Greymoor Academy: I Accidentally Bonded With Four Lycan Royals!

Chapter 201: 201. An Impossible Solution III

Maisie

What did one say to a demon?

I recalled the book’s instructions. ”Bargain carefully and in certain terms. Ask direct questions that have ”yes” or ”no” answers. Demons cannot lie, but that doesn’t make them truthful, either. Do not let it talk you into letting it out of the circle. Ever. If and when you do, it’ll kill you first, before going on a rampage.”

But staring up at Gruer, I didn’t remember anything else, wallowing in genuine befuddlement.

”How... how are you here?”

Gruer’s lip curled. ”You dragged me here, little girl. Did you think I came for the ambiance?”

”B—but you’re a wolf,” I stammered.

”One can be two things at once. Ever heard of hybrids? Do they teach you nothing at school other than nonsensical blabbering?” His scowl deepened. ”Let me out. Break the circle.”

I blinked. ”But the instructions—”

”If you do not let me out, I will remain here until sunrise, and then, I will find you and I will peel the skin from your bones,” he deadpanned.

”It’s 1pm, in the afternoon,” I offered. ”The sun rose hours ago.”

His growl rattled the walls and he muttered something under his breath that sounded like, ”12 am,” before he leveled me with another withering glare. ”Great. That gives me exactly sixteen hours to plan your demise, and I assure you, I become very creative when I am cranky. Let. Me. Out.”

I cringed, rocking forward to grab the discarded piece of paper. ”I’m sorry, I just need some—”

”Yes, yes. Everyone wants something.” He stretched his hand forward. ”Pay up, and don’t waste any more of my time. I have places to be.”

Okay, what the hell was his problem?

I bit back my retort and asked like this wasn’t a weird at all. ”What do you want?”

Something flared in his eyes, turning the black green and slit down the middle, like that of a serpent’s. Then he shook his head and blinked hard, and his eyes were back to normal. ”That is the worst thing you could ask someone like me.”

He leaned in, and my breath caught as he braced his hands against that invisible circular barrier between us. ”If I asked for your soul, would you give it? How desperate are you, little girl? What are you willing to give for it?”

His voice was like a dark whisper down my spine and I retreated a step backward, swallowing.

I don’t know how I ever mistook him for ’a lost child’. He was terrifying enough to have even the air chilly.

His mouth curved into a chilling smile. ”I thought so.” He jabbed a finger at my chest. ”Give me that instead.”

I glanced down at my chest and my hand instinctively moved to cover the ring. Soren’s ring. ”No.”

”Maisie, Adeline, Adams,” he pouted. ”You suffer the delusion that you have a choice.”

My lips pulled back from my teeth. ”Tell me one more thing about choices. Why do I have to give you anything? Last I checked, you owe me. All I have is a few questions. If you can’t give me that in exchange for a filled stomach and warm clothes, then maybe I’ll take my chances with you finding me over the end of the world.” I smiled sardonically, even if I was quaking in my boots. ”I hope standing in one spot for sixteen hours isn’t too uncomfortable.”

I turned on my heel and started to leave.

”A memory, then,” he said from behind me, his voice impossibly even more irritated.

When I turned around, he was still glaring at me. ”And know that the only reason I have not broken through your flimsy circle and gutted you is because of that night. Consider us even.”

”Even would be not taking anything from me in exchange for answers—”

”You need this bargain more than I do,” he cut in. ”I can smell your desperation all over the place. Give me what I want or you’ll have nothing.”

I paused, uncertain. ”H-how would that work?”

He shrugged. ”We hold hands and say a prayer.”

”Really?”

”No,” he growled. ”What do you think this is? A convention?” At my scowl, he answered. ”You accept the bargain, I give you what you want, and I take what I need upon concluding our business here. That good enough for you, princess?”

He said ’Princess’ like it was an insult.

”And the memory... can I choose which one you get to take?”

He smirked. ”And what would be the fun in that? Don’t worry, little girl. You won’t even know it’s gone. That’s the entire point.”

I swallowed hard. The thought of losing a piece of myself—any piece—made me feel sick. But I was already here. I had already done this.

”...Okay,” I said quietly.

He inclined his head, almost mockingly. ”Good. Now, to your questions. I assume you want to know how to keep the rift closed.”

”How do you know—”

”I just do. Comes with the occupation,” he drawled and began picking his nails like a freaking diva. ”And the answer is you can’t. So long as you’re alive, the rift will open.”

My heart jolted in my chest. ”So it’s true then. Margaret will use me to open the gate In seven days?”

He cocked his head and for a moment, his eyes changed color and he seemed absent. But it only lasted for a blink before he said, ”Undecided.”

”What does that mean?”

”It means if you died... say tomorrow... there would be no keeper to open the gate. Ever. You’re the only one of your kind left. In both worlds.”

”Am I going to die tomorrow?”

His eyes flicked to mine. ”Do you want to die tomorrow? I’m sure I can have that arranged.”

I had no idea why I asked that in the first place. It just felt a little ominous. ”So, you’re saying the rift opening depends entirely on my being alive.”

He cocked his head again in that eerie manner. ”I’m saying the rift opening depends on what steps you take going forward. But it is inevitable. It has already been written. If it doesn’t happen in seven days, it will happen on the next Samhain. And if it doesn’t happen then, it will happen during the next. You will break this world.”

My heart was racing. ”What does that mean?”

”Will you give me another one of your sweet memories? That question is above your current payment.”

A frustrated sound escaped me. ”What can I do—other than dying?”

Another tilt of head. ”You could break the bond. The rift requires the life forces from a powerful bond to stay open. If you do not have that anymore, you will be incapable of paying the sacrifice. That way, the world stays safe. And so do your... men.”

How he knew why I was so desperate, I didn’t know. His black eyes were old, even if his body wasn’t.

Fear gripped me and my fingers on my chest curled into a fist. I... I didn’t think I could part with that. I didn’t want to. We only just got together.

Why was my life like this? Why did I always have to lose something to gain something?

At the thought of losing something, my mind flashed me with images of deaths. All four of them.

No.

No. I’d rather not be bonded to them than have them die. The thought scared me, but it was a conviction that clanged through me.

”But the bond between Erasthais cannot be broken,” I said after some time.

”Everything in this world is breakable. And if it will not break, it must surely bend.”

He added, voice grave, ”I cannot, however, guarantee your survival if you do that. I suppose you could toss a coin with your life on the line and see if the goddess is willing to be merciful.”

I felt sick again.

I wanted to go back to bed and wake up from this nightmare. ”There is no other way? Like stopping the Queen from getting assassinated?”

He paused, eyes flashing black, green, black again. ”I do not see a path that ends well for you. You may stop the assassination and lose someone else in return. Trying to control the trajectory of fate is tricky and often ends in doom. You either break the bond, or you break everything else.”

I kept the vomit in my gut down. I kept my fear on a chokehold. I held back the sob building in my chest. I stomped down hard on my trembling, and I was surprised by how steady my voice came out when I said, ”How do I break the bond?”