Page 107 of Brimstone

Today’s numbers sent over from the war camp were branded into my mind:

Total known dead: 1,976

Total known infected: 2,409

Estimated infected landmass: 8,162 hectares

We were losing ground at an alarming rate, and there was no hope of the rot’s rate of expansion slowing anytime soon. Every time I unraveled a new tally, my hope took another hit. But I wasn’t going to let the Hazrax know that. It was toying with me. By peppering me with these questions, hoping for a spark of fear, maybe. A reaction. Inside, I did exactly that—reacted—but I trained my face into a blank mask. Whatever this creature was, whatever its motives were, I refused to play into them. “Forsomeone who proclaims they don’t have the Sight, you sure seem toseea lot.”

The Hazrax blinked again, its membranous eyelids flicking closed, open, closed, open. Unreadable as its facial features were, I thought I could still feel a flash of annoyance emanating from it as it moved serenely around the forge. It left its comments hanging there between us, the most worrying of which—“Does your mate need to be wary of new faces?”—causing all kinds of chaos to unfold inside me, but I did not give in to panic.

Fisher was an exceptional warrior. He’d led armies into battle. He knew how to take care of himself. He didn’t need me worrying over vague comments like this. He needed me focused, so I could contend with the task at hand.

“These pleasantries are nice, Hazrax, but as I’m sureyoualready know, I have a monumental task ahead of me and not much time to accomplish it in. These relics aren’t going to make themselves, so—”

“Let us return to the blood, then. Blood magic is artless. It requires no true skill. Do you intend on trading every last drop of blood you have to make your precious relics, Saeris? Or do you have another plan that willnotrequire you to exsanguinate?”

“Yes, it’s taking me too long to make a single relic. I can’t keep making trades. I can’t keep bartering away my blood. Believe me.I get it.”

“Then what else is there, Saeris Fane?”

“I thought this was supposed to be ameaninglessexchange.” I wanted it to leave. I couldn’t help but notice that no matter where it moved, the Hazrax was always in a position to block the forge’s exit in a couple of steps.

The creature spread its webbed fingers. “In the grand scheme of things, yes. This conversationismeaningless.”

“It seems pretty important to me.”

“I can imagine.” It smiled at last. Thin, translucent lips peeled back to reveal rows and rows of needle-sharp teeth. A shudder of revulsion started at my fingertips and prickled all the way to the crown of my head. I wasn’t going to be able to unsee the sight. “Ifyouconsider the topic to be of import, then perhaps you should consider my question, no?”

The Hazrax was supposed to be the Keeper of Silence. Seemed to me the creepy bastard didn’t know when to shut up. I tamped down my rising frustration and analyzed what it had said. If I couldn’t rely on bargains or blood to create the relics, then what did I have? The answer was so obvious, I felt like kicking myself.

The godscursedfuckingmagic. “I need to figure out how to activate the quicksilver rune.” I held up my right hand, studying the intricate inkwork there.

“An impressive shield,” the Hazrax noted. “Perhaps the most complex shield this realm has ever seen. It will be a formidable weapon . . . if it doesn’t kill you before you can seal it.”

Foley had called my runes a shield. Now the Hazrax had, too. I stared at the linework, feeling the steady, quick drumming of an ancient pulse, separate from my own heartbeat, beneath the interlocking runes.

“That’s what the book is for,” I said. “It’s supposed to teach me how to make a compact with the quicksilver. But the book only teaches me how to hear it. How to communicate with it. And I can already do that.”

The Hazrax made a strange, ticking sound somewhere deep in its throat as it thought. “I hear the wind. Am Ionewith the wind because I listen to it blow?”

“Enough! Please, just . . .enough.” I was so fuckingtiredof this. “If you know something, then please just spit it out.”

The disturbing ticking sound grew louder. “I do not know something. I knoweverything, Saeris Fane. But it is not my part to reveal truths that must be discovered.”

How had Iknownit wasn’t going to put me out of my misery? “All right. Then in that case, I think it’s time for you to leave.”

The Keeper of Silence made a sound that resembled laughter. “I fear I must disclose the real reason for my visit before I can do that, child.”

Heat spiked in my belly, pooling like molten lava. “You call me child where others here call meYour Highness.”

“Indeed. I do. And I mean no disrespect by the title. But much like the friend you have found in the library, I am not a servant of this court. I am aprivateindividual, withprivateinterests.”

“I was led to believe you swore fealty to the Blood Court.”

Slowly, the Hazrax shook its head. “A deal was struck between myself and the vampire king. I was allowed to observe him, and in return, he was permitted one favor for each year that I remained here.”

“What kind of favor?” I asked.