My eyes filled with tears, but I embraced the pain, taking my mind back to the feeling of waking up in his bed with the demon watching over me. I’d woken angry, but beneath it, I’d wondered what would happen if Samael had lain down next to me. Had dropped the book from his lap and…
I focused on the book. He’d had it open on the first page, but I’d known even then that he hadn’t been reading. No, he’d been watching me. Likely preparing himself for my hostile words.
“I can feel it,” I said, and my eyes popped open. As soon as I let the memory go, I could no longer feel one of the books with us, though. I slammed my eyes closed and pulled up the memory again, focusing on the hint of power I’d felt even though I’d been lying several feet from the book.
With my eyes closed, I pointed. Evie’s steps sounded on the wooden floor, and then she sighed. “You’re pointing at the wall, Dani.”
“It’s there. I know it is.” And the more I talked, the less I sensed the book. I ground my teeth and focused again.
Then I slowly began to walk toward where I could feel the book. Evie grabbed my arm, steering me around the boxes on the floor. I ran my hands over the smooth wall. Then I paused. “It’s right here.”
I opened my eyes. Evie glanced between me and the wall. “I believe you.” She contemplated the wall some more. Then she took a deep breath and lifted one hand. Gold light shot from her hand like a blast of water from a firehose, cutting into the wall. Her jaw clenched at the effort as she directed the light until she’d cut out a hole large enough for me to reach in and grab the book.
“Samael’s going to lose his mind when he finds out this has been in Durham the whole time.”
Evie shot me a grin. “Let’s go.”
We ran back down the stairs and through the ward. It felt like pushing through glue—a clear sign that whoever created it was close.
But not close enough. We climbed into the car, and I passed Evie the grimoire. “Can you keep this safe?”
She nodded, lifting her hand to finger wave at the fae who appeared on the street in front of us. She shoved the book down the side of the seat and wound down her window.
“Can we help you?”
The seelie stared at us with narrowed eyes the color of sapphires. “State your business.”
“Just out for a drive. You’re going to want to get out of our way before the demons arrive, though.”
The seelie glanced at me, recognition tightening the muscles in his cheeks. He knew we were up to no good, but he also didn’t want to piss off the demons. He stepped aside, stalking toward the house. I had no doubt that he’d find the mess we’d left in the attic, including the hole in the wall, but by then we’d be long gone.
Tension made my muscles ache, and I let out a long, slow breath as we finally left Hope Valley.
“I wish Harriette were alive.” Evie’s expression was pure wrath, and it was obvious she mostly wanted her alive so she could interrogate her. Right now, I was feeling the same.
But the sun was going down, which meant it was time to make the final preparations for the counter spell that was Samael’s only hope. Evie seemed to realize where my thoughts had gone, because she reached out and squeezed my hand where it was clenched around the steering wheel. “We’ll figure this all out later,” she said. “Now it’s time to save your demon.”
“I’m glad you’re here.”
“I am too.”
24
DANICA
Time crawled.
I paced, wrung my hands, checked in with every single person who would be part of the plan—multiple times—and generally made a nuisance of myself. By the time we needed to leave, I was ready to crawl out of my own skin.
The atmosphere was grim as the demons strode into Samael’s room and picked up the mattress, carrying it out through the open sliding doors.
Sathanas refused to look at me. I had a feeling he blamed me for Samael’s current condition. But he’d shown up.
Asmodeus nodded at me, then quickly glanced away. We all knew this was our one shot. I was banking everything on this.
My eyes met Bael’s, and he gave me a reassuring nod as he stepped out of the cabin, holding his corner of the mattress steady.
“You’ve got this,” he told me. I took a deep breath and attempted a smile. Vas stepped up next to me.
