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Rose nodded and raised her chin as she moved toward the stairwell. The rest of us followed her—what else was there for us to do?
In the meeting room upstairs, the two Northcotts who apparentlyreallyran things around here and a couple of the other officials from before were standing around the table, along with a few witches in enforcer sweat suits. No one sat down even after we filed into the room.
Rose came to a stop behind one of the chairs, her brow knitting as she looked around at the people gathered there. I stayed right beside her, as close as I thought she’d be okay with in front of these spectators. She shouldn’t have to feel ashamed if she needed to lean on someone after what she must have been through in that battle, but even I knew this wasn’t the moment to force the issue.
The three enforcers looked tired and a little wary, but the officials’ stances were practically rigid. What were they so tense about? And why were they focused on Rose? They weren’t blaming her for the plan not working out, were they? They’d all agreed to it. It’d been better than anything these assholes had come up with alone. I didn’t have to be there to know Rose had tried her best to see it through.
“We understand the attempt at magnifying the residual stored demon power to repel the intruder had some initial success, but quickly lost efficacy,” Mr. Northcott said, setting one hand on the table. “Is that also your impression, Lady Hallowell?”
Rose gazed back at him with the same puzzled expression. “Yes. I’m sure anyone who was there could tell you that.”
“And to what would you attribute that loss of efficacy?” Lady Northcott asked. If anything, her posture had gotten even more stiff.
“The residual power, or our amplification of it, mustn’t have been strong enough,” Rose said. “My best guess would be that we were able to overcome the demon’s will at first, when we took it by surprise and were at our freshest, but it took a lot of effort. We tired, and it adapted to what we were doing. I mean, that’s what makes the most sense.”
The dour expressions around the table suggested that the officials didn’t think so, even though the enforcers were nodding in agreement.
“There was something odd, though,” Rose went on. “Right before it started attacking, the demon seemed to be focused on me, or something around me… I don’t know how to explain it.” She rubbed her mouth with an anxious twitch of her hand.
Lady Northcott’s eyebrows rose. “And you didn’t do anything to provoke that interest?”
Rose blinked at her. “Of course not. I wasn’t even on the front line. I stayed behind most of the enforcers, sending all the energy from my spark that I could forward to them, as we discussed. Did someone say I stepped out of my place?”
Remington ignored that question. “Where exactly did you get the idea for this plan to make use of the men who might hold demon power in the first place, Lady Hallowell?”
Rose turned to her, even more bewildered than before. “What does that have to do with anything? It was just something that occurred to me after what I saw and knowing what I do about how the Frankfords’ and their faction worked. You all told me none of our usual magic had affected it much. It seemed reasonable to think the powers of its own world might have more impact.”
“I think we need a step by step rundown of everything you recall doing from the moment you set off with the Justice force,” Lady Northcott said.
Rose’s mouth tightened, but she launched into a recitation of the drive out, the way she’d hung right at the back at first and then moved forward as the squads spread out. Her hands balled against the top of the chair back as she talked. To stop them from shaking, I realized, when a tremble slipped through anyway.
My jaw clenched. She was upset about what had happened—that encounter with the demon had obviously shaken her up—and these pricks were practically interrogating her.
They didn’t look any happier when she finished. “During the period when you moved closer to the demon, did you change the way you were casting your spell at all?” Remington said.
“No,” Rose said. “I told you everything I remember. What is it you’re trying to figure out anyway?I’dlike to know why the demon seemed interested in me. It was— It was not the most comfortable feeling I’ve ever had. Maybe if we brought in some of the enforcers who were nearby, they’d have some insight. I didn’t get the chance to talk to any of them before we all scattered for our cars to get out of there.”
The officials exchanged a glance, and that said everything. They knew something they weren’t telling her. They were trying to lead her in some direction without giving her all the information, like she was on some sort of trial. Did they really think they could get away with treating the woman who’d laid so much on the line for them like a criminal?
“We’ll speak with them later,” Lady Northcott started in a flat voice. “Right now we’d just like to know—”
I slammed my hands into the tabletop. At the bang my palms smacking the varnished wood, everyone jumped, even Rose. The Northcotts stared at me.
“No,” I said in my most menacing tone. “You’ve badgered Rose enough. What the hell is it that you know that you’re not sharing? Cough it up! Or we’re walking right out of here now. We didn’t have to come help you mop up the problemyoumade, you know.”
I looped my arm around Rose’s. “Damon,” she murmured, slightly chiding, but she reached to take my hand at the same time.
Lady Northcott’s jaw worked. “I don’t think it’s your place to make those sorts of determinations.”
Rose drew herself up straighter. “Of course it’s his place—just as much as it’s your consort’s place to stand beside you as the head of the whole Assembly. And Damon is right. You’re talking to me completely differently from before. You asked me to come here and help based on the things I’d seen. Why are you suddenly acting likeI’mone of the traitors?”
More glances around the table. All right, I was done with this bunch. I tugged Rose. “Come on, angel. Let them come find us when they’ve pulled their heads out of their asses.”
The second we took a step toward the door, Lady Northcott raised her hand. “No. Wait. I’m sorry. It’s just… It’s been difficult to wrap our heads around this.”
“Aroundwhat?” Kyler said.
She made a dismissive gesture to the enforcers, and they slipped out of the room. “We can’t be sure—” Brimsey started at the far end of the table, but Lady Northcott shook her head.
