“And if I had an eternity to find it, I’m certain I could. But Idon’thave an eternity, Aiden. I’m not even sure I’ve got a week.”
“Have you told Charlotte about this?”
“I… I need more information.”
“She has a right to know.”
“Yes, and exercising that right means unleashing a thousand desperate questions I can’t evenbeginto answer.” Dorian sighed. He was wasting time—time he desperately needed if he had any hopes of breaking that demon bind. “I’m sorry, Aiden. I need to go.”
He turned away from the flames and took a step toward the manor, but Aiden stepped in front of him, a deadly warning flashing in his eyes.
“Whatever you’re thinking,” Aiden said, “it’s a rotten idea.”
“You’ve no idea what I’m thinking.”
“You’ve got the look. You’re about to do something reckless and impulsive that will either get you killed or—”
“No one ever won a war by staying home.”
“No one ever won a war by himself, either.” Aiden grumbled something beneath his breath, then said, “If you insist on marching to your doom, I’m coming with you.”
“No. I need you to keep watch over Charlotte. Colin said she needs to be monitored hourly for symptoms of concussion.”
“As will you if you don’t tell me what you’re up to.”
Frustration surged in Dorian’s chest, but he knew Aiden wouldn’t let him off the hook. “I’m going back to the city to find some Rogozin hellspawn to torture. Surely one of them knows something.”
Aiden beamed. “Brilliant! And… Not happening.”
“Today isnotthe day to test me, Aiden.”
“Nor is it the day to storm the demonic castle and pick off Rogozin’s underlings.” Aiden gripped Dorian’s shoulder. “Not alone, not while you’re half out of your mind with rage, andcertainlynot without—”
“A witch.”
Both men turned at the sound of the sudden proclamation, and Isabelle stepped out through the broken doorway, her gaze stern as she picked her way across the glass-strewn path. If the sight of the demolished dining room or towering inferno alarmed her, she hid it well.
Fear spiked in Dorian’s gut. “Is Charlotte—”
“She’s resting comfortably,” Isabelle said.
“Thank you for telling me,” he said. “Aiden’s going to look after her while I—”
“He’s right, Dorian.” Isabelle took a step closer, gazing up at him with the same beseeching look she’d given him the night of the fundraiser when he’d wanted to strangle Gabriel in the study. “You can’t interrogate demons without someone who can bind them. They’ll unleash hellfire the moment you make your presence known. Even if you manage to kill them before that, they’ll simply jump into the closest human vessel and try again.”
“Not to worry, Isabelle,” Dorian said. “I’ve no need to kill them. Merely to prod their minds for a bit of information. If they happen to suffer in the process?” Dorian shrugged and glanced at his fingernails as if he hadn’t a care in the world. “Ends, means, etcetera, etcetera.”
“You mean to leave them alive?” Aiden asked. “So they can run straight to Rogozin and tell him what you’ve been on about? That we know Charlotte’s uncle is one of them? That you’re searching for a way to break her curse? Are youtryingto paint another target on her back?”
Isabelle’s eyes softened, and she let out a long, terrible sigh. “Thereisno way to break it, Dorian. It’s not a curse—it’s a binding contract.”
“All contracts have loopholes,” Dorian said.
“Not when they’re forged by a demon lord.”
The reminder cleaved Dorian’s heart in two, igniting his rage all over again.
“Bloodyhell, do you two think me a fool? Oh,yes, I’ll just march in there straightaway and ask Rogozin’s dim-witted servants to point me in the direction of the filthy miscreant who’s cursed my woman to hell.Excellentplan!”
