“For what reason?” Daegan asked. “Why would ya help me?”
“With more supernaturals exposed every day, we all face being hunted. I have heard about the rift and that Imortiks are escaping. My kind does not want them walking this land.”
“Your kind contributed to the creation of the first Imortiks,” Daegan stated, curious to find out if Joavan would admit a connection to the history of Imortiks.
“True, but my Faetheen people are not of the group that joined a druid to create these monsters. My ancestors claim dragons once stepped in to lend their power and force Imortiks behind the death wall. I am here to facilitate their demise as much as I believe you wish it.”
This had potential, but for how much in return?
And was this Joavan being honest about his true reason for approaching him or using the most obvious to gain Daegan’s agreement?
Daegan clenched his teeth to keep from groaning over the pain stabbing deep in his muscles. His gut burned to find a way out of here. He could not get the last sight of Casidhe out of his mind.
Should he ask this Fae to go help the lass?
Two problems with that. One was to never ask a Fae for a favor and the second was that he could not trust this Joavan with her safety.
But standing here with no other option meant leaving Casidhe on her own far from her home and friends.
Daegan would push Joavan to see how he reacted. “I shall wait for my people to come.”
Anger flashed through the aqua eyes, but for only an instant. Joavan held back his temper. “No one outside the tactical force guarding this area knows you were taken, much less where you are at the moment. Others will eventually, but it may be a long time before someone discovers how to enter this compound. You are fifteen floors beneath the surface. Even you do not know where you are located. I am your only hope for getting out of here.”
Truth, but not all of the truth.
Again, what did Joavan want? “If ya truly wish to help me put down the Imortiks, ya would tell me where we are and call my people.”
“I am willing to reveal myself only to you. I work alone. Far safer for me and those I protect.”
Daegan would like to believe this meeting was as simple as the Fae claimed, but he could not so easily give trust. “I assure ya my people know I am missin’. We have one of the greatest nonhuman forces in the world and we ally with a powerful human group. I shall wait.” Speaking those words had been difficult when this being, Daegan’s only visible hope, could vanish at any moment. Plus, as much as he believed in his words, he truly doubted if his people had any idea of his location.
Joavan tossed his hands up and looked around as if expecting someone else to share his frustration, then turned back to Daegan. “Why would you refuse my offer to help you escape?”
“’Tis simple. While I do believe any sane nonhuman would wish to rid our world of Imortiks, I have yet to hear the true price of freein’ me. If ya think to wait until I am willin’ to agree to anythin’, ya shall be disappointed.”
For several seconds, they stared at each other.
Not a standoff so much as Joavan taking his time to reach a decision. “I do want you to do something for me in return for your freedom. It would be a fair trade.”
When the Faetheen said nothing more, Daegan repeated, “I shall decide what is fair.”
Joavan walked about, stepping lightly as if keeping his feet on the floor was a conscious effort and not a natural motion.
When he stopped, he shifted back to Daegan in a fluid movement. “I am trusting you with information you could use against me if you refuse to accept this deal. I say this so that you know we both take risks. I want you to find something missing. It is very important to our people and their future. I know where it is. I left my world to hunt for this, but I need a dragon shifter to do what I cannot. When I received word the red dragon had escaped Queen Maeve, I left my world to enter this one and find you. There were reports of a dragon burning forests in two countries. I studied the human films. That dragon did not appear to be the red dragon of my ancestral images.”
Daegan gritted out, “’Twas not.”
“I knew for sure when I saw your dragon in Spain. I have connections in the human world. One managed to have me inserted into the human team sent to hunt you yesterday, which allowed me to be present when they captured you.”
“Ya were not in the helicopter?”
Joavan wrinkled his nose. “I have other ways to travel.” He frowned with confusion. “I am still stunned over the fact that you allowed yourself to be taken prisoner. Why did you not teleport away? This is why I was in no hurry to trust exposing my identity at first.”
With the hard shell forming over Daegan’s skin as fibers slithered around his chest to fully enclose him, he had to accept that he would not survive much longer.
The only potential aid stood on the other side of those iron bars.
But how much should he tell this being?
Daegan always taught his warriors to never share a weakness. Sound advice if not for silence ending with his death.
Forcing air through his throat, Daegan spoke mostly in a whisper at this point. “Before reachin’ those cliffs and the water, satyrs from another world were chasin’ me. They spewed a liquid over my back right before I went over the cliff and shifted. That coatin’ began dryin’ on my skin and turnin’ into a fiber-like solid shell. I could not teleport. I barely managed to shift back to my human form. At this moment, the coatin’ continues to crawl across my skin to areas as yet untouched. In all honesty, if I accept your agreement, I will not live long enough to fulfill any terms.”
Joavan’s face changed from cordial to horrified. He’d kept his distance until now and stepped closer, but not close enough to touch the iron bars. “Let me see.”
Daegan had no reason to avoid showing this Fae the severity of his condition. If Joavan had wanted to kill Daegan, he could have used power before now.
Inching closer to the bars, which took so much effort sweat broke out on his forehead, Daegan turned to show Joavan the arm hanging rigid beside his body. He couldn’t move his head to see his arm, but the look on Joavan’s face told him how much trouble Daegan was in.
Cursing, Joavan gripped the back of his neck. “You say a satyr spit this on you?”
“Yes.”
“I must ask one of our healers for advice.”
Daegan rasped, “If ya are gone long, the trip may be wasted.”
Joavan lifted his swirling-aqua gaze to Daegan. “I will be fast. If I can remove the coating from your skin, I will do so. If not, but a healer tells me our people can save you, then I will take you to them. That is, if I can tell them you are an ally.”
Daegan squeezed out the words. “If I live, we shall reach an agreement.”
The Faetheen eyed him for long seconds. Then Joavan dropped a sharp nod, took two steps back, and disappeared. It didn’t seem as if he had teleported, but stepped out of this world.
Was that how he traveled between his home and locations in this world?
Stiff fibers crawled around Daegan’s throat.
The tiny threads began forming the last inches of a solid collar from chin to shoulders, and tightening.
Daegan forced his neck muscles to fight back.
Stars sparked in his gaze.