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“Why else?”
Another long stare. Another wordless conversation. I’d forgotten what it was like to talk to someone whose face communicated so much.
There was one more thing—one more key reason why I was the ideal ally. We both knew it. He knew I knew it. He hated that I knew he knew it.
But I’d asked for honesty, and I wanted him to say it.
He was clearly weighing this, deciding which answer was the right one to pass the test. At last, he said, “And you’ll be easy to kill, when the Halfmoon is over.”
It was legitimately satisfying to just hear someone say it out loud.
“But until then,” he added, quickly, “no harm will come to you. I can promise you that.”
I heard Vincent’s voice in a sixteen-year-old memory:
I am the only person who will ever make that promise and keep it.
“What makes you think I need your protection?”
To his credit, he didn’t laugh at me.
“You’re a skilled fighter. Better than I thought you’d be.” He rose from the fountain and took a few slow steps closer, never breaking eye contact, his large, scar-nicked hand open on one side, the other clutched tight around the healing potion. With each step, I drew backwards.
“But you are still human,” he said quietly. “And that means that in here, you are prey. You’ll always be prey. No matter how good you are with those fancy weapons.”
The truth, of course. But maybe he didn’t realize that I knew how to be prey. I’d been doing it my entire life.
He was right. I would need to ally with someone for the Halfmoon, and then I would need to kill them afterwards. Maybe I could ally with him, allow him to protect me, and spend that time learning his fighting styles and weaknesses—preparing myself to kill him as soon as it was over. He could underestimate me, and I could use that against him.
But allying now? This was early. The Halfmoon trial, the midpoint of the tournament, was six weeks away. That was a long time to stay in close proximity to not one, but two vampires, without getting killed. A long time to allow him to learn my strengths and weaknesses, too.
“No,” I said. “Tempting offer, though.”
He took another step closer, and again, I matched the distance back.
“What was it that you asked of me? An honest thing? I was honest with you, so now you be honest with me. Do you really think you’ll survive another night here? It’s almost dawn now, but after that? Your scent is all over the Moon Palace right now. I could smell you even from the east tower. And let me tell you, you smell fucking delicious. You need to stop that bleeding, fast.”
My eyes fell to the potion tightly gripped in his hand. Hearing it all acknowledged out loud made me uneasy. But so did having him this close to me. I did not like that he was pushing me into this so forcefully. The reasons he had given me didn’t warrant that, which made the ones he didn’t far more concerning.
“No,” I said.
“You’ll bleed to death, or they’ll kill you.”
He started to step closer, and I ignored the horrific rip of pain as I leapt away, blades raised anew.
“I will stab you again if you come even a single step closer to me,” I snarled. “Get out.”
He raised his hands.
“As you wish, princess. Suit yourself.”
He made sure I watched as he slipped the potion back into his pack, then gave me one last smile and turned to the door.
“Top of the eastern tower. If you change your mind.”