Dizzy’s warm hand covered mine.
Roger nodded solemnly, clearly reading my face. “I had heard that you went to great pains to kill it. I thought you’d want to know.”
“How did you come by this news?” Darius asked with a firm expression.
“We’ve gathered the information piecemeal from a few sources before assembling it, as we often do,” Roger answered. “I could be wrong, but I didn’t get to where I am by waiting for trouble to find me. If a demon army is coming to the surface for vengeance, I have to prepare for them.”
“You did nothing to help her kill the demon in Seattle. Why are you suddenly making this your task?” Darius asked, not hiding his suspicion. At least not from me.
Roger squared his body to Darius and uncrossed his arms. It was rare for an alpha to reveal so much agitation in his movements, which meant Darius was tap-dancing on Roger’s I want to kill you! nerves. “The real problem in Seattle was mages killing people. Our hands were tied until the demon went rogue, and as soon as it did, Reagan was on it. She extinguished the problem without calling for—or needing—our aid. But the situations are vastly different. That was one demon, and we need to prepare for an army. As the elves’ right hand in the Brink, sanctioned to protect humans, or at the very least keep them in the dark about magical people, this is my duty. If what is rumored comes to pass, I’ll need all the help I can get.”
He had missed an important bit of information in those rumors. It wouldn’t be him that needed the help—it would be me. Because kidnapping me was clearly their purpose.
He was right on one thing—we’d both need all the help we could get.
I bowed over my hands as irrational emotion surged. Fear-induced tears were trying to get out, of all things. Since when was I a crier in the face of extreme danger?
“Who originated these rumors?” Darius asked.
“I don’t reveal my sources,” Roger replied.
“Then how can we substantiate these claims?”
Dizzy cleared his throat. “We can—”
Callie elbowed Dizzy. He grunted. “Ask some of our friends what they’ve heard.” She shrugged. Being that she normally wasn’t a shrugger about matters of importance, she had to be hiding something. I had a feeling I knew which “friends” she meant.
A crease formed between Roger’s brows and his eyes narrowed. He might not know about the shrugging, but he certainly knew what it meant when someone elbowed someone else in order to shut them up.
The dual mages weren’t very subtle.
“Any additional information would be welcomed,” Roger said slowly.
“The night is getting old.” Darius turned, showing his profile to Roger. It was his polite way of saying get out.
Roger caught the meaning. He pushed off the counter after shooting one last look at the dual mages.
“Thanks for letting me know,” I said, standing.
“Then I can count on you?” Roger asked.
“If I can count on you.” Lord knew I would need the shifters’ help if a bunch of demons came calling.
He stuck out his hand and I shook it. A deal made. I was aligning myself with the shifters. I had already aligned myself with the vampires—a connection that had been doubled down by my discovery of their biggest secret, their alliance with the unicorns. So basically, I was the squishy part between the rock and the hard place. Super.
It belatedly occurred to me that I hadn’t introduced Roger to anyone. I was the world’s worst host. Someone should really get me a trophy for it.
Before I could fix that issue, Roger was striding away. “I’ll be in touch.”
“Right. Okay.” I followed behind him, waving at his back while he headed down my front steps, waving at the side of his head when he turned to get in his car, and finally gave up waving as he closed his door.
“Well, that is shitty news,” I said as I closed the door.
“That information came from Vlad,” Darius said, still in the archway. He was studying me. “I’d bet my life on it.”
“How do you know?” I headed back into the kitchen.
“First, who else would know? He watches the underworld closely. No one else has all but taken up residence there. Second, when he wants to influence matters with an unseen hand, he spreads clues for his marks, leaving it to them to piece it together. That makes them feel privileged to the information. They are more inclined to believe it. I’ve known him a long time. I know how he works.”
“You had me at who else would know.” I sagged into my seat. “But still, we don’t know if it’s true, or just his way of screwing with the shifters.”
“True. If Vlad is planning something and wants to keep the shifters’ focus directed elsewhere, it would be an easy thing to create rumors, then let a couple demons loose for them to deal with.”
“We can find out,” Callie said.
I shook my head, because I knew how she could find out. Why they were so hellbent on calling demons after all we’d been through, I didn’t know, but it was really annoying.
“A simple circle to call a weak demon should suffice,” Dizzy said, confirming my suspicion. “The demon might not know the answer when we call it, but we can send it back to find out. It’s pretty simple.”
I dropped my head to the table. “If what Roger said is true, Agnon is running around the underworld telling all its friends about me. They are probably on their way to tell my dad now.” A weight lodged deep in my gut.
“What are the odds we can summon that particular demon?” Darius asked.
Callie chewed her lip. “We know its name, and its…essence, I would call it, so that would help, but if it crossed the river into the Dark Kingdom, it would require a lot of power for us to summon it. It’s too high level, even in its weakened state, and it’s harder to call a specific demon. Plus, if it is traveling with its sect, they can block our summons.”
“In other words, our odds of summoning Agnon are next to nil,” I muttered into the table.
“If it crossed the river.” Callie drummed the table.
“Worst-case scenario: what if we find out that the demon has crossed the river, is with its friends, and is on the way to tell my dad?” I asked, trying to push through the fog. “What are my options?”
“We hide you,” Dizzy said.
“If Lucifer is looking for her, Vlad will volunteer his services,” Darius said. “He’s been seeking a relationship with the demons, and this would be a perfect way to make the connection.” He crossed to the counter to pour himself a snifter of cognac. “Hiding her from the two of them would be…challenging. In the short term, I can manage it. But eventually they would find her.”
“Is the short term enough time for her to learn the extent of her powers?” Dizzy asked.
Darius nodded thoughtfully. “Perhaps.”
I wasn’t so sure.
I sat back in my chair. “Just spitballing here, but can we command a demon to be a hit man?”