“Get him inside,” Dorian said. “I’ll phone Colin. Maybe it’s some kind of coma—”
“Colin will know what to do,” Gabriel said, clinging to that hope, to the memory of Sasha’s smile, to the warmth of the sun that’d just begun its morning ascent. He lifted Aiden into his arms and got to his feet, ignoring the exhaustion in his limbs, the ache in his fingers, the bite of winter on wet skin. “Between Colin and Isabelle, they’ll figure out how to bring him out of the coma and—”
“Oh, shit,” Jacinda whispered, her brow tightening with some new worry. “No. This can’t be happening. Not again. Not like this.”
Gabriel’s heart dropped into his stomach. “Jace?”
She finally met his gaze, the raw fear in her eyes shattering Gabriel’s hope. She shook her head, unable to voice it, and in that terrible instant—in that terrible silence—he knew. He fuckingknew.
Jacinda had seen this before. Had watched it happen to her father seven years ago, just minutes after he’d finally delivered his daughter to New York. To freedom.
Aiden Donovan wasn’t in a coma.
He was in hell.
Chapter Sixteen
There was no more time for flipping through lore books and mixing batches of potions. No time for spellcraft. No time for gathering allies and working through scenarios and drawing up plans A, B, or even C.
Viansa had dragged Aiden’s soul to hell, imprisoning him just as she’d imprisoned Zachary Colburn.
And there was only one thing to be done about it.
Unfortunately, the demanding, infuriating, uptight vampire king insisted on overcomplicating matters.
As usual.
“I can’t believe I’m about to say this,” Gabriel said, “but no, brother. For once in your immortal life, Idon’twant you to go to hell.”
“Not my first choice for a holiday either, but it’s Christmas Eve, Gabriel. All the best places are booked.” Dorian slid the Blade of Azerius into its sheath and strapped it to his chest. “You’ll find a copy of my will and a few other legal documents in a safe at the north end of the crypts. It’s biometrically keyed to your blood, so to open it, you—”
“It has to be me.”
“You just press your finger to the scanner, and—”
“You know I’m right. Jacinda’s got the lay of the land, and together she and I can—”
“You’ll feel a little prick, then—”
“Listen to me, Dorian.”
“When you hear the beep, you’ll know it’s—”
“Dorian!”
The man finally shut his mouth. Blew out a long, slow breath. When he spoke again, his voice was maddeningly calm. “We’ve gone over this a hundred times, Gabriel. Aiden needs me. I won’t abandon him to Viansa or any other of hell’s tormentors.”
“Nor will I. And Aiden’s not the only soul in need of rescue. We go down there, we’ve got one shot.One. If we don’t find Zachary—”
“I’m well aware of the mission. You don’t need to repeat it.”
Gabriel shoved a hand through his hair, damn near ready to tear it out. “Be reasonable, for once in your life. You can’t go. You simply can’t. I’m—”
“Not the king.” Dorian turned his attention back to the strap around his chest. “This is my duty, not yours.”
“Your duty,king, is to protect your family and your people here. Inourrealm. For fuck’s sake, Dorian. Azerius has been salivating for the taste of your charred balls ever since you banished him, and you think you can just waltz down into his domain, take out the succubus working to set him free, grab two souls, and slip away undetected? Oh, that’s assuming you can even find the souls, which you bloody well can’t because you don’t know where the fuck you’re going! Honestly, brother. Please tell me you’re not that daft.”
“And you thinkyou’vegot a better chance?”
