Theo awoke with a start, wincing as his jolting movement caused his side and neck to ache with renewed vigor. 

He didn’t appear to be in a hospital. That was good.

The room was small with yellow, peeling walls, and Marc was asleep in a patched armchair. 

Theo grinned. If he remembered the words of the vow correctly, Marc couldn’t tell anyone about him until after he had a conversation with Theo. 

If Theo could sneak away, Marc could never tell anyone about him.

Theo slipped out of the covers and tested the floor with his foot. 

The world grayed. 

Theo swayed. 

But the floor didn’t creak. Theo stepped fully onto the floor, creeping to the door. 

The door squealed.

Marc jumped up, yanking Theo back by his good shoulder.

“Oh no,” Marc said, forcing Theo to sit back on the bed. “I did not let you vomit on me and drag your unconscious carcass across town so you could ditch me.”

“I saved your life,” Theo said with a shrug, instantly regretting the decision when his shoulders protested the movement.

Marc glared.

“I’m not going to talk about what happened,” Theo said.

Marc blinked for several long seconds before he realized what Theo meant. 

“I freakin’ hate oaths,” Marc said as he drew his sword and pointed it at Theo. “I’m not letting you leave until we have a ‘proper talk’ about what happened.”

Theo’s shoulders shook with laughter. 

There was no way Marc thought he could beat him. “Face it, you know you can’t beat me.”

“You’re a dirty cheat,” Marc grumbled but lowered his sword.

Theo nodded in agreement. “But I think I do have a deal you might like.”

Marc raised an eyebrow. “Getting swindled again?”

“You worded the oath,” Theo said. “Anyway, I was thinking if you can’t tell anyone about me, I am free to share some information with you.”

“What kind of info are we talking about?” Marc asked.

“My name is Theo,” Theo began, “but lately my wanted posters have read ‘Neo.’”

Marc stiffened before slamming Theo into the wall. “You tried to kill the king!”

Theo gasped for breath. “If you do things like this, I won’t tell you anything.”

“I could just kill you and be done with it. Probably even get a promotion for your head.” Marc growled as he squeezed Theo’s already sore throat with his hand. 

Theo clawed at Marc’s hands, loosening his grip just enough to speak. “-hate Dullahan-“ Theo managed to choke out.

“Yeah, then why are you serving that monster?” Marc’s tone was rough, but he eased his grip slightly.

“I may have entered a bad oath myself,” Theo said. 

Or rather a series of nasty oaths. Dullahan kept adding amendment after amendment to keep Theo on his best behavior.

Marc raised an eyebrow. “You’re going to have to be more specific if you want me to let a filthy murderer free.”

Theo sighed and tugged on his mana, using it to pull and wind all the shadows in the room around Marc. 

They lunged forward, almost hungrily. 

Marc took a step back. 

Theo let the shadows creep up until they snaked around Marc’s throat. 

Marc’s breaths shortened.

“You need to understand that you can’t let me do anything.”

Theo took a step forward. The world started swaying on him again, but he did not show it.

Marc shuddered.

Theo flinched and shoved the shadows back to where they had come from. 

“I won’t hurt you. I…I…” Theo cleared his throat and sat down on the edge of the bed.

“Sorry if I’m not totally reassured by a murder’s word,” Marc grunted. He remained standing, arms crossed.

Theo placed a finger to his neck and spoke a word of magic. Rows upon rows of tiny script circled around his throat.

“Is that an oath?” Marc asked and took a step closer. His fear was being replaced with morbid fascination. “I’ve never seen one like this.”

Theo nodded. “It keeps me from betraying Dullahan. There are a lot of rules. Not much room for loopholes – not that I’m looking for any, of course.” Theo quickly corrected himself, which caused Marc to scowl.

“This spell work is all but sentient with how many times it’s been added to. It monitors what I say. What I do. The only thing it can’t do is read my mind,” Theo took a deep breath. 

He was walking on a thin line.

“But now that I have an acquaintance who surely cannot betray me, it surely couldn’t hurt to chat about my work life and day-to-day frustrations.”

Marc squinted. “Okay,” he said as he sat down. 

“What’s been frustrating you lately, friend.” Marc’s voice bordered on acidic when he said “friend,” but the oath was not actually sentient. It couldn’t detect such things.

“Lately, my boss has become strangely obsessed with jewelry.” Theo leaned on the headboard and pulled a linen pouch from his trouser pockets. 

He opened the bag and passed it to Marc. “Don’t touch the earring,” Theo warned. “It’s enchanted, but I don’t know what with.”

Marc took the pouch and looked inside.

“I stole that a few days ago,” Theo said. “I know there are more pieces that my boss is interested in, but he won’t tell me where the next one is until I return this one.”

“It’s…um…really nice. I don’t guess you could let me have it instead of your boss?”

“My boss probably already knows that I retrieved this successfully.” Theo tucked the earring back in his pocket. “Of course, I don’t know if I can retrieve the next pieces successfully. Especially if their location changes from where my boss thinks they are before I arrive.”

Theo gave Marc a pointed look. 

He hoped the idiot would pick up on the hints he was dropping.

Marc furrowed his brow. He seemed to be thinking of what to say. “Ah – you’ll have to let me know when you find out where you are going,” Marc said. “So we can hang out because we’re friends.”

Theo nodded. 

Marc’s acting wouldn’t fool a human, but he seemed to be doing well enough to satisfy the oath around Theo’s neck.

“So…how long will it take you to finish your trip back to…work?” Marc asked.

Theo shrugged with his side that hadn’t been bitten into by the creature.

“It will probably take about three more days to return,” Theo said. “Then there will probably be another day for briefing before I head out again.” Theo rubbed his face and frowned. “I’m not looking forward to the trip. I always get bitten by mosquitos when I go through the woods.”

“Terrible,” Marc said with his brow furrowed.

Theo smiled. Marc was paying attention. 

Nightfall forest was the closest forest around. He had just given Marc a big clue about where Dullahan’s base was. If Marc was intelligent enough, he would notice that mosquitos liked wet places and go to the swampier side of the forest. If he used that information with the amount of time Theo said the trip should take, he would have a pretty accurate picture of where to go.

“I had better get going,” Theo said, standing. “Remember, your oath means can’t tell anyone about me.”

Theo put emphasis on the word “me.” He hoped Marc would share all the other information Theo had given him. 

It would be nice if he could atone for some of the damages he had inflicted on this world by providing the enemy with information.

And who knows, maybe one day Marc would be able to stop him, and Theo would get to retire from being a villain.

Unfortunately, retirement would most likely involve a death sentence or permanent imprisonment. 

Still, Theo wasn’t really in a position to complain about the terms and conditions of quitting his job.

Marc gave a slight nod. “Is there any way I can reach you again, friend?”

“I guess there’s no harm in letting a friend contact me.”

Theo paused, biting his cheek. How to let Marc contact him? To become an informant, he would need a reliable way to contact the person he was giving information. 

There were enchanted letters that could fly to the recipient, but they left a trail, could be intercepted, and were vulnerable to the weather unless you paid for the premium ones. Communication orbs were insanely expensive, bulky, and difficult to hide.

“The best way would probably be,” Theo grimaced, “you know those gems people get. The ones you can tap your ring, and the other person feels the tap through their ring.”

“You mean the lovers’ jewelry,” Marc said. His voice was devoid of emotion.

Theo nodded. “I can’t safely send letters…”

“I don’t care,” Marc said with a voice that sounded like he very much cared.

“It will look like a normal accessory. It’s already going to be weird if someone notices me having a personal effect.”

“I said I don’t care.”

“Alright,” Theo said with a grin. He murmured a spell, and the harsh tattoos of his oath were replaced with unblemished flesh. The oaths were still there. Just hidden.

“Let’s get this over with,” Marc said, tossing the door open.

Theo closed the door behind him and scanned the plaque by the door: 202. It seemed they were in The Plucked Chicken. “I need to go upstairs,” he said.

“Why?” Marc asked.

“I need a new shirt, and there’s a terrifying creature of the night who has almost certainly destroyed everything I own.”

Marc studied Theo’s face. “What?”

Theo laughed while trying to ignore the hollow ache of his insides at the nostalgic feeling of bantering with someone.

“You should come to meet him,” Theo said. “His name is Scourge.”