“If Dad thinks he can deny me the most perfect—”

“It isn’t your father’s decision,” a different voice interrupted. “It’s mine.”

My entire body went numb with fresh panic. No. No, it couldn’t be.

Not now. Not here.

Heavy steps drew closer, and the blindfold slid up my face. I squinted in the dim light of a lamp in the basement’s corner, terrified of what I would see. My gaze stuttered across broad shoulders in a dark jacket, darted up to a clean-shaven jaw, and halted on an ugly scar that ran from the man’s chin up to his distorted lower lip.

Claude’s familiar dark eyes assessed me, cold and merciless. “We meet again, Robin.”

A rough noise escaped my throat, muffled by my gag. I didn’t know if it was a sound of fear or rage.

The twin sorcerers stood off to the side, one expressionless and the scratched one glowering like a put-out child—that must be Jaden. Their father stood on Claude’s left, his coat removed to reveal the same armbands as his sons. He held the binder of grimoire pages in one hand, and in the other, the chain of my infernus. A green cube encased the dangling pendant. Crimson light flashed inside it, then died out.

Claude turned to the older man. “You have no idea the prize you’ve captured, Saul.”

“Because you concealed her from us,” Saul retorted, muted anger in his gravelly voice. “You didn’t think we’d like to know that the Twelfth House has finally been summoned?”

“Don’t lose sight of our goal, my friend.” Claude glanced at the twins. “Though, I suspect you already have. You couldn’t restrain yourselves for a few weeks?”

“You asked for my help. I came to help. What else we do while here is beside the point.”

“Your obsession is the reason we parted ways twenty years ago, Saul. I warned you again and again that butchering women was—”

“Parted ways?” Jaden interrupted. “He’s so tactful, isn’t he, Braden?”

The expressionless twin sneered. “You ostracized us. You and that ludicrous—”

Claude sliced a hand through the air. “We’ve been through this enough times, Saul. I cautioned you. You didn’t listen, and I had no choice but to cut you off.”

“I know. That’s why when you called me for help with the array, I came.” Saul’s pale gaze moved to the table covered in papers and notes. “We found a way to fill in the missing piece. We’ll be ready tomorrow night, as long as we get a clear sky.”

“Excellent. Now let’s deal with our young guest, shall we?”

My skin chilled as all four men turned to me.

“What’s the plan?” Jaden asked, licking his lips. A bandage was wrapped tightly around his lower left leg, the white gauze stained with blood.

“First we will relieve her of her demon, then we’ll relieve her of her grimoire.”

“Who gets the demon?” Saul asked.

Jaden and Braden shifted forward, their eager stares fixing on my infernus.

Claude smiled at me. “The demon is mine.”

As the twins slouched with disappointment, Saul scowled. “How many demons do you need?”

“All of them, my friend. All of them.”

He pulled my infernus from Saul’s grasp and tossed it into the summoning circle. It hit the concrete with a clang and the green cube burst apart.

Crimson light exploded from the infernus. Bolts of power leaped upward, hitting an invisible barrier, and Zylas took form in the center of the chaos.

He crouched over the infernus, red eyes glowing and teeth bared. Shadows dimmed the circle’s interior. Ice coated the floor. Ripples of magic snaked off the demon, but nothing passed the array’s edge—the unseen dome that sealed him within. For the second time in his life, Zylas was trapped in a summoning circle.

Those fierce, enraged eyes locked on mine. His claws dug into the concrete.

“Zylas, isn’t it?” Claude strolled to the circle’s edge, studying the demon. “We finally meet—properly.”

The demon’s attention shifted from me to the summoner—a lethal predator homing in on his prey. He didn’t snarl insults or hiss threats. He just stared, and his stare promised death.

Claude folded his hands behind his back. “Zylas of the Twelfth House, you will accept a contract with me.”

A tiny, despairing sound rasped in my throat. When Zylas didn’t react to the summoner’s command, Claude crossed to me. His fingers closed around my hair, forcing my head back.

“I don’t know the extent of your contract’s protection clause, but we can certainly find out,” he told the demon. “Should we start by inflicting pain? Making her bleed? Or should I let the boys have her for a few hours? I trust you’ve been in the human world long enough to know what they plan to do.”

I jerked my head against Claude’s hold. Don’t listen to him, Zylas.

His jaw flexed as his gaze snapped from me to the summoner and back. The layer of ice on the floor thickened and the darkness inside the dome swirled.

Zylas, don’t—

“I agree.”

The gag deadened my cry of protest. No, Zylas!

Claude hesitated, then chuckled. “That was easier than I expected. You have an excellent contract with your demon, Robin.”

I gritted my teeth, knowing what was coming next. This scenario had already played out once before with Red Rum.

“Now, my dear, you will give your demon permission to enter into a contract with me.”

Nostrils flaring as I breathed deep, I braced myself. Zylas couldn’t refuse because our contract bound him to protect me, but nothing could force me to agree. Claude could dislocate my fingers like Red Rum had done. He could cut me open. He could give me to those sick brothers. I would never—

“Do what he says.”

Every muscle in my body locked up. Those words … they couldn’t have come from my demon’s mouth. He wouldn’t … Surely I’d imagined it.

Claude peered at Zylas in surprise. The twin sorcerers arched their eyebrows, glancing between me and my demon.

Zylas …

“Say yes.”

I can’t—

“Do it!” he snarled, his glower locked on me. “Agree, Robin!”

My limbs shook, my heart tearing. I couldn’t. I couldn’t betray him, not to Claude. Not to our enemy. Not to the man who’d killed my parents. I couldn’t let him have Zylas, my partner, my ally, my—