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“Understood,” he said. “The next requirement is that you keep a cell phone on you.”
“I don’t have a cell phone.” Which he probably knew. So many of the towers had come down during the Monster War, and after they’d finally gotten people to work on them, the plans were outrageously priced. Kierse couldn’t manage the expense.
Graves shrugged. “I can provide one.”
“Two. So I can give one to Gen and Ethan.”
“No. They are precious to you, which means they can be used against you. It will be best for you, and them, if you cease seeing them entirely.”
“That’s out of the question.”
“Do you want to get them killed?” he asked sharply. “Would you like to see Lorcan put a bullet in them? Have one of his lackeys follow you around until you give up their location and they’re murdered in cold blood?”
She swallowed back the bile rising in her throat, hating that he was right. She would never sacrifice Gen and Ethan. She was taking this job for their safety. But she couldn’t just let them think she was never coming back.
“You can’t forbid contact until I let them know I’m staying. They’ll do something stupid, like try to find me,” she told him.
“Contact your Dreadlord and let him know. After that, you work for me. That means you live here and you no longer risk their lives.”
Her jaw flexed in frustration, but she nodded. How would she survive all this time without them? But then, wasn’t it more important that they survive without her?
When he saw that she had agreed, he continued. “The last is the most important—you don’t tell anyone else my secrets.”
“What secrets?” she asked coyly.
His gaze cut straight through her. “I cannot bind you to your promise. And this partnership requires a level of trust that I have not given in years. Give me a reason to trust you with this.”
Good. She was glad that he couldn’t bind her to her promises. He’d just admitted to another benefit of his magic not working on her. She was not just valuable. She was a liability. He wasn’t keeping her close to train her. He wanted to keep an eye on her. So much was slotting into place now.
“Your secrets are your own.” She threw his words back at him.
But she made no promises. And she could see that he despised not being able to force her to keep her word. She just met that steely gaze with a smile. Negotiations worked both ways.
He waited for her to say more, but she held her tongue. Flames danced in his irises. “That will have to be enough.” He held his hand out. “Deal?”
She was making a deal with the devil, but still, she placed her hand in his. An old sort of magic, this bond between them.
“Deal.”
Chapter Twelve
Graves withdrew his hand. “The bargain is struck.”
“Then we’ll begin today.” Now that the hard part was over, she was eager to learn all that she could. What exactly were all of her interesting talents? Why could she walk through wards? What did it all mean?
Graves just slid his hands back into his pockets. “You can begin after you’ve slept.”
She was tired. Yesterday had been . . . impossible. Between the heist that had gone all wrong, the chase, and fleeing to Nate, she was a wreck. It had been a full thirty-six hours since she’d had a second of shut-eye. But still . . . she wanted answers.
“Still kind of keyed up, to be honest,” she told him. “I could start right now.”
“Perhaps,” he said, eyeing her up and down as if he didn’t believe her. “But I need you to be clearheaded to begin your spear training. Take a few hours, and then meet Edgar in my training facility.”
“And when will we begin magic training?”
“I have other business to attend to this day. I will show you to your living quarters. We can talk when I return.” Graves pulled the door open for her.
She strode purposely toward it. “You already have a room set up for me?”
“Isolde prepared it while you were sitting on the Met steps.”
She arched an eyebrow. “Am I supposed to be impressed that you tailed me?”
“You should be more cognizant of your surroundings.”
The truth was that she’d felt eyes on her the second she left his place the night before. She wasn’t sure if they had been him or the Druids or both. She’d felt them all but hadn’t quite known what they meant until it was too late.
“Is this my first lesson?” she teased. “I know how to drop a tail.”
“Not well enough, it seems.” His eyes roamed her face as if he couldn’t quite guess the game she was playing. He gestured to the hallway beyond.
“Ouch,” she said, placing her hand on her heart. “Come on. You seem like the kind of guy where every interaction is a lesson.” She backed out of the room as he strode toward her. “You could start with the obvious: What am I? What can I do?”
