“You think Samael would have allied with the wolves?” I hadn’t had a chance to ask him last night.
“If he’d needed to. He didn’t need to. Butnowwe need to. It was the right decision, if a little hastily executed. But the mages would have poured all of their power into our tower until it fell.”
“You think they could have brought it down?”
“Our spies informed us that Albert had arranged for three other mages at his power level to land in Durham last night. Together, they would have brought that tower down. With Samael so weakened, we wouldn’t have stood a chance.”
“I brought down their building instead.”
Bael’s grin returned. “So I heard. Wish I’d seen that.”
A knock sounded at the door and Bael got to his feet, pulling it open.
“Hey guys,” Kyla looked fresh as a daisy. I tried not to hold it against her. “Coffee?”
Vas stepped into the small living room and handed her a cup. “Breakfast is ready,” he announced.
Kyla shot me a look as she glanced toward the kitchen and my lips twitched. If I could smell burning, she likely knew exactly just what to expect from Vas’s cooking.
It was food, though. Even if the toast was a little blackened and the eggs were overcooked enough to have the texture of rubber. I covered them in salt and inhaled them.
“And where are you going today?” Bael asked as I took a final gulp of coffee, then headed into the bathroom to brush my teeth.
“The Middleground.”
Shocked silence claimed the cabin. I’d expected Vas to stalk through the door, but it was Ag who appeared, his face dark.
“You think it’s wise to risk your life right now?”
“I think I don’t have a choice,” I mumbled around my toothbrush.
“You always have a choice.”
I scowled, rinsing my mouth. “Would you prefer if I sat by Samael’s bed and wrung my hands? Maybe it would be more convenient for you if I fell apart and whined that there was nothing that could be done?”
Surprisingly, the corner of his mouth curled up. I almost pinched myself, but within a fraction of a moment, his expression was blank once more.
“No. Last night was the correct decision, regardless of the implications. The mages should have known not to attempt to strike at us, no matter how weak they perceived us. But if you die…”
“Who will be in charge?”
He frowned. “Me,” he said, and a hint of distaste flickered in his eyes. At least I didn’t need to worry about Ag stabbing me in the back in a bid for power. I grinned. Nope. The demon looked appalled by the thought of ruling.
I shrugged at him. “Samael trusts you as his second. If I don’t come back, you know what to do.”
Besides, we both knew it was a lot easier to judge the person making all the decisions than it was to make those decisions yourself.
He ground his teeth. In any other circumstance, I would have enjoyed his discomfort, but if we had one thing in common, it was our love for Samael.
“Don’t take any stupid risks,” he ordered.
I just shrugged. What Ag considered a stupid risk was probably pretty similar to what I considered the price of saving Samael’s life. He heaved a sigh, turned, and stalked out of the bathroom.
“Good talk,” I called after him.
It didn’t take us long after that. My car was still at the tower, so we took Kyla’s Nissan, driving toward the Middleground’s portal.
The portal was located on the outskirts of Chapel Hill. In a strip mall. Instead of closing the mall and declaring it off-limits, the store owners close to the portal had decided it was a good way to drum up business from curious humans. There was even a gift shop selling portal-branded souvenirs at one end of the mall.
