A shrill ring erupted, and Aaron dug into his pocket. He pulled his phone out and lifted it to his face. “Hello? Oh, hey Girard.” He listened for a moment. “Okay, yeah, I figured ice artifacts would be difficult to find … No, the teams I sent out haven’t found any vampires. All the usual nest spots are empty. What about frost-bombs? Has Katherine had any luck making one?”

Still talking, he moved toward the far end of the room. I watched him go, trying not to worry about the guild preparations. Before we faced the cult, we needed to save Ezra—or kill him trying.

My stomach jumped again, and I pressed my hand against it. I’d never felt this nervous in my life—it was a sort of persistent, low-level panic that made me ill. I wanted the summoning ritual to be over with just as badly as I wanted to freeze time forever.

“How are you feeling?”

I blinked, bringing the room into focus. Robin was standing beside me, peering worriedly into my face.

“Your injuries … have they healed okay? Do you want Zylas to check them?”

That got my attention. “Zylas?”

“He’s very good at healing. I could probably convince him to fix you up if you need it.”

“Uh. That’s very considerate, but I’m just tired.” I shook my head, unable to imagine the savage demon volunteering to heal me. I’d trust Eterran with my health first. “How are you? According to the guys, you’ve been out here every night.”

She squeezed her hands together. “It’s the least I could do. Even without the amulet to trade, I would’ve helped Ezra. He saved Zylas’s life.”

“He did?”

“Yes.” Her eyes clouded over. “I almost lost him.”

The shadow of pain in her expression intrigued me. “Your demon means a lot to you, huh? What exactly is your relationship?”

She reeled backward as though I’d slapped her. “Wh-what? Our relationship?”

“Like … do you have a contract? Can you command him or what?”

She gulped a few times, her face beet red. “We have a contract, but I don’t command him. We work together.”

Work together. Despite my deal with Eterran for a mutual goal, the idea boggled my mind. “How did that come about?”

“We … we saved each other.” She lightly touched the infernus hanging around her neck, then tilted her head questioningly. “Are you concerned?”

“About what?”

“That I don’t command Zylas.”

I shrugged. “I won’t pretend he doesn’t frighten me, but Eterran frightens me too, and he’s not that bad … for a demon.”

“You sound like Amalia. That’s how she describes Zylas.” With a glance around, she started across the room. “Speaking of Zylas, I should find him. He wandered off again.”

I followed her toward the staircase, leaving Aaron to his phone call. “I didn’t realize he was out.”

She pushed the fire door open and started up the concrete steps. “He doesn’t like spending hours and hours in the infernus.”

“What’s being inside an infernus like?”

“I’m not sure, but the gist of it seems to be ‘boring.’” She opened the door to the main level. “Are you ready for tonight?”

As we ventured into the dusty halls of the small museum, I almost brushed off her question. But fear thrummed in my bones, and I needed to admit it.

“I’m terrified,” I whispered. “I’m terrified to lose him. It feels like we’re ushering him to his own execution.”

Robin stopped beside me, sympathy softening her face. “You aren’t ushering him. He decided this himself, didn’t he?”

My throat tightened.

“There’s a big difference between being forced to do something and choosing your own path.” She gazed down the hall, her eyes losing focus. “Choosing … means something.”

Her whispered words triggered a sudden memory: Zak leaning toward me, green eyes intent as he told me that I was as much a mythic as him. Choice is more powerful than fate.

Shivering, I shrugged off the memory—and realized Robin was still staring off into space. I waved a hand in front of her nose. “You all right there?”

She started. “Y-yes. Sorry. Just … just remembered something, that’s all.”

With a skeptical eyebrow arch, I glanced around. “So, do you wanna call for him, or what?”

“Hm? Oh, he already knows I’m looking for him. He’s got some reason for not coming to find me. Let’s check the second floor.”

I was still frowning confusedly as she headed back to the stairwell. We hurried up to the second floor, and Robin led the way down a hall with small offices branching off it, each one converted into a display about some facet of the city’s policing history.

We reached the end and turned into a wider corridor lined with glass cabinets. I peeked outside as we passed in front of a large arched window—and something dropped off the top of a cabinet.

Landing without a sound, Zylas shoved us both to the floor. I yelped as the demon’s hand pressed between my shoulder blades, mashing me into the musty carpet.

“Zh’ūltis,” the demon growled. “Walking into the sight of hunters? I taught you to be smarter, vayanin.”

Spitting the taste of dust from my mouth, I craned my head. Zylas had merely rammed me into the floor, but he’d landed directly on Robin. She was sprawled on her stomach, the demon on top of her as he hunkered below the window.

“Zylas, get off me,” she grumbled. “And what hunters?”

He raised his head enough to peer out the window. “They are watching.”

“Someone is spying on us?” I started to sit up and the demon shoved me back down. “Who?”

“Humans. Three. They try to hide among the others, but they stay in one spot and watch, watch, watch. Hunting. Planning. They will ambush us.”

Again, I raised my head, but more slowly this time. Zylas allowed it. With my nose practically resting on the sill, I peered into the street. People bustled about on the sidewalk, and it took me almost a minute to spot them: one man sitting at the bus stop, another leaning against a wall looking at his phone, and a third loitering near a boutique clothing store.

Shivers rippled over me. They had to be cultists. The Court must’ve noticed us using this building, and they were waiting for their chance to strike again.

Planning their ambush, as Zylas had said.

“What are we going to do?” I whispered. “Finding a new location and starting again now, when we’re so close …”

Robin squirmed out from under her demon and crouched between us. “You haven’t seen anyone watching us before this, have you?”

“No,” Zylas answered. “They came today only.”

She straightened her glasses. “The ritual is ready. It’ll all be over tonight. We should stick to the plan, and if they’re here when we return at midnight—”

“—I will hunt them,” he finished, his husky voice layered with eager ruthlessness, his crimson eyes glowing.

If those cultists thought “Servi” existed to protect them, tonight they would get a very rude awakening as to what this particular demon thought of their ideology.

“No, no, nooo!” I howled, waving my game controller as though that would somehow prevent my neon-green racecar from careening off the road and crashing into a building.

“Watch it!” Aaron laughed as he blocked my flailing controller with his elbow, hands glued to his own controller. “You’re going to—shit!”

I cackled as his cherry-red car smashed nose-first into a light post. Ezra’s and Kai’s cars zoomed past his crumpled wreck.

“Thanks a lot, Tori,” he grumbled.

“Go Ezra!” I cheered, steering my smashed car back onto the road, even though I had no chance in hell of catching up. “Show ’em who’s boss!”

“He always wins anyway,” Kai complained, his thumbs steady on his controller. “He doesn’t need a cheerleader.”

I turned, sticking my tongue out at the electramage, and Ezra made a pfff noise as I accidentally dug my elbow into his ribs. “Whoops! Sorry.”

The sofa was more cramped than usual. We normally spread ourselves across all available furniture for game night, but somehow, we’d all ended up crammed on the sofa together. I was squashed between Ezra and Aaron, and I didn’t mind one bit.

Aaron and I raced our steaming wrecks, half a lap behind Ezra and Kai as they battled for first place. Ezra won by a car length, and Aaron beat me easily. Oh well.

“Why do I always lose at my own games?” Aaron complained. “When you’re undemonized, we’ll see who wins all the time.”

“Will he lose his enhanced reflexes?” Kai mused. “And his increased strength? Or are those permanent changes?”

“Who knows?” Ezra glanced at them, his expression grave. “The real question is whether I’ll lose my demonic telepathy that allows me to hear all your thoughts.”

The three of us stared at him uncertainly.

He cracked a grin. “Just kidding.”

I blew out a breath, slightly panicked by the idea of Ezra having telepathy. I’d indulged in way too many naughty daydreams for that to be anything but an embarrassing nightmare.

He lifted his controller. “One more round?”

Aaron glanced at the clock beneath the television. “Let’s call it a night. We only have a couple more hours.”

“And Aaron and I have a job to do,” Kai added, pushing to his feet.

“Yeah.” Standing, Aaron stretched his arms over his head. “Let’s go, Kai.”

“Huh? A job?” I followed him and Kai toward the back door. “What job?”

Ezra followed us, stopping in the kitchen doorway, his expression the same blend of confusion and surprise I felt.