“Out of bed at this hour?”
Her eyes narrowed. “And who will you tell, half-blood? Do you think your grandfather would be pleased to learn you were sneaking around at the same time?”
Someone wrapped their arm around my waist. I jumped, cursing inwardly. I’d been so focused on Gloria, I hadn’t noticed Pischiel creeping up behind us.
“My, my, this looks a lot like treason,” he grinned at Gloria, but I could feel the tension in the arm clamping me to his side.
Gloria’s face slowly began to drain of color. “Danica also happened to be where she shouldn’t be,” she began, and Pischiel chuckled.
“No, she wasn’t.”
As much as Pischiel annoyed me, I couldn’t deny that he could occasionally come in handy. I didn’t know what kind of game he was playing, but I needed Gloria for my plan. I hadn’t expected to find something to hold over her so quickly.
“You’d lie to your king?” Gloria had the audacity to pretend to be shocked by this.
I rolled my eyes. “Who do you think Lucifer will believe? The black witch who already betrayed her allies once, or his heir?”
Now she looked sick. I was small enough to enjoy it.
“What is it that you want from me, Danica?”
Your blood on the ground in front of me.
“It’s funny,” I murmured. “I’d planned to offer you immunity for when Samael gets here. It would’ve made me sick, of course, but I would’ve offered it to get what I want. This is much better. You don’tdeserveto dodge Samael’s retaliation. You’re now my bitch,” I informed her. “Soon, I’ll need a few specific spells. You’ll help me with those spells, and we’ll keep this little late-night meeting to ourselves.”
A branch cracked, and we all froze. Even Pischiel was tense. If we were caught, it certainly wouldn’t look good for him to be found chatting with me and the black witch.
“Decide,” I hissed.
Gloria’s eyes darted. “I won’t do anything that will risk Lucifer discovering any treachery.”
“He won’t find out.”
She hesitated, and a bead of sweat rolled down the back of my neck.
“I still want immunity.”
I laughed. “That’s just too precious.”
Her eyes burned as she glowered at me. “Fine,” she gritted out.
“Nice doing business with you.”
Pischiel and I turned, heading toward the well-lit path leading through the palace grounds. I glanced at him as a muscle ticked in his jaw. “The Spell of Three. I’m assuming Gloria placed one on herself while she was spelling the mages.”
“Yes. Lucifer believed it was prudent given she was betraying Samael.”
I waited, and Pischiel finally heaved a sigh. “Lucifer made her remove it the moment she arrived in the underworld.”
My grandfather was no dummy, and he wasn’t going to risk a Spell of Three hitting him if he lost his temper. That was good news for me, because chances were, I was going to have to kill the black witch at some point.
“Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it.”
I opened my mouth and his arm squeezed tighter around me. If a guard happened to spot us, it would look like we were two lovers out for a stroll.
“I mean it, Danica.”
