Page 4

Still, she wet her chapped lips and asked the spider, “Who do you recommend?”

“Only the best,” she said plainly. “Only the strongest, most capable person in all of Angelthene would be fit to protect your daughter.”

Cyra mulled it over. The strongest people were Darkslayers. But that couldn’t be the answer here, because Darkslayers didn’t protect—they hunted and they killed. In what world would a slayer be willingly saddled with a human girl?—

“Darien Cassel,” the Widow said. But?—

“No.”Erasmus’s rebuke—shaky with fear—clapped against the walls. “Ab-absolutely not!”

The Widow stirred, rock clacking. Mist coiled around her legs like agitated snakes. “Do you take issue with my advice, Erasmus?”

Cyra’s lungs tightened with terror. She looked toward the fountain—their only way out. Gauged how many steps it’d take them to get there—how long they’d have to wait for the magic to spirit them away.

When Erasmus spoke again, he did so carefully. “I beg your p-pardon, Araneae, but yes, I do take great issue. I mean, let’s be reasonable here—” A nervous chuckle. “This man you speak of isDarien Cassel.The m-most ruthless Darkslayer in the entire city!”

“In the state.”

Erasmus glared, throwing caution to the wind. “Pardon me?”

“I was simply correcting you.” The Widow blinked her many shining eyes. “He is the most ruthless Darkslayer in the city, yes, as well as the state.”

Erasmus threw his hands in the air. “Unbelievable! We’re wasting our time?—”

“Darling,” Cyra tried.

But Erasmus wasn’t listening. “This must b-be a joke. Allow me to make sure I understand what you’re saying. You expect us to hire the most d-dangerous Darkslayer in the city—a man who’s killed hundreds, maybe even thousands of people, someone who kills because heenjoysit—and trust that he will—poof—”He flourished his hands. “—miraculously choose toprotectour daughter?”

The Widow blinked. “Yes.”

Erasmus pushed,“Randal Slade’s son?”

“Yes.”

“What are the odds?” he demanded. “A thousand to one?”

“Perhaps.”

Erasmus shook his head in disbelief and started to pace, water sloshing around his shoes.

“You came to me seeking advice, Erasmus, and I have given you exactly that. You don’t have to do as I say, but I am not in the habit of changing my answers simply because someone does not agree with me.”

Cyra and Erasmus had been gone for a long time, it was true, but there wasn’t a soul alive who hadn’t heard of Darien Cassel. Son of Randal Slade… Fearless leader of the Seven Devils… A spawn of evil—spat out of the deepest pits of hell. He’d broken Darkslayer records, having slaughtered more people and monsters at the age of twenty-three than most of his kind killed in a hundred. No mercy, no regret—just coldblooded killing. Merely the thought of him was enough to tempt Cyra to find Lily herself and take her far away from here. Surely there had to besomeplacewhere no one would find her?—

But she knew that was foolish. After all, she herself had spent decades in hiding; if anyone understood how difficult it was to remain hidden, it was Cyra. Only a near-impossible trade had allowed her and Erasmus to start over with new lives, new identities, new auras… If a Darkslayer as gifted as Darien Cassel wanted to locate someone badly enough, there was no place in the world where a person could hide—no land, sea, or sky where he couldn’t find you.

“A word of caution,” said the spider, her echoing words stilling Erasmus’s restless feet. “Place your daughter’s life in the hands of anyone other than Darien Cassel, and she will be butchered.”

Cyra’s skin prickled with chills. “How could you say that?”

“I merely speak the truth,” the Widow said. “I see a thousand different futures for your daughter; trust me when I say they are all ugly. Shall I list the outcomes? Tortured. Beaten. Raped?—”

“Stop,” Cyra whispered, her voice weak with fright.

“All ugly…except for one.” The future that involved Darien Cassel.

But how could that be? When Cyra had gazed upon her daughter in the fountain, she had seen a ray of sunshine. A beauty. A bright and bubbly personality who simply didn’t fit, didn’tbelongin the underworld. Was it possible that the man she’d heard such vile things about could fall for Lily? Protect her?Loveher, even?… Cyra could not imagine it.

“Let’s go.” Erasmus stepped forward, winding an arm around Cyra’s shoulders. “We’re d-done here.”