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Des’s voice drops low, so that only we can hear it. “Have I told you how easy it was to kill Karnon? His bones broke like twigs, his body burst like overripe fruit.” Des smiles, the action cruel. “Ending him was the easiest thing in the world.

“Don’t make the same mistake he did. Stay the fuck away from my mate, or I will kill you, just as I did the mad king.”

Des’s warning is enough to keep Janus at bay.

I rub my arms as I watch the Day King move into the crowd, downing his wine and snagging another flute from a nearby table.

Slowly, the Bargainer’s wings tuck back into themselves, and the darkness recedes.

“Are you all right?” Des asks, his hands moving to my upper arms. He looks me over, like Janus might’ve done some damage to me while we talked.

I nod, taking in a shaky breath. “I’m fine. He just…he unnerves the shit out of me,” I say, my eyes wandering to the Day King, who’s now talking with Mara and the Green Man, the three watching Des and me carefully.

The Bargainer lets out a husky laugh, some of his dangerous edge dying away with it. “And to think I once worried that you’d like the asshole.”

I remember Des telling me about the King of Day, that he was a lover of truth and honesty and beauty, and yadda, yadda, yadda.

I let a very real shudder course through me.

Des’s hand cups my face. “We can leave. Right this second. My men will pack our bags and follow us. Janus cannot step a foot into my kingdom without me knowing, and he’s aware that if he does, death awaits him.” The Bargainer’s eyes glint with malice.

Perhaps Des does descend from demons. I see something in the back of his gaze that craves violence far more than even my siren.

“All you have to do is say the word,” he says.

His offer is so very tempting. If I stay, I’ll have several more days of this.

But if we left…

If we left, it would make Des look weak or, worse, guilty.

I shake my head. “Let’s see this through.”

He stares at me for several seconds before nodding. “If you change your mind—”

“I’ll tell you,” I finish for him.

The next hour is filled with discussion after discussion as Des and I move about the room. Now that the Bargainer is at my side, I’ve gotten roped into talking with fairies. Bleh. It doesn’t help that these are the same fairies desperately trying to ignore my existence. It would actually be fairly entertaining if it weren’t so grating.

I’m a human, not a human-shaped dump someone took on the floor. No one has to pretend I don’t exist.

Despite Des’s best efforts, I eventually manage to slip away. As I move away from him, he gives me a look that has me clutching my bracelet of beads.

Methinks I’m going to pay later for leaving him to suffer his fate alone.

I mosey over to the table where row after row of wineglasses sit, ripe for the taking.

Don’t mind if I do.

I snag one, sighing a little after I take my first sip.

So dang good.

Several minutes into my escape, I realize I have no conversation to join. Both Malaki and Temper are suspiciously absent. I search the crowd for Aetherial, wondering if she’s here tonight. If she is, I don’t see her.

I take another sip of my drink. The only other people I’ve come to know here are the rulers. Eff no am I talking to Janus, who’s currently schmoozing with some Fauna fae officials, and Mara is on the dance floor, in the middle of the closest thing to an open orgy that I’ve ever seen. Her harem of men clamors around her, their hands and lips pressed against her skin. It’s weird to see them all gyrating together while a string quartet plays in the background, and it’s even weirder that I’m watching.

I desperately want to unsee this…but I also can’t look away.