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Creon’s eyes had narrowed. I knew that look – puzzles, again.

‘But if you were afraid of being punished …’ Could I ask this question? Hell, apparently he needed me alive, and I definitelyneeded to know before I agreed to any bargains at all. ‘Why didn’t you just try a little harder to stop us?’

Ophion let out a sharp laugh. ‘With what people? With what magic?’

The small group of corpses around us.

The rudimentary traps in the tunnel, lacking all the Mother’s godsworn powers.

Something shifted in my mind with the force of an avalanche, understanding barrelling in. Zera help me – did that mean she’d set him up to fail from the start? Given him this order, threatened him with the consequences, then allotted him resources that wouldn’t ever hold against the combination of the Silent Death and a godsworn mage?

Butwhy?

His defeat at the Golden Court? Had that single misstep dropped him so far down the ranks she’d rather be rid of him entirely?

‘Do I understand correctly,’ I said, slowly, picking my words with painstaking care, ‘that she never actually cared about stopping us? That shewantedus to make it this far?’

‘They wanted to make sure you didn’t bring a host of others with you,’ Ophion spat out – so strangely hasty again, as if nervousness had suddenly gotten its hooks into him. His long fingers shifted once more, tugging his sleeve back down his wrist. ‘But yes, they seemed to be rather amused by the thought of seeing you again.’

Amused.

Dead and living gods help me.

And Ophion, with his twisted, tricky fae mind, had realised he’d be dead if we made it to the Mother’s throne despite him – that he’d be the next on her list once she’d dealt with us. Meaning that his only chance was not just to let us pass inexchange for his own life, but to give us the best chance we had at defeating his former lover before she could turn on him.

So utterly mercenary. So utterly merciless.

I’d seen the traces the Crimson Court had left on Creon’s heart. Had held him in my arms while he cried last night, unable to fully grasp a world in which he might be useless and loved at once. And still, it turned out, I hadn’t fully fathomed the extent of the lovelessness that had shaped the world he’d grown up in.

‘What is she planning to do once we’ve found her?’ I said, forcing myself to stay with the core of the matter, never mind how much I wanted to dive into the deadly intrigue that underlaid this conversation.

‘Something with godsworn magic.’ The worlds hurtled over his lips; a small pause followed before he added, more nonchalantly, ‘I won’t tell you anything else without the confirmation of our bargain, of course.’

Of course.

That strange urgency … it made the smugness that came after sound decidedly forced.

‘Do youknowwhat she’s planning?’ I tried, haphazardly.

‘No!’ he burst out, his knife hand jerking aside. I gasped as the steel edge pressed closer to my throat, but he pulled away again with a movement just as strained, smoothing the cuff of his right sleeve with fingers that suddenly trembled. ‘No, she didn’t tell me! Are you happy now, you little bitch? Was that all you wanted to know, or do we have to stand here for ten more minutes before we make that gods-damned bargain?’

What?

Creon was staring at us as bewilderedly as I felt.

‘I’m not sure …’ I stammered. ‘Why …’

There were too many questions to finish that sentence with, and none of them made it to my tongue. Why he was suddenly being so honest. Why he was lashing out so abruptly. Why hehad been so ruthlessly discarded, a change of heart that seemed extreme even for the Mother after a single lost battle …

That gods-damned bargain.

Wait.

Zera have mercy –wait.

That sleeve he kept tugging back over his wrist …

‘We never included an end point,’ I whispered, dazed.