Without further delay, he walked toward the shelf, stopping just before Agatha, who looked down at him in silence. Maybe he really was too small, he wondered. He stretched out his hand. She released the book without resistance and stepped aside, giving him room to slide it carefully back into its place.
"I'm assuming," he began, "since you made it here, Violet offered some form of enlightenment regarding the agreement between us."
Gazes shifted around the room. Meeting. Weighing.
"No," Leah said at last. "Only that you're a friend."
A breath.
"For now, at least." Chion tilted his head slightly to meet her gaze. "Fair enough."
His fingers closed around another book and drew it free.
"Let's move past that. To what matters."
"Your aid—in exchange for fair compensation." He opened the book and retrieved a small slip of paper from within.
Hector's gaze found him without delay. "I don't think fair is enough. Not even close."
Chion's attention settled.
"I, for one, was all for whatever nonsense you had brewing," he said, almost lazily. "Really, I was." His hand slid into his cloak and withdrew a dark parchment. "Until I read this."
The Ravens. Here.
Chion's gaze sharpened, just slightly. If they had reached this far, there was no point in using them—the Council would already know. Irritation crept in. Quick. Controlled.
Violet spoke before it could settle. "I intercepted it from a guard who had already picked it up." Her voice was cool. "I wasn't about to let intelligence on this meeting leak."
Hector gave a tight, amused smile. "We were curious," he said, glancing between them, "why the Council's pests were fluttering all over the Vale."
"Turns out it's because the devil invoked some ancient blood duel." His gaze moved—first to Leah, then to Agatha. A single nod passed between them. Two agreements.
"Sounds rather damning, don't you think?"
Silence lingered.
Then—
"I don't think there's any compensation you could offer," Hector continued, his voice still light, "that would drag me into this."
His smile widened.
"Not unless it comes from all those shiny trinkets you earned as an honours student." A beat. "You know. Before you went insane and committed mass murder."
Chion said nothing. The gazes in the room sharpened on him.
"That was always my first option," he said at last. Calm. Measured. "But—"
"Don't you think there's more to gain, better compensation, should I win the Blood Feud?"
Hector's brow twitched. "Now, you see," he drawled, shifting slightly, "that word—win—doesn't exactly fill me with comfort."
A glance toward the others. "And I'm quite certain my peers share that sentiment."
A faint smile. "You're crazy enough to stand against a veteran. I'll give you that." His blade tilted idly in his hand. "So I'm sure you're also sensible enough to pay in advance. Something tangible."
"Or better yet—" The smile widened, just enough. "Generous enough to will us your trinkets. You know. For the hustle of it all."
"Then maybe, maybe, we'll help bury you properly." A flicker of amusement. "Out of courtesy."
Chion regarded him with a faint smile. "I appreciate the gesture. Though I doubt it will be necessary."
He placed the book back on the shelf and walked toward the far corner. "I have no plans of falling. Not yet."
He pressed the paper against the wall. "But if I do—" A slight tilt of his head. "—then I'll leave you this, Hector."
His finger traced the wall, following the precise runic text etched on the paper. "Collect it from my corpse. Plunder whatever your heart desires."
His finger stopped. The wall answered with a heavy groan—obsidian bricks shifting, parting, opening onto a dark stairwell that descended into shadow.
"But since I'm still breathing—" He glanced back, just slightly. "—my compensation will be set accordingly."
Leah's gaze found him. "And what exactly," she asked, voice steady, "will we be aiding you with, Eighteen?"
His head tilted, just before he disappeared into the dark.
"Surviving."
"Simply that."
Then he was gone—his form swallowed whole by shadow.
**********
Agatha's gaze moved to Violet without hesitation. "He's too shady," she muttered. "His heartbeat. Too still."
Violet glanced back at her. "You're right," she murmured.
"Then why are you forcing this?" Hector's voice was already rising. "Just from the way he talks, you can tell he's hiding things."
"I know."
"You know?" Disbelief lifted the words.
"Calm down," Leah said quietly. "Violet said we wouldn't get screwed over. That's enough."
Hector turned away with a disgusted sneer. "We'll see. Very soon."
A heartbeat later, Chion emerged from the stairwell—a large chest gripped in both hands, his head barely visible above it. He set it down with a muted thud.
Every eye in the room snapped back to him. Suspicion, undisguised.
He lowered himself into a squat before the chest as the wall groaned shut behind him, drawing a small key from his pocket.
"As you're all aware," he began, "I was a Wing Major—with several sub-majors within the Moon." The lock clicked. "So I have no particularly fancy weapons or relics to offer."
The lid lifted fully.
"But—"
His gaze rose to meet theirs. "I'm sure this will be more than adequate."
Their eyes dropped to the chest.
And stilled.
Detoxification pills—for blood current oversaturation. Muscle recovery vials. Cognitive enhancement compounds. Medicinal herbs. Poisons—nearly seven, Category One.
Silence thickened. The question wrote itself plainly across their faces.
How does he have this?
The answer was simple. An honours student of the First Subsidiary of the First House of the Wing.
Not that he would brag. But still.
Leah's bewilderment dulled first, her gaze sharpening. "Are you really offering everything in this chest?" A pause. "That seems excessively generous."
The others aligned.
"She has a point," Hector murmured. "What kind of bargain are you running?"
"When the Blood Trial ends," Chion said, "and if I'm still alive—the Council will attempt to have me killed. Most likely before sunrise."
No one interrupted.
"Unfortunately, I'll be in no condition to stop it myself." His voice remained even. "That's where your role comes in. Ensuring that doesn't happen."
His eyes moved between them, one by one.
Then Agatha spoke. "Don't you think that's rather careless?" Her expression held firm, layered with doubt. "Why would you trust us? With your life, no less."
"Trust you—I don't," Chion replied smoothly. "I trust your competence."
His gaze shifted to Violet. "And the walking golden standard holding this wreck together."
Leah's frown deepened. "Then why should we trust you? How do we know there aren't other motives behind this?"
"You shouldn't trust me either." His eyes returned to Violet. "Trust her. She'll see this bargain closed—with profit for everyone involved."
Leah's gaze followed. Violet met it and gave a single, quiet nod.
The tension in Leah's expression thinned. Slightly.
Chion exhaled, nearly imperceptibly. "Then—may we proceed?"
Hector let out a slow breath. "Yeah." His eyes narrowed. "We'll hear you out, Devil."
"So. What's the plan?"