I shook my head at that. “He goes down, I go down with him.”
A muscle ticked in Pischiel’s jaw, but he nodded.
I took a deep breath, stalking toward the window. “How do I get Kyla and Keigan out of the dungeons?”
“You don’t. Lucifer is the only one with the keys to the cells. He keeps them in his bedroom. Even if you freed your friends, you’d never get the cuffs off them. Your mage friend would have no powers, and the werewolf still wouldn’t be able to shift. They’d be hunted and brought back before they made it to the palace gates.”
I chewed on my lower lip. I couldn’t just do nothing. There had to be some way…
“Watch for the maid,” Pischiel muttered. “She’s—”
“A spy. I know. I knew when she attempted to convince me to remove my bracelet.” And yet I had my suspicions…
He smiled at that. “Whoever gave you that ugly thing is a force to be reckoned with. Gloria couldn’t remove it. I couldn’t remove it. And when Lucifer tried? It burned his hand.”
I gaped at him, and his smile widened. For a moment, it was as if we were on the same team.
I shook that off. “You tried to make me remove it when I didn’t have my memories.”
Pischiel’s shrug was elegant. “I follow orders, Danica. But now you’re back. Whatever you do, don’t take that ugly thing off.”
He nodded at me and stalked out. I gazed down at where Samael’s family’s bodies had been displayed. Where his tiny sister had been murdered. I had to believe that everything we’d done so far had been for a reason. That we’d finally kill Lucifer and take his throne. I refused to believe anything different.
9
SAMAEL
Istood in the conference room, surrounded by my people. This was the third briefing of the day, and I tamped down my impatience. Even I could see the toll this was taking on both the demons and the wolves as we prepared for war.
Meredith sat next to Vas, although she ignored him as if he were invisible. Vas, to his credit, didn’t seem to mind. He’d insisted on the witch staying at the tower, and she, in turn, had insisted on attending every meeting. So far, she ran errands, got coffee, and chimed in with her thoughts when the discussion turned to strategy.
Steve pushed his chair away from the table and stood. As usual, his clothes were rumpled, although now it looked as if he had been sleeping in them for a week. He took his glasses off as I waited and wiped them on his shirt. Then he sighed, huffed a breath on them, and cleaned them once more.
He’d always been one of the few humans I could tolerate for longer than a handful of seconds, but today he was trying evenmypatience.
“Speak,” I growled.
“We are monitoring almost every portal to the underworld. Each has a camera located nearby, so we can keep track of their comings and goings.”
“I’m aware.”
Steve slid his glasses on once more and Bael glanced at me, likely reading the impatience on my face. I would regret it if I killed this human, and more importantly, my little witch might never forgive me.
“Some of Lucifer’s demons are crossing for just a few minutes at each time, staying close to the portal.”
“Why are they crossing? What are they doing?” Bael asked.
Steve smiled. “There’s no Wi-Fi in the underworld.”
“So?”
“So each time they step through the portal, they use a laptop or phone.”
Mammon angled his head. “Lucifer hasn’t bonded to any demons in this realm, but that doesn’t mean they’re not sympathetic to his goals. While many in this country would consider Samael to be their true king, the world is much bigger than the United States. There are demons close to many portals across the globe.”
Evie frowned. “So Lucifer needs a way to contact them. To rally them and prepare them for war. Why doesn’t he use a black witch like we did with Hannah?”
“Communicating through realms is extremely difficult. Your witch allowed us to speak to three of our spies.” Mammon said. “Lucifer will be attempting to convince thousands of demons to fight for him. In this, he’s decided he may as well use human technology. One mass email or text at a time, and he can keep them updated, can send his propaganda.”
