“She must’ve found something good. Probably in their library.”
“You’ve got a man on the inside. I like it.”
I grinned and got to my feet. “See you around, Mere.”
Since the Mage Council facility was so close, I considered walking, but Cara had made it clear she wanted me there fast. I pinched the bridge of my nose as I started my car. All I wanted to do was crawl into bed next to Samael and sleep for about sixteen hours. This better be worth it.
The Mage Council was quiet as I made my way into the lobby, holding my hand above the spelled water that served as the Council’s ID checkpoint. It glowed green, and I strolled toward the elevator, once again thankful that Keigan had put me on his guest list.
Cara was waiting for me in her office.
“Hey, what’s going–”
Movement out the corner of my eye made me turn but I wasn’t fast enough to duck. Searing pain slammed into my temple, and the ground hit me in the face.
25
Danica
Isat on the floor in the entrance of Cara’s office, my wrists wrapped in Naud chains. Thick links connected them together, giving me limited movement with my arms.
My connection to Samael was gone. My powers, gone.
My patience? So gone.
Bruce stood by Cara’s side, his expression victorious.
“You’re fucking dead,” I told him, and his expression turned blank.
Cara glanced at him. “Stop scaring Bruce,” she told me as she pulled her gun.
Cara wasn’t particularly powerful. But the gun in her hand made all the difference when I was wrapped in Naud chains.
“What the fuck are you doing? I thought you were my friend.”
She nodded. “Iamyour friend.”
“Then why would you do this?”
“You know why I joined the Mage Council.”
“Yeah, so you could be the first female on the Council itself. So what?”
“So what? A few months ago, Albert told me I needed to stop talking about it. Stop giving women hope and do my job. He said there was no way a woman would be joining the Council. Not in my lifetime, and certainly not in his.”
She wasn’t looking at Bruce, so she missed the sneer of agreement on his face.
I gaped at her. “So this is some kind of twisted revenge?”
She shook her head. “A week later, a demon approached me outside my apartment. One I hadn’t seen before. He said Lucifer had an offer for me. He’s giving me a position in his court. I’ll be sitting next to you when you take your throne in the underworld.”
I gaped at her. “Are you high? Lucifer will kill me.”
“He doesn’t want you dead. He wants you to join him.”
“You got played, Cara. You take me to the underworld, and we’re both dead.”
“Your grandfather is a reasonable man. I looked into that prophecy. Youcankill him, sure. That doesn’t mean you have to. He’s got no family, and the underworld is lacking the kind of power you can wield.”
