“I paid my debts, but went straight back to the same behavior. When my creditors came calling, I returned again to Trollus and he offered me the same bargain.”

“And on the third time?” It is always threes.

“He told me that he would provide an endless supply of gold, but in exchange, he wanted my word that I’d cede control of the Isle should he ever be freed. My word that I’d always come when he called me. That I’d do his bidding.” Aiden’s hands flexed as though they wanted to make fists but couldn’t. “I thought he was the fool, gambling so much wealth on a hope with less substance than smoke on the wind. I… I didn’t realize it would be binding.”

“You were wrong.” The greedy ones were always the easiest to catch.

“Do you think I haven’t learned that lesson a thousand times since?” His eyes went to the bloodstain on the floor that had been hastily wiped up. “I would have put a bullet in my skull months ago, but…” A shudder ran through him, his desire to end his own life running counter to my father’s orders. He began to thrash as Marie came back into the room, and I swore as blood ran from the corners of his mouth.

“What did you do to him?” she demanded, clutching at the vial in her hand.

I ignored her accusation and pried Aiden’s jaw open, wedging magic between his teeth to keep him from biting off his tongue entirely. “Whatever it is you have, give it to him now!”

Her hands shook as she measured drops into his bloody mouth. He gurgled and hissed, trying to spit it back at her, but I pinched his nose until he had to swallow. “How long will it take to work?” I asked.

“Moments.” A bead of sweat dribbled down her cheek.

Moments passed with no results, and his heart labored to keep its frantic pace. “Give him more.”

She spilled more of the tonic than she got in his mouth while he swore and screamed that he’d maim and kill us both for thwarting him.

“It’s not working,” I said, grabbing Aiden’s shoulders and pinning him to the floor. He fought back with incredible strength, but it was coming at great cost, capillaries in his skin bursting, joints popping, and muscles straining.

“Any more will kill him.” She let the bottle slip through her fingers to smash against the floor.

“Then he’s a dead man,” I said. “His heart will fail under the strain.”

“Not if I have anything to say about it.”

I jumped at the sound of Cécile’s voice, so caught up with Aiden that I hadn’t felt her approach. There was a streak of red across her cheek – an injury that had only just begun to scab over – but otherwise, she seemed fine. Marc stood behind her, face hidden within the shadows of his hood.

“The twins have gone with Sabine to retrieve my moth – Anushka’s – supplies.” She dropped to her knees between Marie and me. “What did he promise?”