“What happened?” The question came out flat, dangerous in its calmness.
Isaac opened his mouth. Closed it. Tried again. The words stuck in his throat. He forced them out anyway, each one an effort.
“That wasn’t Danny on the phone.” He took a deep breath and continued. “Dimitri has him. Has Ash too. He said if I don’t come to Danny’s house alone, he’ll kill them.”
Whichello went completely still, the frozen immobility of a predator deciding which way to strike. The temperature in the room dropped so fast Isaac could see his breath misting in the air. Frost spread across the windows in delicate patterns that looked like frozen screams.
“You’re not going.” The quiet menace in his tone made the air itself feel dangerous to breathe. “Not alone. Not at all.”
“You can’t tell me what to do.” Isaac didn’t want to go alone, but he also wasn’t going to let his friends suffer either. “Dimitri was clear. I show up alone, or Danny and Ash die. Those were the options.”
“Then I’ll kill him before he can touch them.” Whichello moved around the couch, closing the distance between them. He was a huge guy, looking like a mountain baring down on Isaac. “I’ll tear that house apart brick by brick until I find him, and then I’ll make him beg for the mercy of death before I’m done.”
“And Danny and Ash will be dead before you get through the front door.” Isaac held his ground even as every survival instinct screamed to back away from the fury radiating off the demon. “You think he won’t have a backup plan? He’s not dumb enough to think I’ll actually come alone.”
Whichello stopped an arm's length away, close enough that Isaac could feel the cold pouring off him. His eyes had gone completely black, a void that promised violence on a scale Isaac didn’t want to imagine.
“So your plan is to walk into his trap and hope he keeps his word?” The sound of Whichello’s voice was inhuman, a low growl that reverberated in the marrow of your bones. “He already tried to assault you once. What do you think he’ll do when you’re alone with him and there’s no one to stop him?”
Isaac clenched his hands, nails biting into his palms hard enough to hurt. “I know exactly what he’ll try to do. But Danny is my best friend. The only person who’s been there for me. I’m not leaving him to die because I’m too scared to face Dimitri.”
“This isn’t about fear.” Whichello stepped closer, invading Isaac’s space until they were nearly touching. “This is about you having a death wish and trying to dress it up as heroism.”
“It’s not a death wish to try to save someone I love.” Isaac tilted his head back to meet Whichello’s gaze, refusing to back down even though his heart was trying to beat its way out of his body. “And I’m going. You can either help me or you can try to stop me, but Iwillfind a way out of this castle and get to Danny’s house whether you like it or not.”
“You think you can sneak past me?” The question came out soft, almost amused despite the rage still etched into every line of Whichello’s face. “You couldn’t find the kitchen without getting lost in passages. How exactly do you plan to escape a castle full of demons who answer to me?”
“I’ll figure it out.” Isaac’s jaw ached from how hard he was clenching his teeth. “I always do. You can lock me in this room, post a hundred guards, and I’ll still find a way. Because that’s what I do. I run, and I survive, and I don’t let the people I care about die when I could have done something.”
Whichello’s hand shot out, gripping Isaac’s arm with enough force to bruise. Not violent, but firm enough to make his point. “You’re not running anywhere. Not to Dimitri, not to some half-formed plan that ends with you hurt or dead.”
“Then come with me,” Isaac pleaded. “Not as backup, not as a rescue party. Just you. We tell Dimitri I came alone but you followed me anyway. Make it look like I tried to do what he asked.”
“That’s the stupidest plan I’ve ever heard.” But something in Whichello’s expression shifted, fury giving way to calculation. “He’ll know I’m there the moment we get close.”
“So you stay far enough back that he can’t sense you until I’m already inside.” Isaac grabbed Whichello’s shirt with his free hand, bunching the fabric in his fist. “I go in first, make sure Danny and Ash are okay, and then you come in after. He can’t kill all of us before you reach him.”
“He could kill you.” Whichello’s fingers flexed on Isaac’s arm. “That’s a risk I’m not willing to take.”
“But we won’t give him time.” Isaac pulled at Whichello’s shirt, trying to make him understand. “If we try to mobilize some big rescue operation, Danny and Ash are definitely dead. This way they at least have a chance.”
The silence stretched between them, filled only by the sound of their breathing and the frost still crackling across the windows. Whichello stared down at him with those black eyes, and Isaac stared back, refusing to look away. His arm hurt where Whichello gripped it, and his heart was still trying to escape through his throat, but he didn’t move.
“If I agree to this,” Whichello finally said, each word coming out slow and measured, “you follow my lead. No arguments, no heroics. You do exactly what I tell you.”
Relief flooded through Isaac so fast it made him dizzy. “Yes. Whatever you say.”
“And if he touches you again, if he so much as looks at you wrong, I’m ending him regardless of who else is in the room.” Whichello released Isaac’s arm, but his hand moved to cup the side of Isaac’s face instead, thumb brushing over his cheekbone. “I won’t lose you. Not for your friend, not for anyone.”
The possessiveness in those words should have rankled Isaac, should have made him pull away and argue about not being property. But all he felt was a sense of gratitude that someone cared enough to be possessive, that Whichello’s first instinct was to protect him even when it meant potentially sacrificing others.
That probably said something deeply unhealthy about Isaac’s mental state, but he’d worry about that later. After Danny and Ash were safe. After this nightmare was over.
“How long do we have?” Whichello asked, already moving toward the door.
“He didn’t say.” Isaac followed, his legs still shaky but functional. “But he has Danny’s phone, which means he’s been there long enough to get it away from him. We should go now.”
Whichello paused at the door, turning back to face Isaac with an expression that looked almost pained. “If this goes wrong, if I can’t get to you in time, I need you to know that I would burn down realms for you. Would tear apart anyone who tried to take you from me.”
