Page 75 of Brimstone

I was first to speak. “Does the trader have some of your venom?” I demanded.

The demon laughed—the sound of rock scraping on rock. “And I would tell you this? Just give the information to you freely? I thinknot, warrior.”

“If Vorath had its venom, it’ll be back in his shop,” Carrion said. “We should just kill the monster and go there. It isn’t going to tell us anything.”

“Are you willing to risk it?”Iwasn’t.

Carrion looked conflicted. He wanted to disregard my advice and destroy the hideous thing that had attacked us . . . but the prospect of an unending cycle of nightmares rightfully gave him pause. “So, we don’t kill it yet. We make the anti-venom, andthenwe kill it.” It sounded as if this idea was the only thing keeping him going.

“You must have my . . . permission,” the demon wheezed. “The venom to create its cure must be given . . . freely.”

“Well, of courseyou’dsay that.” Carrion made a face at the demon. “What if we just cut off its stinger and take it back toVorath’s shop? The guy has everything we need to create a cure there. I’d put money on it.”

“You’re sure? Sure enough to risk it?” I let him stew on that for half a second. Thankfully, he lowered his dagger and sighed; I really didn’t feel like wrestling it away from him right now, with my gut churning and traces of light streaking across my vision.

“I am not dragging that melted carcass through the tunnels,” Swift said.

“Stop talking, Carrion,” I rumbled. “The grown-ups are about to strike a bargain.”

“Why the fuck are webargainingwith it?”

Giving the demon a hard stare, I worked my jaw, flaring my nostrils; the tomb smelled rank, like sulfur and death. “Because the Fae and demon kind have one thing and one thing alone in common. We are both bound by our oaths, aren’t we, fiend?”

Again, Joshin laughed, and it seemed as if all of Zilvaren trembled at the unholy sound. “Go ahead and . . . make your opening offer, shadow weaver. It . . . will not . . . be enough.”

“There’s no opening offer.” I shook my head. “There’stheoffer. We will spare you and allow you to live if you provide two droplets of your venom to heal us.”

The demon shuddered with fury. “An uneven bargain. Two lives for one!”

“Are you equal to me, demon?” I snarled. “Are you not more powerful? More important? More valuable in the eyes of your kind?”

“Infinitelyyyyy,” Joshin rumbled in a disturbing, guttural tone.

“Then the deal is unevenly weighted onyourend, wouldn’t you say? In that case, you owe us one of your precious secrets, too.”

The demon snapped its teeth, caught out by its own pride. “Whatkindof secret?”

“One valuable enough to balance the scales of our bargain,” I answered, knowing what I was demanding.

The demon’s own vanity would require it to give us an impressive secret. Something monumental. It peeled back its bloody lips and barked in derision. “You ask for too much. A bargain hasnotbeen struck.”

“All right, then. So be it. Carrion, get ready to light this asshole up.”

The smuggler whipped around to look at me. “What?”

“Fire, Carrion. You’re about to get your way. We’re going to set this thing on fire and watch it burn.”

“But I can’t—”

“And once we’ve made ash of it,” I said, cutting him off, “we’ll gather the demon’s leavings and sell it in little glass bottles to the humans. We’ll tell them it’s seasoning for their gruel.”

“Sacrilege!” Joshin roared. “I am a god! You cannot—”

I dropped into a crouch and stared the thing in its twisted, hideous face. Its flesh fluttered and rippled, distorting thanks to the poison in my veins, but I took a deep breath and focused. “Nightmares or no, you are whatever I say you are once you’re dead, demon. Maybe I’ll say you’re bonfire ash. Or the remains of a goat.”

“No! All right. One secret and my venom in exchange for my life. But you must agree to release me. I will not be imprisoned in another one of these traps for the rest of time.”

I thought about this. Scoured the deal for holes. It didn’t take long for me to find numerous ways to manipulate the bargain to my own advantage. “All right,” I said. “Bleed for it and be done.”