For several long seconds, Crone stared at Vermil in mute silence. Garina couldn’t even muster the energy to be smug. She just joined him in staring. A part of her was starting to wonder if someone had managed to land a solid blow on the back of her head or if Ferdinand had been sneaking strange substances into their food again.

    Vermil was not satisfied to let the silence rein.

    “Answer my question. Do you admit that you are unable to copy me? Or are you going to run that blade of yours across your throat?” Vermil asked. He crossed his arms before his chest, craning his neck back to defiantly meet the Apostle’s gaze. Garina was unsure if the notion was made more or less intimidating by the fact that he was buck naked.

    “I will not,” Crone ground out. He twisted the weapon and slammed it back into the sheathe on his back. “You are not the mortal that the Master is looking for. No mortal is capable of magic like that. He does not possess the ability to return from the grave, and a mortal would not have been able to develop such a power from your rank.”

    “Great. Don’t really care about the latter bit, though,” Vermil said. He tapped his foot impatiently on the ground. “See, you’ve gone and made me strip naked to prove a point.”

    Garina resisted the urge to cough into her fist.

    Actually, I’m pretty sure you were the one that stripped naked on your own. He technically didn’t make you do anything, but I’m not about to point that out. It might make him turn in my direction, and then I’ll see a bit more than I’d prefer to.

    “Name your price. I will not betray my word,” Crone ground out. “What is it you want?”

    Vermil smiled. “A lot of things. I’m tempted to tell you to kill yourself just to see what would happen, but I’m not that cruel. How about I settle for something a little simpler? You might even like it.”

    “I will not deprive the Master of one of his greatest warriors. All other requests will be honored, no matter what they may be.”

    “You really need to use better wording — but a deal’s a deal. Here’s your task. From now until I decide otherwise, you will do everything that Garina tells you to. I’ve just proved my innocence. Thus, her loyalty to your master is not in question. That means there’s no reason for there to be any conflict of interest and you have no way to refuse this command. Also, you’re calling her Ma’am from here on out.”

    “What? Why wouldn’t a Rank 4—”

    “You thought I’d tell you to get me runes or something?” Vermil let out a cold laugh. “I don’t need your magic. I’m Rank 4 because I choose to be, Crone. Not because I have to be. Now, where’s that honor you were talking about?”

    Garina could hear Crone’s teeth grinding within the darkness of his hood.

    “So long as her orders are not against the service of the Master, then I will heed her.”

    This is not how I saw this going. Vermil is a little monster. What did he show Crone while they were together in his soul? He would have ripped most people in two for the mere insinuation that he had to follow someone’s orders, much less mine.

    Then again, I suppose ripping Vermil in two wouldn’t do much of anything at all. What a terrifying power. He must have gotten it from Sievan... and that mean’s he’s incredibly well connected. Sievan wouldn’t even share his Death Runes with the other Apostles.

    “You can fuck off,” Garina said, unable to resist the temptation to see if Crone would actually listen.

    “With pleasure.”

    “Just that?” Vermil raised an eyebrow.

    Crone’s fists tightened at his sides.

    “I’m going to find a way to kill you with honor, Spider. Ready yourself.”

    “Do what you please. Now answer Garina properly.”

    “With pleasure, Ma’am,” Crone ground out. He drove a foot into the packed dirt and there was an earsplitting crack. Black energy exploded across his body and he launched into the air, blurring into the sky and disappearing within a split instant. ?

    There was a long second of silence. The elderly man still stared at Vermil in abject disbelief, shock so evident in his features that it almost distracted Garina from her own surprise.

    “Because I’d assume you have reasons for stepping in the way you did. You’re trying to hide something as well. That means we’re on the same side, doesn’t it?” A cold smile pulled across Vermil’s lips. “Let’s see... how do the Apostles feel about fraternization with people outside the organization? Is Ferdinand doing well?”

    Son of a bitch. He’s sharp.

    “There’s no fraternization,” Garina said flatly. “I’m just... enjoying a little time off. I’ve been watching over this little toy kingdom for far too long. How would you like doing the same shitty, thankless job for generations?”

    “It would probably be a pain in the ass,” Vermil said with an understanding nod. “So it seems it would be in both of our interest to keep this little alliance of ours. You keep telling people that I’m your student instead of wasting time trying to kill me. I’ll handle things on my end and do my best to make sure our cover doesn’t get blown. We’ll both be happy.”

    I can’t believe I’m bargaining with a Rank 4. He’s not asking for what I would have expected. Any Rank 4 should have asked me for Runes to get stronger. I could have boosted him up to Rank 6... but instead, he wants me gone.

    That’s odd. Very odd. Now that he knows our goals should be the same since we’re both fucked if the Apostles discover we were lying, he should be trying to capitalize on it. He’s clearly bold enough to.

    But instead, he’s being abrasive. This isn’t just Vermil being rude. He’s doing this entirely on purpose. He was nothing like this during the dinner we had... and I suspect that was closer to his true personality than this is.

    He’s hiding something.

    Sorry, Vermil. I’m not that easy to manipulate.

    “No,” Garina said.

    Vermil blinked. “What?”

    “Your story is going to evaporate the moment an Apostle asks you a single question about us. You don’t even know what Runes I use, nor do you have any techniques that I might have taught you. For that matter, I don’t even know the name of your main Rune.”

    “And?”

    “How am I meant to pretend to be your student when we know nothing about each other?” Garina crossed her arms in front of her chest and arched an eyebrow. “You don’t actually plan to pretend to do anything, do you? You’re just trying to get rid of me.”

    “Correct.”

    Garina snorted at that one, and the corner of Vermil’s lip twitched as well. He’d been caught and they both knew it.

    “Let’s be honest with each other for a moment,” Garina said. “I genuinely did not want to find you. I came here for a Rank 7 that isn’t here anymore. There’s no animosity between us — but I will not allow the Apostles to destroy what I’ve built.”

    Vermil blew out a long breath. His posture shifted as some of the tension drained out of it and his shoulders relaxed. “I know where you’re coming from. That’s the same position I’m in, but you’re just as much of a threat to my people as the other Apostles are. You have to understand that.”

    “I do. But the other Apostles will come. Make no mistake. Being my apprentice is not a coveted title. Our order very rarely takes on new members. You will be tested. And if you fail, so do I.”

    “Can’t you just say you changed your mind?”

    “No. Not that easily. But I have another idea. One that might actually work to conceal what you really are while protecting both of our interests at the same time.”

    “And what’s that?”

    Garina smiled. “I don’t know who you really are or what powers you possess, but I’d wager there’s still a whole lot you don’t know about this world. Why don’t we make all the bullshit we just spilled real? This is the first time I’ve ever met someone as uniquely deranged as you. It might actually be fun.”

    “Wait. Do you mean—”

    “I, Garina of the Seven,” she extended a hand to Vermil and a dangerous smile played across her features, “extend to you the offer of apprenticeship and access to the full knowledge of an Apostle.”