like with Crastley.”

And me.

Seymour fell silent, his expression unreadable. “Even if I believed you, that still doesn’t explain how you bested that Serenity Corp agent. Bond or no, you never should’ve been a threat to her.”

“That one’s easy. I stole her dagger and stabbed her in the eye.”

Seymour’s body went rigid. “Impossible! Even with an aetherforged blade, you should’ve lacked the strength to penetrate her aether.”

It was a fair point. Adrian himself had a hard time believing he’d wounded a daemon master of Kali’s caliber. His thoughts snagged on something else Seymour had said. “Hold on, what do you mean byaetherforged?”

Seymour sighed. “I see your aetheric training wasn’t the only thing you neglected.”

“You didn’t exactly make lessons pleasant,” Adrian snapped. “Now, would you please get off me and explain.”

The watcher shook his head as if astonished by the depths of Adrian’s ignorance. Mercifully, however, he also shifted his weight to relieve some of the pressure from Adrian’s chest. “I presume you’re familiar with the use of daemons to create various goods?”

Remembering the assembly line he’d witnessed at the Serene Hall, Adrian nodded.

“Well, aetherforging takes that process to its logical conclusion, imbuing an object with additional aether to further enhance it. The practice is rare—I doubt there’s a single capable artisan within five days’ travel of Hillvale. However, a high-ranking Serenity Corp operative would hardly wield amundaneweapon.”

Adrian supposed that made sense. Objects forged from daemonic techniques tended to be naturally hardier. Depositing still more aether into something should only enhance the effect. And, if it was as uncommon as Seymour said, it wasn’t surprising he’d never encountered it before.

Could I use aetherforging to counteract my own weaknesses?

He filed the intriguing notion away, forcing his attention back on the matter at hand. “Stabbing someone in the eye seems pretty debilitating no matter who you are. Besides, I didn’t do it alone—Heartrender gifted me her aether to enhance the blow.”

Not that he had a cluehow.

Seymour’s knee dug painfully into his sternum. Adrian couldn’t tell whether he meant it to hurt or if he genuinely underestimated the hardiness of Adrian’s body compared to his own. “Evenyoumust know daemons can’t lend their aether on demand. It’s too wild and unpredictable.”

“Perhaps this new bond is stronger. More versatile.” The stubborn watcher shook his head, and the last vestiges of Adrian’s patience slipped away. “Spirits above, yousawme meld with Heartrender when I followed you into the forest! I couldn’t have done that without a bond.”

A slight hesitation. “I suppose. But that hardly—”

“If you’re so convinced my tale is rubbish, why did you betray your oaths?” Adrian demanded. “Why put your life on the line to help me escape?”

When Seymour remained silent, Adrian worried he might have pushed him too far. Eventually, however, Seymour said, “I heard what that agent told you. She had no intention of bringing you in unharmed, nor did she deny your accusations. In the heat of the moment, I did what I felt was right.” A low chuckle rumbled out of him. “If a pathetic runt like you found the will to fight, how could I live with myself if I did any less?”

“Thanks…I guess.” Seymour shifted above him, and heat crept up Adrian’s neck as he suddenly became conscious of how tightly their bodies were pressed together. “Since we’ve reached an understanding, mind, uh, letting me go?”

The watcher grunted and released his grip.

Adrian sat up, sucking in a deep breath. Twin azure glows to his left marked Heartrender and another daemon his aethersense identified asWillowrush.Tall and sinewy, its lithe limbs resembled a mass of reeds swaying in a breeze. Thathad to be Seymour’s second. Though daemon masters could only manifest a single daemon at a time, most maintained the limit of two simultaneous bonds. With a jolt, he realized he could now count himself among their number.