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My imagination just worked too goddamn well when it came to the possible perfidy of the Prince of Hell. Japhrimel was silent. His thumb stroked my arm.
“Well?” I persisted, as an automated voice speaking Czechi blared from the loudspeaker grilles. We were coming up to a stop. “What do you think?”
“It explains much of the chain of events. And yet… ”
Right. And yet. I’m missing some crucial piece, a piece you probably have. Help me out here, okay? “It makes sense to paint a big target on my back and send me out. The demon in that building called me Right Hand. Even if he mistook me for you because we smell alike, how could he know you were working for Lucifer again so soon? Unless Lucifer made a point of leaking the information. If I was him, looking to get rid of me in the most efficient way possible and still use me for maximum benefit, that’s what I’d do.” But I’m not Lucifer. I wouldn’t ever do this to someone, use them in a trap to catch a bigger predator.
“Indeed.” He sounded grudgingly admiring. The train began to slow, resistance clamping down. I leaned into him. He kissed my temple again. “I would not want to be your enemy, hedaira.”
“Huh.” I manfully restrained from pointing out that he’d probably thought of all this before me. “Good. I’d hate to have to hunt you down.”
McKinley swung up to his feet. Japhrimel’s arm loosened on me. I breathed in deeply, shaking my hair back. I was almost begi
“There will never be a need.” Japhrimel managed to sound, of all things, amused. He braced me as the train slid to a stop. McKinley swung out the door as soon as it opened, sca
Fluorescent light ran wetly over pre-Hegemony yellow tile, and a framed picture of a jowly, scowling man with a thick black moustache was set behind plasglass. Some kind of muckey-muck who had negotiated the Freetown’s charter, probably. Permaspray graffiti tangled over tiles that hadn’t been sonicwashed on the last maintenance run-through. The station was deserted; I had little idea of where I was, since this was underground. “Where are we?”
“The outskirt, near Ruzyne Transport,” McKinley said, blinking his black eyes once. “I don’t think we were followed.”
I rolled my shoulders back, checking my rig. It was good gear, and had just come through its first engagement with flying colors. “I don’t think so either. Where do we meet the others?”
Japhrimel shrugged. I looked up at his face, noted that he had a vertical line between his dark winged eyebrows. When he did that, pulling the corners of his mouth down, he looked even more grim and saturnine. He didn’t immediately answer me.
Finally, he sighed. “Va
I felt my own eyebrows rising. “Um, hello?” I snapped my fingers in front of his face. McKinley frankly stared, his jaw dropping; it was the first sign of surprise I’d ever seen from him. “Excuse me, but I believe I was contracted for this hunt, Japh.” A new thought struck me, one so terrible I almost choked.
My heart began to pound as I stared up at him, my hand frozen in midair. “They were simply bait, you wanted the Magi to draw out the demon so you could see it.” I couldn’t believe I had been so blind. “You’re not surprised by any of this. You wanted me to go with the others so they could drag me clear of the blast zone, and you wanted me to run to McKinley so he could… You arrogant bastard.” My stomach flipped over. No wonder Bella had looked so frightened, she’d figured out she and her partner were bait and my assumption that they were hunters instead of support staff must have scared her silly.
“I am concerned more with your safety than your wounded pride.” He caught my hand in his, pushed it down to my side. “It makes no difference. I prefer you where I can see the mischief you intend, anyway. I expected you would not accede.”
“I have so many problems with this,” I muttered. Would it kill you to share a little information with me? And I will not be a party to using other people as a lure, Japhrimel. I won’t do it.
“I counsel you to caution.” His eyes blazed. “I am no longer your familiar, I am your Fallen—not bound to obey, only to protect. You would do well to be silent, my temper wears thin.”
I closed my eyes and tipped my head back, feeling my jaw work as I struggled to bite back the words rising toward the surface. When I was fairly sure I had my own temper under control I gave him a level glare, bringing my chin back down and half-lidding my eyes. “I suggest you go a little easier on the autocracy, Japhrimel. I don’t like being ordered around and kept in the dark. What do you think I am, some kind of idiot you can just—”
I barely even saw him move. The next thing I knew, I was pi
Then he sighed, fluorescent light ru
“I have been endlessly patient with you,” he said softly, each word crisp and distinct, “but we ca
“Stop it!” My voice bounced off the tiles, smashed and echoed, the straps of my rig dug into my flesh. “Goddammit, Japhrimel, stop it you’re scaring me!”
He shook me once more, maybe just to drive home how he could keep me if he wanted to, and dropped me. I landed hard, the shock jolting from my heels all the way up to my neck. I rubbed at my sternum where his knuckles had pressed, rubbed it and rubbed it. Had I been human, I’d have been bruised. This puts a whole different complexion on things. My eyes instinctively flicked toward the stairs leading to the surface. If I—
He caught my chin, cupping delicately, his fingers gentle but iron-hard. I caught a flash of McKinley standing with his arms folded, a study in disinterest though his eyes had a gleam I didn’t like. “Don’t even think of it.” Japhrimel’s tone was oddly tender. “It is for your own good, my curious. You will do as I say.”
I jerked my chin free of his hand. “You didn’t have to do that.” My pulse beat high and frantic in my throat, and I sounded breathless even to myself. I pushed myself back, the tiled wall meeting me with a thump. He stayed where he was. The snarl on his face was gone as if it had never existed. My head was full of rushing noise; the mark on my shoulder flared with heat sinking all the way down through my chest, spilling through my bones.
He was still for a long moment, his face expressionless. He moved as if he would touch me, but I flinched back from him, the tip of my scabbard striking the tiled wall, scratching along like a blunt claw. My right hand closed around the hilt, and I stared at him as if he was a stranger, my mouth suddenly dry and the noise inside my head much worse.