“What’s that?”

“We won’t have a demon mage helping us anymore.”

“If we play our cards right, maybe we’ll have Eterran’s help instead, and he’ll be more powerful on his own.”

“Will you promise him a ticket home too?”

“Maybe. Why not, I guess.”

As I spoke, I glanced around, half expecting Zylas to storm into the room complaining that I couldn’t open a portal for the Dh’irath demon.

But he didn’t appear. He was patrolling the building, as he’d done every night we’d been here. This time he was being extra thorough; it was our first visit to the museum without one of the mages escorting us.

Amalia let out a long breath. “I don’t know about getting Eterran’s help. Something tells me it won’t be that simple.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s just a feeling.” She shrugged. “Call me a pessimist, but—”

She broke off as the sound of scuffing footsteps reached us. Someone—definitely not Zylas, who’d never make that much noise—pattered down the stairs into the basement. In a flash of wild red hair, Tori careened through the doorway.

“Whoa!” she gasped, coming up short at the sight of the massive summoning circle. “Holy shit, look at that!”

I couldn’t help but grin at her amazement. A few steps behind her, Aaron breezed into the room, hands in his pockets and a smile curving his lips—a relaxed expression I hadn’t seen from any of the mages all week.

Tori turned toward me, eyes bright with hopeful energy, but her optimism wasn’t enough to disguise her pale complexion.

“You two did all of this?” she exclaimed. “You girls are Demonica rock stars!”

Amalia scoffed, almost managing to hide her pleasure at the compliment. “It’s not that big of a deal.”

“Seems like a big deal to me,” Tori said brightly. “Is it charging up? How much longer?”

I brushed my hair away from my eyes. “It’s ready.”

“Ready?” Her gaze flicked between me and Amalia, her excitement unexpectedly fizzling out. “As in, we can start the ritual right now?”

“Uh …” I frowned, unsure why she wasn’t happier that the wait was over. “Technically yes, but I don’t think we should attempt the ritual in broad daylight.”

“We should wait for tonight,” Aaron said firmly, moving to Tori’s side. “After midnight, at least. And I want Kai here too, just in case.”

A smart plan. We needed to ensure there were no interruptions that could spoil the ritual. Otherwise, we’d have to let the array charge and start all over again.

The electronic blare of a ringing phone erupted, the sound bouncing off the concrete walls. Aaron whipped out his cell.

“Hello? Oh, hey Girard.” A pause as he listened. “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.”

I blinked in surprise. They were searching for vampires? And cold-inducing artifacts? Had Aaron actually taken my suggestions on how to fight demons seriously?

“What about frost-bombs?” he asked, walking toward an empty corner of the basement. “Has Katherine had any luck making one?”

The warm feeling of his trust filled me as I swiveled back toward Tori. She was staring after Aaron with her hand pressed to her stomach, her face paler than before.

Concerned, I stepped closer to her. “How are you feeling?”

She started, her gaze snapping to me.

“Your injuries …” I hesitated. “Have they healed okay? Do you want Zylas to check them?”

Her mouth dropped open. “Zylas?”

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

“Probably” being the key word there. “Possibly” or “a slight chance” would be more accurate, but I’d nag Zylas all afternoon if I had to.

“Uh.” Tori blinked a few times. “That’s very considerate, but I’m just tired.” She shook off her bleak mood. “How are you? According to the guys, you’ve been out here every night.”

“It’s the least I could do. Even without the amulet to trade, I would’ve helped Ezra.”

Yes, this had delayed our efforts to unravel the mysteries of the Vh’alyir Amulet, figure out portal magic, and hunt down Xever, but I still wouldn’t have refused to help. Ezra might have his own motivations, but he’d helped me more than I would’ve ever asked for or expected.

“He saved Zylas’s life,” I added softly.

Tori rocked back on her heels. “He did?”

“Yes.” Memories flashed through my head—Zylas caught in the īnkav’s jaws, his cry of agony as the beast bit down on him, his blood spreading across the cracked concrete of the helipad. “I almost lost him.”

“Your demon means a lot to you, huh? What exactly is your relationship?”

My heart stopped.

“Wh-what?” I gasped with a sharp stab of panic. What expression had been on my face just now? “Our relationship?”

“Like … do you have a contract?” she asked, faintly puzzled. “Can you command him or what?”

Oh. Oh. She was referring to our unusual contract, not our … unusual closeness.

“We have a contract,” I said hurriedly, battling a resurgence of the humiliation I’d felt after Amalia had caught me and Zylas together. “But I don’t command him. We work together.”

Her expression shifted to intrigue. “How did that come about?”

“We …” A dozen different replies spun through my head, but only one slipped past my lips. “We saved each other.”

A soft wave of emotion rolled through me as I said it. We’d saved each other. Not just on that horrific afternoon when we’d formed our contract, but before that, when I’d given him life-sustaining food and he’d distracted me from my overwhelming grief and loneliness. And after that—every day after that, we’d been protecting each other in our own way.

Suddenly, the desire to see him was so strong I almost ran for the stairs.

Zylas, where are you?

A distracted flicker answered me. He was focused on something.

I returned my attention to Tori. “Are you concerned?”

“About what?”

“That I don’t command Zylas.”

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

“You sound like Amalia. That’s how she describes Zylas.” Needing to know what my demon was so intent on, I headed for the stairs. “Speaking of Zylas, I should find him. He wandered off again.”

Tori trailed after me. “I didn’t realize he was out.”

Explaining that he was prowling the grounds for potential prey didn’t seem like a comforting revelation, so I said, “He doesn’t like spending hours and hours in the infernus.”

Aaron’s voice disappeared behind us as we climbed the stairs to the main level.