Bryce

“Peace, please Mr. Vurdex.” I held up a placating hand before he could object. The temperature in the room had dropped even further, and it was obvious that Vurdex wasn’t happy being accused, even if he was guilty. “Thea was a celestial of Inim before she fell, which gives her the ability to know when somebody is lying. I’m assuming that’s not something you were informed of?” He shook his head, so I took that as my cue to continue. “In that case, it seems like you’re just as much a victim of misinformation as we were. If you would permit it, then I’d like to clear the air on a few things.”

“First, explain to me what stake you have in this, Ms. Virra, and how exactly you got involved.” Vurdex’s eyes flared a bright blue color, and I felt a command spell break against my innate magical resistance. I frowned at him while I reinforced my mental defenses, but otherwise didn’t react. He hadn’t tried to force the spell through, which made me think he either cast the spell as a way to estimate my magical ability, or he did it as a habit without thinking. Either way, using charm magic during a negotiation was bad form, and it drastically lowered my estimation of the lich. Which caused me to change tactics a bit.

“Vurdex, I have tremendous respect for what you’ve accomplished as a spell caster. Achieving lichdom is a truly impressive feat, but please don’t throw away an opportunity by further poisoning our potential relationship.” I glared at him, but continued speaking before he could respond. “With that being said, I don’t mind explaining my part in this, even without the use of charm magic.”

“Then please do, as my patience is quickly growing thin.”

I faked a smile as I explained. “I was present when Thea was summoned to the mortal plane, and I was also the only one on the station who survived it. She killed the others after escaping from the binding circle that my failure of an apprentice created. I offered her a small amount of my mana in exchange for a pact, and she believed it to be preferable to accept rather than to try to fight me for her freedom.” I felt Thea’s glare in the back of my head, and my smile turned slightly more genuine. This was definitely the best sort of revenge for all the times she told misleading stories about us.

Vurdex nodded thoughtfully. “In that case, where does Ms. Esmer come into this?”

“Esme made an ill-advised attempt to rescue Thea from the mortal plane, and was killed in a fight with me for the effort. I had her resurrected.” The succubus in question placed a hand on my shoulder in what probably looked like a loving fashion. Meanwhile, I tried not to let the grimace show on my face as she dug one of her beautifully manicured nails right through my jacket and into my skin. I got the message, so I moved the story away from Esme and Thea. “As for why I’m even here, I had other business in Hades and figured you were owed your due.”

“You’d be willing to cover the losses caused by Ms. Salinthea’s cheating?” Vurdex looked shocked. He also seemed to conveniently forget that Malvoch was also cheating, and that we knew he knew about it.

“I am. So long as we can agree on an amount and it’s more convenient than the alternative.”

“In that case, I’m willing to negotiate so long as all three of my previous demands are adequately met.” Vurdex crossed his arms as he leaned back into his chair, honestly it made him seem somewhat childish. “Mr. Malvoch must be repaid, Ms. Salinthea must be punished, and the house gets its cut.”

“I’ve already explained the situation with Malvoch directly to Orrid. I’ll be certain he gets the payment he deserves.” I pretended to think for a moment while I let Vurdex process what I had just said. “As for Thea, I believe her current situation is punishment enough. I have no intention of releasing her from our pact while I still live, and I intend to live for a very long time. Although, you are welcome to advertise that she’s suffering under my attention if it helps discourage future cheaters.”

“Ms. Salinthea, is this true?” Vurdex asked with a raised… Well, he didn’t exactly have eyebrows, but he was making an effort to raise what he did have.

“I’m forced to cook and clean for her, then no matter how good of a job I do, she torments me throughout the night for the sheer enjoyment of it. I’m not even allowed my own bed.” Thea somehow managed to keep a straight face and Esme let out an exasperated sigh, which Vurdex clearly misinterpreted. It seemed like being undead for thousands of years had given him certain blind spots.

“In that case, if you’ve already dealt with the prince, then I consider those demands met. Which only leaves the matter of the house’s payment.”

I nodded in agreement. “I’m fine with covering the house’s cut, and as I previously stated, I trust your estimates of the non-monetary stakes. I assume you’re fine with your payment coming directly from the pot?”

“Of course.” Vurdex nodded with an appreciative grin. “That's normally how we do it anyway.”

“Thea, would you kindly hand me the elixir Malvoch wagered against Esme’s soul stone?” I watched Vurdex for any sort of reaction as I waited for Thea to hand me the elixir, but he didn’t so much as twitch. It was at this point that I was really hoping my theory about the elixir was correct, otherwise Vurdex was going to make it out of this deal really far ahead.

“Um, yeah, here you go, Bry--I mean, here you go, Ms. Virra.” I took the luminescent blue vial from Thea and mumbled a quick magic detecting spell under my breath as I inspected it. It was blindingly magical, but I didn’t know enough about alchemy to know whether or not it was actually an elixir of lesser immortality. This was a big risk. Especially considering how bad of a track record I had with trying to predict Malvoch’s moves up until this point.

“Here you are, Mr. Vurdex.” I handed him the vial, which he carefully accepted. “I believe that should be more than enough to cover what the house is due, along with hopefully making up for any inconvenience you’ve been put through.”

Vurdex’s eyes glowed blue for a moment while he inspected the vial, then he nodded and it disappeared with a flash. “This is acceptable, and as far as I’m concerned, concludes the entirety of our business in regards to Ms. Salinthea’s cheating. Was there anything else you wished to discuss?”

“I believe that was everything. It was a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Vurdex.” We both stood to shake hands, but I paused before leaving. “Oh, I’m sorry, there was actually one last thing. I’ll be leaving Hades soon, and I was hoping to experience some of the food here. Would you be able to recommend a restaurant? Preferably somewhere nice and extremely expensive?”

“I’m likely not the best person to suggest a place to dine, but I’ve heard wonderful things about the Sapphire Solstice near the center of the city. We provide a chauffeur service for our high value customers, and they often request it.”

“That sounds wonderful, and again, it was a pleasure. I hope that this doesn’t mark the end of our business dealings.” I inclined my head slightly before turning to leave. Esme and Thea followed me silently until we were off the casino grounds.

“Are you sure we should’ve given him the elixir?” Esme asked as we started walking through the city proper. “Everything seemed to be going incredibly well up until that point.”

“Lilith told me that it was fake, so it’s probably not a big deal,” Thea answered for me before asking her own question. “Princess, why did you ask about the restaurant? Are you treating me and Esme to dinner as an apology for making us look bad?”

I wrapped an arm around Thea’s shoulder and pulled her into a sidelong hug while we continued walking. “No, Thea, you’ll be the one paying for dinner tonight. Since apparently you’ve been making me pay for everything while we’ve lived together on the mortal plane, despite you having billions of credits worth of stolen treasure sitting in your storage.”

Thea looked up at me with a sheepish grin. “Whoops? Did I forget to mention that?”