Page 92 of Daemon Master

Now that Elana had rendered her judgment, the gathering soon dissolved into drinking and dancing. Trusting his aether to keep him clear-headed, Adrian joined in the celebration.

He found himself pleasantly surprised by how cordial everyone treated him. Anyone against Elana’s decision must have already departed or else decided to drown their sorrows in alcohol and air their grievances another day.

As the night wore on, his mind grew fuzzy around the edges. Eventually, he stumbled over to Freya. “Do you aetherforge your booze?” he asked, surprised when his voice came out slurred.

She frowned and shook her head, wavering on her feet. “Nope,” she hiccupped. “Itdoesseem strong tonight though, doesn’t it? I only had half a cup.”

He nodded, regretting the motion when the world tilted on its axis “Need to find…Seymour.”As soon as my spirit-cursed head stops spinning…

Once he was fairly sure he wasn’t about to vomit, he searched around with bleary eyes until he spied Seymour leaning against a table twenty paces away. The watcher looked as bad as Adrian felt. In fact… As Adrian swept his unsteady gaze across the clearing, he noticed a number of villagers either passed out in their chairs or slumped in the dirt. Daemons lay scattered among them, which didn’t make any sense. They supped on aether, not booze.

Unless something has affected the villagers’ aether.

Alarm bells ringing in his head, he reached for his bonds with Heartrender and Lockrod. Spirits below, how long had it been since he’d felt their presence? The bonds slipped through his mental grasp, the aether there but just beyond his reach. Like his first few days in the Enclave.

His vision blurred, the world spinning crazily as he tried to step toward Freya and stumbled. “The tea,” he mumbled, falling to his hands and knees. “It’s…the tea…”

If Freya heard him, she didn’t respond. From his lower vantage, he spied Heartrender slumped beneath the table as if she’d fallen asleep. Spirits below, he prayed that was all that had happened to her. Even as he watched, she shimmered and dissolved, her aether melding into him now that they both lacked the energy to sustain her form.

Footsteps crunched in the dirt behind him. He managed to flop over enough to spot Leda striding into the clearing. She stepped gingerly around collapsed villagers, her lips turned down in a grimace as she approached the head table.

“Hello, dear sister,” she said.

Elana leaned against the edge of the table to hold her upright, still awake but only barely.“Leda!”she slurred. “What have you done?”

“Only what I had to in order to excise the cancer rotting us from the inside out.”

More figures entered the clearing from the same direction as Leda. At first, Adrian’s addled mind thought them daemons in gold rather than blue. Then, he realized what he’d mistaken for smooth skin was actually full body armor, their golden spikes glinting in the torchlight.

The watchers fanned out around the courtyard—dozens of them, many wielding a sword or club and each with a summoned daemon at their side. No doubt the creatures held readied techniques, waiting to unleash them at a command from their masters.

Not that there’s anything we can do to fight back, Adrian thought dully. Someone must’ve slipped daemonsbane into the food or drink, transforming it into an aetheric blocker like the Suprimera tea. Now that it had taken effect, they’d be unable tochannel for hours. Even if the pseudo-paralysis wore off, they’d remain essentially helpless.

A figure ambled up beside Leda. Tufts of white hair spiked from his ungroomed head, and a heavy pair of spectacles perched on his nose. Unlike the watchers, he wore a white coat rather than armor and bore no obvious weapons or daemons. Adrian’s gaze, however, fixed on the crescent-moon sigil of Serenity Corp fastened to his lapel, identical to the one Kali had worn. This must be her partner—the seeker she’d been communicating with right before she died.

“Nicely done, Leda,” the man said. His eyes gleamed as he took in the scene around him “This daemonsbane of yours surpassed my expectations. You said it grows locally in the area?”

Leda scowled. “Our arrangement didn’t include idle chit-chat, seeker. Take what you came for and leave.”

“One must ever look to the future if one is to escape the past,” the man said amicably. “Though, I suppose you’re right. Collection of the herb can wait.”

Kali’s partner shifted his attention to the passed-out villagers, scanning them one by one. Adrian averted his eyes when the man’s gaze lingered overlong on him. He wanted to rise and fight, or at the very least demand an explanation. But the strength for either eluded him.

“Everything we’ve worked for…” Elana’s voice broke, trembling with emotion and the effects of the daemonsbane. “You threw it all away, just like that. And for what? Out of spite?”

“You understandnothing!”Leda hissed. She strode forward until she loomed over her collapsed sister. “I couldn’t sit idly by while you allowed outsiders to corrupt our people!”

“So, you handed us over to Serenity Corp instead?”

“I struck a deal to guarantee our survival!” Leda surveyed the other villagers as if expecting them to leap to her defense, though of course, none could right now even if they’d wantedto. “I told the watchers that the fugitives they sought had seized control of our village. In exchange for delivering them, they agreed to leave us in peace. No longer must we live in fear of discovery—we can have the safety and security we’ve always wanted!”

“I believe my exact words were that we would only arrest those with the true bond,” Kali’s partner said absently as he continued to scan the villagers. Adrian couldn’t tell if it was his imagination, but the man’s eyes appeared to glow.

Leda ignored his comment, clutching at Elana’s limp hand. “I heard what you said earlier—your decision toaidthese interlopers. But you no longer need fear their retribution. We can go back to the way things were—the way they’ve always been.”

“No,” Elana said through clenched teeth. “We can’t.”

“It’s not too late!” Leda’s voice grew more manic, her tone imploring. “Think of your people. Of your daught—”