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He shook his head. “Charles did, frequently,” he said. “But I don’t know for sure when last. The others—we usually came separately.”

Charles had used his last bit of demonic energy trying to kill me.

“All right,” I said, relieved that the interview could end here even if I was disappointed not to have learned more. “I’m sure others will be back to ask more questions when the current emergency is dealt with.”

The enforcer motioned to dispel the truth compulsion. Dad’s head jerked up. He stared at me again, but this time his eyes were frantic. “That’s all? The demon—Rose, with it on the loose, you have to— You’re our best hope of controlling it.”

Was he telling the truth or guilting me with more lies? Did it even matter? I was already here, already doing whatever I could.

“You’re not going to make this my fault for not submitting to being a demon’s meal,” I said, unable to completely keep the edge out of my voice.

“If there’s something specific you can think of that might help us bring it under control,” Ruiz said, “report it to us immediately, as you’ve been told.” The enforcers must have done an initial round of questioning on that subject, as soon as the demon had made its appearance.

Dad slumped back against the wall, clearly with nothing else to add. I turned to the enforcers and Caroline, who was watching me with wide eyes.

“Fine,” I said. “Let’s move on to the next one.”

Chapter Seven

Rose

“So you’re just going to go out there and face off against this thing?” Damon demanded. “With no one but a bunch of these Assembly idiots backing you up?”

“They’re not all idiots,” I said, but I had to cut him a little slack for his frustration. Out of all the guys, Damon had the hardest time staying cooped up. “And that’s not all we’ve got. A couple of the men from the Frankfords’ faction were still holding a little of the demon’s power. There’ll be a bunch of enforcers there to keep them in line and help amplify that power to push back the demon.”

“And then what?” Kyler asked from the desk, where he’d turned away from the laptop. We were all gathered in our little office.

I was less sure about that part of the plan, mostly because I wasn’t completely sure the first part was going to work. “Well, if it all goes well, we push the demon all the way back to the Cliff and force it back through the portal. Then we seal the portal and close off the cave—permanently, if we can.”

Jin gave me an unusually serious look. “The other witches—they said they had to usebloodto keep the portal secure.”

I wet my lips. We’d heard the same story from the faction members, under much duress. A bodily sacrifice gave the magic maintaining the portal a certain power. Unfortunately—or fortunately, depending on how you looked at it—they’d all agreed that similar techniques weren’t likely to do us much good against the demon now that it was out on our plane.The sacrifice works to add power to one spell, one spot,one had put it.An ongoing effort… You’d all bleed yourselves dry.

He hadn’t looked exactly sad about that idea.

“If we can get it through the portal, we’ll do what we have to do,” I said. “The witches the faction used have been making that sacrifice for years. I’ll happily spill a little of my blood if it means we never have to worry about those creatures again.”

Damon shoved himself off the couch, his hands clenched. “You shouldn’t have to do it alone. I’ll come with you.” He glanced around at the other guys with a glower that seemed to dare them not to make the same offer.

“Hey,” I said, stepping closer to him and taking his hand. “I know how badly you want to be part of the fight, but I don’t think it’s a good idea. This is going to be all magic, from start to finish—and a bigger magic than I could send into some baton for you to use. I’ll be able to focus on driving the demon back so much easier if I know you’re safe back here and not in its attack range.”

Damon looked as if he were going to argue. I squeezed his hand. “Please. If this goes the way the Assembly is hoping… we might be able to go home tonight.”

He made a disgruntled sound, but he settled for giving me a quick but intent kiss. The rest of my consorts embraced me one by one. Gabriel pressed his lips to my forehead before he let me go.

“We’ll see you when you get back,” he said firmly, neither his tone nor his expression betraying any doubt that Iwouldmake it back.

I didn’t really like leaving them behind, as much as I would have hated to bring them within reach of the demon. Even a few hours later, as a jeep carried Thalia, Caroline, and me out to the fiend’s current location, my stomach stayed knotted tight, apprehensive about both the battle ahead and my consorts’ fates.

How safewerethey in the Assembly building? We’d uncovered Lady Townsend’s treachery, but she might have had other allies, people who were against the mingling of witches with the unsparked.

I’d asked the guys to stick together. And I’d also asked Investigator Ruiz if she could arrange that at least one enforcer she trusted could be keeping an eye on our rooms while I was gone, just in case.

Thalia’s knuckles had turned white where her hands were clasped in her lap. She’d come out to the Cliff with us when we’d exposed the Frankfords, but she hadn’t seen one of the demons since whenever her husband had last let them feed off her magic. She’d insisted on joining us even though none of the other recovering witches had been able to consider the idea.

“Are you going to be all right?” I asked her.

“I feel better taking it on than cowering back in my room,” she said. “But… it’s going to be difficult holding my ground. I don’t blame the others for not being up to it yet. I’ll make sure I’m not in anyone’s way if I have to retreat.”

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