“Well, that went well,” Alyx said as she fell back onto Cass’s sitting room couch.

  Cass raised an eyebrow. Had it? “Really?”

  Alyx nodded.

  “You call that well?” Cass repeated.

  “Sure, Kohen didn’t try to stab me at the table, and father ran out of the room with his tail between his legs. I’m not sure it could have gone better!” She laughed, reclining further into the chair.

  Cass grimaced.

  It had hardly been the family dinner she’d expected. She knew Alyx wasn’t close to her family. There was the constant antagonism between her and Kohen, as well as the whole assassination thing supposedly by her father after all.

  All things considered, perhaps tonight was tame.

  That she would have killed to see Kaye and Robin and celebrate their accomplishments over dinner was irrelevant. That it was a waste to antagonize loved ones and purposefully push them away was irrelevant.

  Cass shook her head. She had to remind herself that Alyx’s family wasn’t her own. She couldn’t use her desires to judge how Alyx interacted with her family.

  “In any case, keep your eye on Kohen. He might try something drastic now that he’s been pushed into a corner,” Alyx said.

  “Was it a good idea to push him, then?”

  “Sure,” Alyx said. “I want him to do something drastic.”

  “Like what exactly?” Cass regretted the question as it left her mouth.

  Alyx grinned. “He might try to assassinate me.”

  A sigh slipped from Cass. “You look happy about that.”

  “It’s the most foolish thing he could try now. With my blessing, I have a definitive advantage, and I’ve shrunk the level gap. If he does it personally, I’ll kill him in self-defense.”

  “And if he sends someone else?” Cass asked.

  Alyx sighed. “He won’t send one of his people. It would track back to him too easily, and they are all weaker than him, besides. Which means he’d need to hire out. Finding an assassin crew that will kill a Major Blessing holder this time of year will be difficult and expensive. He might still do it, but if he did, he’d be admitting that I’m out of his league. I think he’d rather die than admit that.”

  Cass didn’t know what to do with any of that besides helplessly picking at it. “Assassin crews? You mean actual kill-people-in-their-sleep-assassins this time, right? Not major-single-target-damage dealers like last time we talked about this.”

  Alyx nodded.

  “And there are just whole ‘crews’ who do assassination?” Cass hoped—prayed—she misunderstood.

  “Sure, the merc group I hired for Uvana was apparently one,” Alyx said entirely too nonchalantly. “Most have covers as treasure companies or mercenaries or the like.”

  “And no one has tried to arrest them?”

  Alyx shrugged. “What is there to arrest?”

  “Isn’t murder illegal?”

  “Yeah, generally.”

  “So wouldn’t a group that murders for money be very illegal?”

  “But how do you prove the treasure company takes that kind of job?” Alyx asked. “More importantly, if the powers that be cleaned them up, who would they hire to remove their rivals when it came time?”

  Cass shuddered. “I don’t like it.”

  Alyx shrugged again.

  “And I don’t like you purposefully trying to get your brother to kill you.”

  Alyx sighed, shaking her head. “I don’t love it either. I’d rather he just got out of my way and left me alone. But that won’t happen. So, failing that, I’d rather know for sure he’s trying to kill me than spend my time wondering whether he is.”

  Cass didn’t get it. She didn’t think she wanted to either.

  Silence stretched between them, the fire in the hearth crackling quietly.

  Alyx looked around the room, her bright eyes searching for something. “Where is Salos?”

  “Oh,” that was what she was looking for. “Ah,” What was she supposed to say? “Out?”

  “Cass.” Alyx sighed. “Out?”

  “Out.” Cass nodded. It was, objectively, a bad excuse. But it was the one she’d picked. Lies were best when one stuck to their story and added as few details as possible. And, from a certain angle, this wasn’t even a lie. He was ‘out’. ‘Out of commission,’ more specifically.

  Alyx rubbed her temples. “I need more from you than that, Cass.”

  “I don’t know what else to tell you,” Cass said.

  Alyx sighed. “He’s your familiar, isn’t he?”

  No. Cass had never bothered to straighten out what exactly the difference was, but technically, he was her demon bond, not a familiar. But Cass couldn’t exactly say that, could she?

  No, it was better to redirect the conversation instead. “Did you need him for something?”

  Alyx fiddled with the end of her pommel. Her eyes bore into Cass. Cass, for her part, did her best to match her stare. She had nothing to feel guilty for. She hadn’t lied, and she wasn’t obligated to explain Salos’s situation to anyone.

  “No. I guess not.” Under her breath, she muttered, “This might actually go better without him here.” Again, to Cass, she said, “I asked you a question in the catacombs. Do you remember?”

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  A question? There had probably been a lot of questions. Which one in particular—

  “After the Keeper,” Alyx supplied.

  Oh.

  “To which you asked if you could answer later.”

  Oh, no.

  “Now is later,” Alyx said, crossing her arms over her chest. “What was that about? Why did we fight that thing? Why did you fight it the way you did?”

  Cass had no more answers now.

  Salos would caution her to say nothing, to admit to nothing. Salos would not trust Alyx with this.

  But Salos wasn’t in charge. Though, he might be right about this.

  Would Alyx understand Cass’s position? Would she be upset? Would she abandon Cass?

  Alyx pulled an object from her pocket and set it down on the table between them. “What is this, Cass?”

  The last soul they’d collected from the Storehouse Crystal Keeper shone on the table. It took everything Cass had not to lunge forward and snatch it up.

  “Why do you and Salos want these things? Why does reason seem to leave you entirely where they are concerned?” Each question came faster. More forceful.

  Cass swallowed. How did she explain? Could she even explain? This was Salos’s secret, not her own. And it was much more dangerous than any of the secrets she’d shared with Alyx so far.

  “What is the connection between the Keeper and the Caretaker? You said you would explain later. It is later.”

  Cass nodded. “I just thought Salos would be around when we did this.”

  “Then call him over. I’m sure whatever he’s snooping around in can wait.”

  Cass shook her head. “He’s not going to be around for a couple of days, probably.”

  “Where is he, exactly?” Alyx crossed her arms over her chest.

  “He’s…” Cass shook her head. The only way through this conversation was forward. If she wanted to keep working with Alyx, she would have to explain. That was only fair.

  Secrets, at this point, would only look worse.

  Alyx deserved more than lies.

  Cass pulled her necklace from beneath her clothes and held it out so Alyx could see it. “He’s here.”

  “Here?” Alyx eyed the necklace suspiciously.

  “How much of the item description can you see?” Cass asked.

  “It’s on your person, so not a lot, just that it’s called an ‘Azorth Necklace.’ Should that mean something to me?”

  “I don’t know,” Cass admitted. “But this is the full description.”

  Cass shared the full Identify with Alyx.

  Azorth Necklace

  [The home of a once powerful Nyxdran Demon, now your humble servant.

  As you have survived the demon’s attempts to possess you, you have been granted ownership of the demon, giving you some bonuses:

  …

  This item has Unbound Growth and may absorb compatible items to gain functionality.

  This item is Soul Bound to the Initiate Cass and may only be removed on death.]

  Alyx’s face darkened as she read the window. She shook her head. “This is ridiculous, even for you.”

  “I’m sorry?” Cass said, unsure what else to say.

  “Salos is a demon?” Alyx’s voice dripped in disbelief. “Really?”

  Cass nodded.

  “And he’s in the necklace right now?” Alyx’s voice rose.

  Cass nodded again.

  “Abyss and blood.” Alyx slumped back in the chair. “You must be joking. This is a bad joke, Cass. Tell Salos to come out. Tell me what’s really going on. You’ve leveled my expectations. Literately, anything would be better.”

  Cass shook her head. “I’m not joking.”

  “But neither of you are crazy!” Alyx shouted.

  “Sorry?”

  “Demons and their contractors are mad. Power hungry. Broken.” Alyx waved in Cass’s general direction. “And you’re anything but.”

  “Except when there is a soul nearby.” Cass glanced down at the soul fragment still sitting on the table between them.

  Alyx scowled. “You’re serious?”

  Cass nodded.

  “Then the Caretaker in Uvana had soul pieces, too?”

  Cass nodded. “I can feed it to the necklace to empower Salos. Specifically, I can feed him pieces of his soul. We haven’t tried other souls yet. I think we both want to avoid that. Probably.”

  It was highly tempting to try it now, though. What was the worst that could happen? Just the corruption of their souls or something. As she’d pointed out before, it wasn’t like she really even understood what a soul was. What did she care if it was different from the one she’d had before or if it got corrupted or tarnished or something?

  Cass shook her head. “Can you put that away?”

  Alyx nodded quickly, shoving it into a pocket. Cass could still feel it on her, but the desire to shove her hands in Alyx’s clothing, looking for it was far easier to ignore than the one to pounce on the table had been.

  “Okay, so Salos is a demon, and he’s mostly sane?” Alyx’s hand clenched around her sword’s pommel.

  “He’s made of just one soul,” Cass explained. “He’s pretty sure that’s why he’s so put together.”

  Which was an excellent reason not to go around swallowing other things, Cass reminded herself.

  “Right. I suppose that should explain why he knows things about a past age? Because that’s when he’s from?”

  Cass nodded. “Basically.”

  “And you are a demon contractor?” Alyx asked.

  Cass shrugged. “I guess. The system gave him to me as a reward for beating the Herald of the Deep.”

  “But you are his master?” Alyx said.

  “I don’t like that term, but yeah, I guess so.”

  “Since the Herald of the Deep…” Alyx shook her head. “Then you’ve had him since before you met me? Where was he before…” Her eyes drifted back to Cass’s necklace. “The necklace?”

  Cass nodded. “The soul fragment we got from the Caretaker let him use Separate Form. Before that, he was suck in my head.” Cass paused. “Well, he would probably interrupt to insist that it wasn’t my head but the necklace. He’s a stickler for those kinds of details. I don’t know how important the distinction is.”

  She was rambling, Cass could feel it. But Alyx wasn’t saying anything. Instead, she was staring at the necklace.

  “Anyway, that’s—that’s what I needed to tell you,” Cass said lamely, pushing the necklace back under her robes.

  Alyx blinked. “I see. I wasn’t…” She shook her head. “This wasn’t what I expected to hear.”

  “What were you expecting?” Cass asked quietly.

  “I don’t know.” Alyx stood up abruptly, walking away from Cass toward the fire. “A berserker innate trait? A secret lead on realm traversal? A blood thirst for constructs that goes beyond rational understanding? I don’t know, Cass. As a rule, you don’t make any sense, but this? This goes beyond that.”

  Cass’s heart pounded in her chest.

  Alyx was going to abandon her. Who would willingly spend time with a demon?

  She should have made something up.

  She should have lied.

  Salos had said not to trust her. To depend on no one but herself.

  The silence was unbearable. She had to break it. Even if the words that came next would be worse.

  “You’re not scared of us, are you?” The question slipped from Cass’s lips.

  Alyx threw her hands up. “I don’t know, Cass. I don’t know what to do with any of this. You’ve just told me you are incredibly dangerous. But you are still you. Ridiculous, implausible you.”

  But would that be enough for Alyx to stay? No way, right? As much as Cass liked her, Alyx was more concerned with obligation and debt than personal feelings. Would those obligations be valid if Cass and Salos were demons?

  Better to let her go than to cling to an unwilling companion. As much as that hurt. “If you don’t want to have anything to do with us going forward—”

  “I just said I don’t know!” Alyx shouted. She shook her head, her shoulders sagged. She leaned against the fireplace. “I don’t think you understand what you’ve told me, Cass. People don’t really believe in demons. I mean, no one is going around claiming they don’t exist either, but they’re something out of the stories. You know? Something from the fall of the last era. Not something that wanders the world today.

  “They’re in the same class of things as sentient spirits and Travelers and people living to be a thousand years old. They all exist, but not here. Not now.”

  The breath caught in Alyx’s throat. She shook her head. “I just don’t know what to do with any of this. Okay?”