I checked that the room was empty and shut the door behind us.
“We can kill Lavius before midnight. Which means we can break that spell on Ben. And Lavius won’t be able to get his hands on the book.”
“When can we do it?”
I searched his face. He looked more like himself. His eyes still burned with pain and anger, but his body remained solidly human, his stance that of the firefighter I knew.
“Now.”
“I’m in.”
“You’ll have to leave Ben here and come with me to do it.”
“I wouldn’t let that filth here. Near him. Never again.”
Right. That made sense.
“There’s one more thing. Something that a lot of people won’t be happy about.”
He waited.
“The bite.” My fingers fluttered to my neck and his eyes flicked to that point, then back to my face. “It ties me to Lavius. And when I die, he’ll be vulnerable for a short time, mortal for long enough, we can kill him.”
He was holding his breath. I could tell because I could feel the warmth of it as he exhaled, long and slow.
“No.”
Huh. Maybe it had been more of a long shot than I thought.
“Okay. Well, I’ll let you get back to Ben.” I walked by him. His hand shot out and caught my elbow before I reached the door.
“Did you just offer to die so we can kill Lavius? Is that what you just did?”
“Temporarily die. Not like…not forever dead. You could revive me, right? You have paramedic training.”
He growled softly. “That is the most stupid…don’t do this, Delaney. Your death is not the answer. Where did you even get an idea like that?”
I didn’t say anything.
“The demon.” He sighed. “That demon isn’t to be listened to. He took your soul. Now he wants your life. He wants your pain. Remember that. He will always want your pain. Don’t kneel down and give it to him so easily.”
“I don’t. I won’t.” I wasn’t even going to try to talk him into seeing it my way. “We still have a good plan. I just thought it was worth the risk if it meant we had a faster way, a more clear line of attack. I want Ben to be better. I want Lavius out of our lives. Permanently.”
“Not like that. Not for that price.” He lowered his head until he was sure I would hold eye contact with him. “You are important too, Delaney Reed. Important to Ben and me.”
I nodded, wishing I knew what emotions I should be feeling.
He let go of my arm.
“You’re staying with Ben, right?” I asked.
“I’ll be there when Lavius comes to die. I’ll be there to watch him bleed.”
“But until then?”
“Here. Keeping Ben safe.”
“Good.” I opened the door.
