Page 57

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B y the time Daisy finally reached Lew’s apartment in Dusbury , the sun had set, and her heartbeat was jangling in her ears.

She had to do this. She had to try.

But her feet still dragged as she climbed up the stairs, and the mingled dread and determination simmered ominously in her gut. Maybe Lew wouldn’t be home. Maybe he would be off with some other woman. Maybe there would be another new woman in his bed…

But when Daisy swung the door open, Lew was there. Sitting at the familiar kitchen table, writing in his notebook by the light of the single bright lamp beside him. And when he glanced up toward Daisy at the door, there was an instant’s blank confusion in his eyes, as if he didn’t even recognize her.

“What the —” he began, squinting toward the door. “ Daisy ?!”

Daisy raised her chin, and shut the door behind her. “ Yes , it’s me,” she replied, as steadily as she could. “ Lovely to see you again too, Lew .”

Lew stared at her for another frozen instant, and then he leapt to his feet, and stalked over toward her. “ Where the hell did you come from?” he demanded. “ Where the hell have you been? And ” — his disbelieving gaze dropped downwards — “what the fuck are you wearing?!”

Daisy followed Lew’s gaze, down toward where her fur cloak had fallen open, revealing everything beneath. The colourful wrap top, the jewelry, the sturdy boots and trousers — and most revealing of all, her bare belly, still with Filak’s vow half-cut into it.

Lew stared at it for far too long, and then his narrow eyes darted over the rest of it, too. The black sun peeking up over Daisy’s heart. Her lips, likely still stained with black. The distinct mess of bite-marks on her neck. The gold cuff on her arm. And finally, Filak’s beautiful topaz ring, which suddenly felt very present, very powerful, in the place where Lew’s garish fake diamond had once been.

“I’m an artist, Lew ,” Daisy said, the quiet conviction resonating through her voice. “ I can wear whatever I want.”

Lew sharply scoffed, but then he glanced away, over Daisy’s shoulder. “ Well , where the hell have you been, all this time?” he demanded. “ Do you have any conception how much strain I’ve been under, these past weeks? How much time and coin and effort I’ve wasted searching for you?!”

Daisy took a deep breath, squared her shoulders. And then she took her time looking straight back toward Lew , studying the dark circles under his eyes, the way he looked slightly thinner than before, his trousers sagging on his hips. As if he truly was under strain, though all of it was his own damned fault.

“I left you a note, Lew ,” Daisy told him, her voice still surprisingly steady. “ But , if you really must know where I’ve been, all this time” — she took a breath — “ I’ve been staying at Orc Mountain .”

Lew’s mouth dropped open, his eyes flaring with disbelief, and Daisy could see him frantically weighing her words, working it through. Was she lying? Her appearance suggested not, right? And if she really had been at Orc Mountain , how much had she seen? How much did she know about his top-secret project? Had she gone there because of him?

Daisy let him wonder for a few more breaths, and then she even managed a cool little smile toward him. “ And yes, now I know all about your horrible top-secret project,” she told him, clipped. “ You might even say that I’ve been helping you.”

The disbelief flared brighter in Lew’s eyes, followed by something stubborn, something contemptuous. And Daisy knew that look too, could almost predict what would come out of his mouth next.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Daisy ,” Lew snapped back, a beat too late, with a familiar condescending curl of his lip. “ You’re clearly imagining things, again. And if you really ran off alone to Orc Mountain as some kind of petty revenge against me, that is ridiculous and immature behaviour, and appallingly dangerous! What if those inhuman parasites had killed you? Or worse, spawned their vile offspring on you?”

Daisy barked an empty little laugh, and her smile felt bitter this time, maybe even vicious. “ Too late for that, I’m afraid,” she replied, as she dropped her hand to her waist, and let her exposed belly round out beneath her touch. “ How do you feel about raising a son, Lew ?”

Lew’s gasp was harsh and choked, the dismay flashing stark and genuine across his face — and Daisy laughed again, harder this time. “ Don’t worry, I wouldn’t subject my son to that,” she said flatly. “ I know how much you despised the idea of a child or family obligations affecting your precious career. Although ” — she raised her brows — “you still played your part very well, didn’t you? Pretended to care about me, let me believe you were committed. While also giving me fake jewelry, fucking other women in my bed, and keeping me on a steady dose of the strongest pregnancy prevention herbs in the realm .”

Daisy could see Lew’s thoughts racing again, calculating, his breaths gone shallow in his chest. “ I don’t know what the hell you’re raving about, Daisy ,” he finally replied, his voice thin. “ If you really were foolish enough to run off to Orc Mountain , and allow those bastards to rut their degenerate spawn upon you, then —”

“Then what?” Daisy cut in, sharp and cold. “ Then I deserve it? Then I’m a stupid, irrational fool, falling prey to my emotions, mistaking silly anecdotal hunches for actual proven science?”

Lew’s eyes flickered, narrowed, surely recognizing his own voice in Daisy’s words, and she smiled again, brittle and furious. “ But it’s you , Lew ,” she hissed. “ It’s you . You’re the one who sent all those women to Orc Mountain . You’re the one who’s put them — and yourself — at risk. You’re the one who’s been stupid and irrational, falling prey to your emotions, mistaking them for actual proven science!”

Her voice carried through the room, and before Lew could try to argue it, she took a breath, and lurched a step closer toward him. “ Tell me, Lew . Of those women involved in your project, how many of them did you sleep with? How many of them got to prove themselves to you? And how many of them did you send off to Orc Mountain , taking your rubbish herbs, that don’t fucking work ?!”

Lew’s breath caught, his eyes gaping with new awareness down at Daisy’s belly — so she snapped her hand back down to her waist, let him look, let him see. “ Did you even test the herbs against orcs?” she demanded. “ Did you even think to try? And did it not occur to such a brilliant scientist” — her voice deepened — “what will happen next, once all those women become pregnant, too? Do you really think they’ll still go ahead and kill their sons’ fathers, and leave themselves trapped and pregnant and alone?!”

Lew’s throat bobbed, the alarm now rapidly rising in his eyes, and Daisy’s mouth pulled into another cold smile. “ Or … wait ,” she drawled, tapping with mock thoughtfulness at her chin. “ Those women won’t be alone, will they? Because they can still come to you . They’ll come to the man who sent them on this mission. The man who gave them the useless herbs. The last human man who could have possibly fathered those children!”

Lew betrayed a faint but visceral flinch this time, but Daisy still wasn’t done. “ They’ll give you sons, Lew ,” she snarled. “ They’ll give you the family you’ve always fucking wanted !”

The words hung there between them, brutal and uncompromising, and Lew was cringing now, cowering beneath them. Because yes, he’d done all that, and yes, he’d been such a damned fool. He’d fucked all those women, and then fed them all rubbish herbs, and sent them off to Orc Mountain . Where they were sure to become pregnant, and destroy everything he’d worked for.

“No matter what, Lew ,” Daisy snapped, “your precious project is done. Finished . And you can only pray that it doesn’t end with a dozen pregnant women raging on your doorstep, or trying to murder you in your sleep!”

Lew flinched again, but then he took a deep breath, and squared his shoulders. Still attempting to collect himself, to fight it, even now. “ This — this is ridiculous, Daisy ,” he said, though his voice wavered. “ You have no proof whatsoever for these baseless and preposterous accusations. This is all a figment of your foolish, flighty imagination!”

“Oh, really?” Daisy shot back. “ So if I trot off back to Orc Mountain , and bring Sybil here with me, she’ll be a figment of my flighty imagination too, will she? I bet she’ll love to hear the herbs don’t work. I bet she’ll laugh all the way home to Lord Nash !”

Lew’s flinch was unmistakable this time, and that was finally a look of pure horror, flashing through his eyes. “ You talked to Sybil ?” he asked, hard and furious. “ You told her all this, about our project?!”

And yes, there it was. The irrational cowardly confession. The short-sighted, immature selfishness. The foolishness.

“I haven’t told Sybil yet ,” Daisy said, raising her chin. “ But even if I don’t, you must see how risky this already is for you? How foolish you were, to risk getting involved with a rich, powerful, ruthless man like Lord Nash ? How easily he can destroy you?”

The fear held, quivered in Lew’s eyes, because yes, even he must have realized that much. He must have realized how much was riding on this project. Because even with Lew’s coin and his renown, he was no match whatsoever for a lord of the realm, with unlimited wealth and power and influence at his call…

“When this project fails, Lew ,” Daisy hissed, “ Lord Nash will blame you . And even if he still uses this to start his war, you’ll still be the scientist who made him false promises, and wasted all his coin. You’ll be the one who knocked up his favourite mistress with an orc. You’ll be the one who’s left with all the consequences, and all the failure !”

Lew grimaced, glancing away, and Daisy stepped closer, took another deep breath. “ Not to mention, even if by some miracle your horrid attack is still somehow successful,” she went on, “you can still say goodbye to your reputation as a brilliant scientist. Instead ” — she jabbed her finger toward him — “you’ll be a murderer . The man responsible for murdering hundreds, or maybe even thousands, of people. Not just orcs, but women, and innocent children ! The great botanist Lewis Wallace , reduced to slaughtering helpless babies !”

She accompanied it with an elaborate sweep of both hands through the air, as if painting the vision across the sky for all to see. And though Lew was shaking his head now, his jaw tightly clenched, Daisy could still see him, she knew him. And this — this was something else she’d ignored, something else that hadn’t made sense. Something she hadn’t seen until she’d drawn that vision of Lew , poisoning her son.

Lew didn’t want to be a murderer. He didn’t like being the villain. He never had, and he’d so clearly demonstrated that when Daisy had found him in bed with Sybil that day. He’d resorted to blame, justifications, science, enlightenment, lies . He’d done whatever he could to escape the responsibility for his actions. To hide, and forget. Just the way he always had.

So when Lew had agreed to do this project for Lord Nash , it hadn’t been out of cruelty, or maliciousness. No , he’d wanted to show off to a powerful lord. He’d wanted praise, and accolades, and fame. He’d wanted to be the enlightened brilliant scientist. The hero.

“You won’t be the hero, Lew ,” Daisy said now, flat and certain. “ No matter how this ends. You’ll never escape the damage this will do to your reputation, and your life’s work. What will your colleagues think of you? What will your readers say? Will your publishers ever work with you again?”

Daisy could see the questions hitting Lew , striking him where it hurt most — and on a sudden impulse, she twisted and fumbled into her satchel. Yanking out her sketchbook, and then flipping open pages, shoving it toward him. “ What will they say,” she demanded, “when they see eyewitness accounts like this , strewn all across the realm?”

It was the sketch from the garden, the one she’d drawn of Lew . Lew , holding the tiny orc cradled in his arm, and the belladonna in his hand. Lew , feeding poison to an innocent child.

But also — another angle of what Daisy had seen, back there in the garden — it was still Lew , with an orc son. With one of the sons he would inadvertently spawn, on all those women. With all his stupidity, and his short-sightedness, and his greed.

And Lew was seeing it too, his eyes stunned and disbelieving, his throat working. And though his mouth opened, nothing came out, because there was nothing he could say. He’d been a stupid reckless fool, chasing off after a dream of fame and acclaim, and instead he’d caught himself a devil. A monster.

“Oh, and one more thing,” Daisy said, with another cold smile toward him. “ About your good friend Lord Nash . I assume you know he’s already been doing this to orcs, up in the north? Poisoning them in their tunnels?”

The flicker in Lew’s eyes said he did know that, and maybe it was even part of what had convinced him to do this — a project with proven success, an easy victory. But he didn’t answer, and Daisy turned her sketchbook back around, flipped through more pages.

“The problem is, though,” she continued, “the orcs here are now allied with the clan in the north. And now that they know the risk” — she turned the sketchbook back toward him — “they’re restoring an alternative. A hidden place deep underground. A place large enough to safely accommodate everyone in that entire mountain.”

The place, of course, was the Skyli . And the page in Daisy’s sketchbook was the beautiful arching cathedral, with its light and its space and its air. Its safety.

And while Daisy didn’t actually know if the Ka -esh had seen the Skyli’s potential as a sanctuary, she was seeing it now, as clear as if she’d drawn it on the page. If Orc Mountain couldn’t find a way to peacefully prevent the attacks, they could still evacuate to the Skyli . They could leave in advance, and stay as long as they needed. And while it might not save everyone, it would still help. It would keep Lew from feeding belladonna to their children.

And again, Lew was at least intelligent enough to see it. His eyes bulging as he stared at the page, his hands closing to tight fists at his sides.

“You’re lying, Daisy ,” he finally hissed, his voice thin. “ We’ve researched. We’ve seen . The orcs have nothing like that.”

Daisy’s lip curled, and she made a mental note to tell Jule to look for spies already in their midst, perhaps more so-called mates. “ No , the orcs didn’t have anything like that,” she told Lew , her voice curt. “ But they do now. And it’s very well hidden, so don’t expect you’ll ever find it.”

Lew’s face had gone pale, his eyes still frozen on the page, his shoulders slowly slumping. And for an instant, gazing at her former partner of four entire years, Daisy almost felt… sorry for him. Sorry for his failures, his weaknesses, his loss. For all the dreams she was destroying, plunging him into the dark.

“So I’m here to make you a deal, Lew ,” she said, softer than she meant. “ A way out of all this.”

Lew didn’t move or speak, just studying Daisy with uneasy eyes, and she took a breath, and again reached for her satchel. Pulling out a small, heavy bag this time. The same bag Filak had given her, down in that dark fortified room.

The jewels. The mate-price. The sálugjald .

“You take this,” Daisy said, as she held it out toward him. “ And then you’ll go underground, and disappear. Forever .”