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The demon is worried enough about the threat Balthazar poses that he’s had his lover leave her home. That shouldn’t surprise me, but somehow the evidence that even this immensely powerful shadowkind has been shaken by recent events makes my mouth go dry.
Rollick chuckles softly at whatever Quinn says in response, and I walk on down the hall toward my guest bedroom. I spent the night in yesterday’s clothes, and I could use a change.
The demon must finish his conversation before I’ve made it far, because the floor creaks faintly behind me. “Did you enjoy your break, little banshee?”
I will down the blush that flares over my cheeks and glance over my shoulder at him. “It was good to remember how far we’ve already gotten. But now it’s time to get back to work, right?”
A bulky form materializes in the hall between us so abruptly I startle. Steel, the stout demon with the metallic scales, peers from Rollick to me with a scowl.
“What kind of work do you think that’s going to be?” he demands. “We’re hearing that you’ve been getting friendly with the mortals who made you again. The ones who wanted you tokillus.”
Oh, shit. I guess Rollick hadn’t bothered to fill all our shadowkind allies in on the new phase in our plans, only the ones he wasn’t worried about rejecting it.
I fumble for my words. “We’re not—we aren’t going to do anythingforthem. We’re just using them to get to Balthazar.” Or at least hoping that we can do that.
Steel’s eyes flash. “What do we need those idiots for? All of us here aren’t enough?” He spins toward Rollick. “You’relettingthe hybrids get cozy with the monster-murderers?”
“We’re not getting cozy!” I protest, but Rollick is already raising his hand for both of us to shut up.
He aims a level stare at the lesser demon. “I didn’t ‘let’ them. I support and encourage this plan. Why shouldn’t we let the mortals who hate us draw out the worst of their kind rather than sticking out our own necks even farther?”
Steel growls in frustration. “You’re buying into the hybrids’ story. They shouldn’t want anything to do with those bastards, not if the ones they call ‘guardians’reallytortured them so horribly like they claim.”
My hackles rise at the implication that we’ve lied about our lifelong captivity. “That torture is why we don’t have any problem manipulating them when it benefits us.”
Steel swivels back toward me. His furor has drawn the attention of others. Several more shadowkind slip into view from the shadows. Who knows how many are watching from the patches of darkness along the edges of the hall.
And it’s not just shadowkind who’ve noticed. A voice rings out from the direction of the back door. “Hey, what’s going on over here?”
Jacob stalks over to join us, his expression fierce and his gaze scanning me for injury and then the beings around us for potential threats. The other guys hustle after him, looking equally apprehensive.
Shanty steps forward with a swish of her dark blue hair. “We think there’s something odd about you shadowbloods associating with the guardians again. They should be your enemy.”
“And they still are,” I say tersely. “Pitting two enemies against each other for our own gain isn’t that bizarre a tactic, is it?”
She cuts her gaze toward me. “How can we be sure that’s your real motivation? They created you. Maybe they’re still manipulatingyouto do their dirty work.”
Rollick raises his hands. “Come on now, friends. You might be wary of the shadowbloods, but you knowme. I’m monitoring the entire situation. I haven’t seen the slightest sign that my guests are doing anything other than working to protect all of us.”
Steel lets out a huff. “That doesn’t guarantee anything. They’ve got powers as strong as ours that work on us—including you.”
Another shadowkind steps into the middle of our cluster, his hands on his hips and his eyebrows arched in an amused expression. It’s Ruse, the incubus who’s particularly close to Sorsha.
“And our powers work on them,” he says in a languid tone. “Would you feel better if I used mine to confirm their intentions?”
Zian lets out a snort he unsuccessfully tries to muffle. “You’re going to seduce us into giving up any secrets we’ve got?”
Ruse laughs. “No, I don’t think any of you would appreciate that sort of tactic. One of the skills most cubi types possess is the ability to get a read on people’s internal states—not as detailed as outright reading your thoughts, but more than just your feelings. I’ll get an impression of future hopes, past context, that sort of thing. I can do a pretty thorough dive.”
Steel shifts on his feet. “And you’ll report what you find honestly?”
Ruse’s eyebrows lift even higher. “In case you’ve forgotten, I helped Sorsha take down the jackasses who were experimenting with shadowkind since before these guardians even existed, while most of you all buried your heads in the shadows hoping the problem would go away before it ever affected you. So yes, I’ll announce it loud and clear if I see any indication that this bunch is going to conspire with our enemies against us.”
Shanty lifts her chin toward us. “If they’ll agree to it.”
Her voice holds an obvious challenge. My skin crawls at the idea of anyone rummaging around inside my head, digging deeper than even Griffin could, but refusing will obviously be seen as confirmation of their suspicions.
And it isn’t as if we do have anything to hide. Why not take this easy opportunity to show our true intentions?
