I’d sent him three texts and tried calling him, but no response.

“Should we keep waiting?” I mumbled. “Or just go home?”

Amalia shifted her weight. “What about Tori?”

I flipped to her name, bringing up our chat history. At ten this morning, she’d sent me a message: Got a lead on a location for our special event! I’ll let you know how it goes.

After that, nothing. She hadn’t responded to my follow-up messages.

Fidgeting with the chains around my neck, I peered up and down the street. Part of me was tempted to call Zylas out of the infernus, but a handful of pedestrians moved along the sidewalks, bundled in their jackets, and I couldn’t risk anyone seeing him.

A flicker of impatience in the back of my mind—Zylas wasn’t enjoying the suspenseful wait either.

“I just want to get this over with,” Amalia said with a sigh. “Then we can focus on the Vh’alyir Amulet and the portal magic.”

“And Xever,” I added, preferring not to dwell on the task of sending Zylas home.

She tugged her knitted hat lower over her ears, the gesture almost disguising the measuring look she cast over me. “Do you want to deal with Xever before trying to open a portal to send Zylas home?”

“We don’t stand a chance against Xever and Nazhivēr without Zylas.”

“That’s true,” she allowed.

“Do you think I’m stalling on sending him home?” I asked irritably. “Maybe you don’t remember, but I didn’t try to stop him from using Saul’s portal. I told him to go.”

“I remember.” She glanced at me, then stared determinedly at the intersection where a traffic light had just turned green. “I get that Zylas is important to you, but … look, don’t freak out, okay? But are you sure your attachment to him isn’t coming from an unhealthy place?”

“What?” I snapped.

“Your parents died less than a year ago, and you were left basically on your own. I wasn’t any help to you early on, right? What if you’re … using him as an emotional surrogate to cope with your feelings of loss and loneliness?”

My gut twisted unpleasantly. “Have you been talking to a therapist about me or something?”

“No!” She stuffed her hands in her pockets. “I read some blog posts about grief and co-dependency.”

“You think Zylas and I are co-dependent?”

“No, actually. It doesn’t really fit. I was just trying to understand what’s going on with you.”

I glared at her.

“I’m worried!” she added defensively. “You’ve always had this naïve view of Zylas, like he’s fascinating instead of terrifying. You were feeding him cookies and reading him books before you even had a contract.”

“I didn’t read him books.”

“And your contract doesn’t even work! Doesn’t that bother you? Why hasn’t he killed either of us?”

My fingers pressed against the front of my jacket where the infernus was hidden. “Because he promised.”

“Prom—” She bit off the word. “There you go again, Robin. He’s not a guardian angel who happens to have demon horns.”

“I didn’t say he was. If you think he’s so awful, then explain why he’s been honoring his promise to protect me all this time? Even when it’s nearly gotten him killed?”

Her mouth bobbed open and shut.

“We came back for you, remember?” I said quietly. “He could’ve escaped the īnkav if he’d kept running, but he went back to save you.”

She huffed. “Okay. Okay, you’re right. It’s not fair of me to keep painting him with demon stereotypes.”

A painful weight in my chest lightened.

“But,” she added forcefully, “that doesn’t change the fact he’s still a demon, and you don’t want his demon dick anywhere near you.”

I recoiled with a shocked squeak, my face instantly on fire.

“Trust me, Robin,” she said with a sage nod. “Virgins see everything with innocent eyes, but it’s not all sweetness and roses, especially when—”

“I’m not a virgin.”

The words echoed through the bus shelter. Realizing what I’d just blurted, I clapped a hand to my mouth.

Amalia stared for a second, then snorted. “Please. You’re the most virginy virgin I’ve ever seen. I always know when your books get steamy because you blush while you’re reading.”

“I’m not!” I clenched my teeth, praying that Zylas wasn’t picking up on any of this. “I met a guy in my History 202 class and we dated for a semester.” My cheeks burned hotter. “We slept together a few times.”

“A few,” she repeated dubiously. “Was it good?”

“Um … I guess so?”

“That means it wasn’t good,” she said dryly. “Why’d you stop seeing him?”

“Well, he was a philosophy major.”

“Ah. Say no more.” She squinted at my beet-red face. “Why are you so prudish, then?”

“I’m not prudish! I’m just … just shy.” I folded my arms. “Anyway, I know what s-sex is, okay? You don’t need to lecture me.”

She snickered at my inability to say “sex” without stammering. “Did you try anything besides missionary with your boyfriend?”

“We are not having this conversation.”

“Oh, come on. I’m curious. Did he go down on you?”

Losing all sense of dignity, I pressed my hands over my ears.

“Ever had an orgasm?” she asked loudly, grinning at my squirming embarrassment.

I pushed harder on my ears, attempting to block out reality. If she asked one more inappropriate question, I would—

“Am I interrupting?”

Amalia and I whirled around. Ezra stood just outside the bus shelter, a black toque hiding his curly hair. My level of mortification skyrocketed, and I almost cowered behind my taller cousin.

“Girl talk,” she said offhandedly. “Where the hell have you been? We’ve been waiting for over … uh, are you okay?”

When her sharp impatience switched to cautious concern, I looked at Ezra properly—and realized there was no humor in his face. His jaw was set, and a frightening sort of blankness filled his eyes.

“My phone died,” he said flatly. “Kai and I had to sweep the area, and it took longer than expected. Come on.”

He strode away from the bus shelter, and I exchanged a quick, worried glance with Amalia before rushing out after him. I trailed behind for a few steps, then jogged to his side.

“Ezra?” I asked hesitantly. “What’s wrong?”

He kept walking, staring straight ahead. “I’m not calm enough to talk about it right now.”

“Oh.” I paced beside him, having to stretch my legs to keep up. “Is Kai still around?”

“No, he went back.”

“Back where?”

Ezra’s jaw flexed. “This way.”

He turned into an alley, leading us past three buildings before stopping beside a chain-link gate that protected a garage-like opening in the back of a two-story brick structure. He withdrew a key from his pocket and unlocked the padlock on the gate.