Time to find my uncle and get the Athanas Grimoire back. It was finally happening.

We made it out of downtown with little trouble and drove through the disreputable Eastside for twenty minutes. Crossing the harbor, we entered the significantly greener and more spacious neighborhoods of North Vancouver.

“So,” Amalia began, “what’s your problem this morning?”

I stared through the windshield at the mountain silhouettes filling the horizon. “No problem.”

“Yeah, sure. How come I haven’t seen your demon pal all morning, even though we should have run our plan past him before getting in this crappy rental car and driving to the middle of nowhere?”

“I told him the plan. In my head. He can hear me. Also, he’s not my pal.”

“What is he, then?”

“He’s a demon.”

She cast me a questioning look, then returned her attention to the road. An irascible frown settled onto her lips as she exited the freeway and merged onto a smaller thoroughfare.

Maybe … maybe I was a bit moody today. She wasn’t the reason for my bad temperament.

“Thank you for the hex sweater,” I said, properly sincere this time. “I can’t believe you made something so beautiful and comfortable that’s also stab-proof. It’s really amazing.”

Her frown eased. “Glad you like it. You’re the first person besides me to wear one of my projects.”

My smile softened into a more natural expression. “Thank you for sharing it with me. Do you have plans to sell your work? I bet guilds would love them.”

“Maybe. I need to do more testing first. Fabrics and magic don’t mix all that well and I’m not sure how quickly the hexes will deteriorate.”

Falling silent, she concentrated on navigating a section of road construction that had closed one lane. The houses grew sparser.

“Oh, shit!” Amalia flipped on her signal light and zipped into the left lane. “This is our turn.”

We made the corner on the yellow light, and the last signs of residential neighborhood disappeared. The road, hemmed in by green spruce and hemlock, slanted upward. Though the dense forest blocked our view, I knew we were ascending the sprawling slopes of Mount Seymour. Scattered vehicles drove with us, heading toward the ski resort near the peak.

“Where exactly are we going?” I asked. “Not to the resort, right?”

“Ha, no. The property isn’t that high up the mountain. It’s on the west side.”

“And it belongs to the old guy from the photo—Kevin, you called him?”

“Kevin and Dad were hunting buddies, and my family used to come out here every summer. I always hated it. So boring. Kathy thought so too, and she kicked up such a fuss about it that Dad quit going. He hasn’t been in almost ten years.”

I wrinkled my nose. “That sucks for your dad.”

“If he wanted to enjoy life, he shouldn’t have married Kathy.” Amalia leaned forward as though encouraging the car onward up the incline. “Ugh, why didn’t we get an SUV instead of this shit-mobile?”

“What makes you so sure your dad is out here?”

“First, Claude ruled out every possible option besides this one. And second, it’s perfect. Kevin doesn’t own this property. He borrows it from his cousin. And as far as I—or anyone else—knows, Dad and Kevin haven’t talked in years, and there’s no paper trail to tie either of them to this location. It’s private, isolated, and totally safe.”

Sounded plausible. “I hope Uncle Jack has answers.”

“Yes,” Amalia agreed fiercely. “First, I want to know why he couldn’t get a message to me. Second, I want to know what the hell is up with Claude. And third, all this weirdness with vampires.”

I pressed my lips together. “What I want is the grimoire.”

“We won’t learn anything if your demon goes berserk and kills my dad. Zylas won’t have any warm, fuzzy feelings for his summoner. You sure you’ve got him under control?”

“He won’t lay a hand on your dad,” I confirmed grimly. “I already warned him.”

“Yeah, but since when is he obedient?”

“He’ll behave. If he doesn’t, I won’t send him home.”

She steered the car around a tight bend. A few snowflakes swirled past the windows. “But you want to send him home so you can be rid of his demonic ass.”

“I do, but if he kills people …” I folded my arms across my chest. “I’m not helping him with anything if he kills people.”

“He’s a demon. Killing is what they do.” She paused. “Didn’t you promise you’d send him home?”

“I did, but—”

“And you told him you’ll rescind that promise if he doesn’t do what you want?”

“Yes, but—”

“Oh hell.” She shot me a disbelieving look. “No wonder he’s in a snit.”

A guilty, anxious squirm awoke in my belly. “What do you mean?”

“You have to ask? Come on. You two made a deal, and you can’t just add new terms or conditions to it on a whim.”

“How else am I supposed to stop him from murdering people?”

“I don’t know, but Robin …” She shook her head, her blond ponytail swinging. “That horned asshole is going to be complete misery to deal with now. Your promise to send him home was the only thing keeping him in check.”

“But I will send him home as long as he—”

“Yeah, but he won’t trust you anymore.” At my confused look, she sighed. “It’s a power thing, Robin. If you have the power to change the deal and he doesn’t, that makes the deal worthless. Changing your promise is the same as breaking it.”

Your promises mean nothing. Zylas’s furious accusation.

Deep, icy cold settled in my gut, making itself right at home like it intended to stay awhile.

“Ah, here’s the turn off!” She slowed the car as the highway doubled back on itself in order to continue up the side of the mountain. On our left, a short gravel offshoot split in a Y-shape, with one track heading uphill and one descending the mountainside.

She waited a minute with her signal on, craning her neck to watch the oncoming cars. When a gap in the traffic opened, she gunned it across the highway and angled toward the downhill road where a gate, bolted with a chain and boldly marked with a Private Property sign, blocked our passage.

She shifted into park, hopped out, and jogged up to the gate, leaving the car door hanging open. A moment of fumbling with the chain, then she shoved the gates open.

“Wasn’t even locked,” she announced as she dropped back into her seat and shut her door. “Great security. At least it isn’t snowed in up here.”

The car bumped along the gravel, the vibrations rattling my teeth. My nerves grew, my stomach twisting unhappily and that pit of ice unchanged. Once we were done here, I would make Zylas understand that I hadn’t betrayed my promise. I’d only wanted to …

… to control him by leveraging the one thing he really wanted.

Oh crap. That’s what I’d done, wasn’t it? No wonder he was furious.