Cursed

“So that’s why you ordered those assassination attempts,” I said. “You had Meredith and Martin to work on the two of us. But once Martin picked up that item, you didn’t need me anymore. He would have phoned you on … what, Saturday night?” I saw Martin start. “And by Sunday morning you had Garrick ready to shoot me. You don’t waste time, do you?”

“I’m impressed, Verus,” Belthas said. “But you’ve misinterpreted events slightly.”

“Why are we even talking to this guy?” Martin said.

“Shush, Martin,” I said. “Adults are talking.”

“Shut up,” Martin said with a sneer. “Me and Luna couldn’t stop laughing about you, you know that? Having something like this and being too scared to use it.”

“How can you say that?” Luna’s voice was shaking. “I thought you cared about me! How could you do this?”

Martin turned away with a shrug. “Martin, you’re stupid,” I said.

“Yeah? Then how come we’ve got a bunch of guns pointed at you?”

“Doesn’t change the fact that you’re stupid. For a start, you keep saying ‘we.’ You’re not Belthas’s partner, you’re his minion. You’re stupid enough to use the monkey’s paw after I told you the truth about it. And you’re stupid enough to keep being Belthas’s minion and keep using the monkey’s paw even after being told that it’ll kill you. In fact, you’re so stupid that I can tell you all this to your face and Belthas won’t stop me because he knows you’re too much of an idiot to know when you’re being told the truth. He can just wait for you to get yourself killed without lifting a finger.”

Belthas raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment. Martin had been listening with his mouth half-open and he started to say something or other but I turned on Meredith before he could finish. “And you. Lying really is a way of life to you, isn’t it?”

Meredith stared at me. “Excuse me?”

“That was what Belthas told you to do, wasn’t it? Manipulate me.”

Meredith’s eyes narrowed. “Get over yourself.”

“I trusted you!”

“No, you didn’t. You never let me in—you don’t trust anyone. You’re the coldest man I’ve ever met.”

My face twisted in a snarl. “As if you could—” Martin started to shout something and some of the men brought their guns up.

“Quiet, please,” Belthas said, his voice cutting across the noise. He looked from side to side, eyebrows raised, until everyone had fallen silent. “I can understand you have reasons for disagreement but I think it would be best if you resolve your personal issues in your own time.”

Martin glowered. Meredith looked away.

“Now,” Belthas said once order had resumed. “Verus, I have an offer for you.”

“I can’t wait.”

“There’s no need for sarcasm,” Belthas said mildly. “As I was saying earlier, while your analysis is impressive, you’ve gone astray in one or two points. I haven’t given any instructions to kill you. In fact, I quite specifically instructed my men to make sure you were unharmed.”

“Oh,” I said. “So those were the friendly kind of assassination attempts.”

Belthas sighed. “Verus, you really should … how did Meredith put it? Get over yourself. Yes, your value was diminished once Martin reported his success. But do you really think that’s enough reason to order your death? I’m not a Dark mage. If I killed everyone who wasn’t useful to me, there wouldn’t be many people left.”

I was silent. “Besides,” Belthas continued. “You’ve been of considerable assistance. It was due to you that we were able to capture Deleo. With her and Cinder on the loose, this would have been impossible.”

“Feel free to express your gratitude.”

“I’d be happy to. As I said, I have considerable influence with the Council. However, with that influence comes obligations.” Belthas gestured to the men around him. “It would hardly have been possible to arrange all this without some assistance. Fortunately, I was able to discover a Council member willing to act as a patron of sorts.”

“Great. Who?”

Belthas smiled slightly. “Come now, Verus. I’ve already explained that I’ve no wish to kill you. Who do you know on the Council who does?”

I stared for a second—then my heart sank. “Shit.”

“Yes,” Belthas said dryly. “Did you think he forgot?”

I turned away. “Alex?” Luna said quietly.

“Levistus,” I said. Things had just gone from bad to worse. I looked at Belthas. “So what? I was the price for his help?”

“Actually, that’s quite an interesting story.” Belthas settled himself more comfortably. “I suspected from the start that it was Deleo and Cinder we were looking for, and given your past history, I immediately thought of you as the natural choice to find them. But when I suggested your name to Levistus, he was quite definite that you were not to be involved. Levistus is … less tolerant of unpredictability than I am.