Chapter 53

Davidson stood slowly, wincing, and even Aiden could hear the creak in her knees. “There. It’s done,” she told him evenly. “Now you keep your word.”

“Are they healed?” Aiden asked. His hands were beginning to shake from keeping the same position, not to mention how much it hurt.

“I just said they were,” Davidson snapped with the kind of cool authority that didn’t invite disbelief. “I’ve kept my part of the bargain, now you must keep yours. Drop your sword.”

Aiden carefully pulled his cutlass away from his chin, grunting at how it reignited the pain. He rubbed the new, deep cut where the sword point had been, wincing at the amount of blood sliding down his neck.

He put his sword on the ground then stood tall and crossed his arms, trying to look braver than he felt. “What now?”

Davidson smiled in triumph. It wasn’t a good look on her. “Now we welcome Aeshma.” She glanced to his left. “Tanya?”