Page 71 of Daemon Master

Heartrender obediently trotted along the perimeter. Adrian started to track her progress, but the girl snapped, “Nope, eyes forward! I don’t want you cheating and telling it where to go.”

“Her,” he said. The girl gave him a confused look, so he explained. “Heartrender is ashe.”

More angry muttering at that, but the girl only nodded. Her eyes returned to Heartrender. She waited until the next time Heartrender was behind him before calling, “Stop! All right, I want you to find someone wearing green, then someone who’s old, then someone who looks mean.”

Adrian could sense Heartrender moving behind him, concentrating on the task.Green is a color,he sent to herunspoken question, along with a mental image of what it looked like. She might be able to understand human speech, but not all their concepts translated well.

Moments later, the girl laughed delightedly. “Agreed,” she said with a wide grin. “Beatricedoeslook ready to murder us in our sleep right now. Good job. You can return to Adrian.”

A handful of scattered laughter issued from the crowd. Adrian’s burgeoning hope grew. He gestured to Lockrod while Heartrender returned to his side. “Don’t you want to test him, too?”

“What do you mean?” the girl asked.

“Well, I thought you might want to confirm the results with my other bonded daemon.”

The last of the laughter faded, and Adrian’s skin prickled. Had he said something wrong?

The girl drew her brows together. “I’ve never bonded my own daemon, but evenIknow you can only summon one daemon at a time.”

Sudden understanding swept over him.Of course!Not knowing anything about the true bond, they must’ve assumed only two of these daemons actually belonged to Seymour and him, the rest either wild or subdued. The irony of it made him chuckle.

The girl’s eyes narrowed. “What’s so funny?”

“I thought I needed some fancy way to prove the true bond’s existence when all Ireallyneeded to do was this.”

One by one, he recalled his daemons to him, melding them into his flesh via a reverse Fusion. Then, he resummoned them both into the clearing. There were no murmurs this time. The crowd remained absolutely silent.

All except the girl, who nodded thoughtfully. “That certainly lends credence to your claims. And your daemonsdoseem more intelligent than what I’ve heard about the usual bond…”

She tapped her chin. Then, as if coming to a decision, she stepped into the clearing.

“Freya!” Elana barked, sounding exasperated. “Get back in your seat this instant!”

“It’s fine, mother,” the girl—Freya—said.

Adrian’s breath caught.Mother?

Freya paused a couple paces away. Lockrod studied her curiously, while Heartrender gave her a suspicious look as if to ask,What now?Ghosttear shifted against Adrian’s chest.

Freya glanced at him. “May I?”

He shrugged. “Don’t ask me—ask them.”

She turned her questioning gaze to his daemons. Lockrod’s response was to scamper forward, crawling up Freya’s arm and onto her shoulder. Shouts rang out around the square as several people leaped to their feet wielding shoddy clubs. They froze when Freya giggled.

“Stop it,” she gasped, wriggling her shoulders. “That tickles!”

Lockrod hopped down, chittering while he played with the hem of Freya’s dress.Go on,Adrian sent to Heartrender.Show her how friendly you are.

The impression she sent back suggested being friendly was about thelastthing she wanted to do right now. Nevertheless, she humored him. With a softmew, she rubbed her head against Freya’s hand, following it with apurrwhen the girl scratched behind her ears.

Adrian smiled, watching until Freya finally extricated herself and returned to her seat. “I’ve seen enough.” She turned to Elana. “I believe them, mother. Those daemons’ personalities remain intact. If nothing else, I think Adrian is telling the truth about this new bond.”

“Lies!” Leda jumped to her feet, her face contorted with rage. “You’ve been taken in by their tricks! Slavery is slavery, no matter how you dress it up.”

Freya fixed Leda with a cool expression. “Those daemons are no more slaves than you or me, Aunt Leda.”

Leda’s face reddened. “Ifthatis what you believe, then we have failed in our duty as your elders.” She faced the rest of the crowd, raising her voice so it would carry. “When we forged this community, we swore to never again bond a daemon. Now, these…thesecriminalscome, offering the temptation of a loophole. We shouldneverhave brought them here!”