“What are we going to do?” I whispered, heart thumping.
“Wearen’t going to do anything,” Az replied through gritted teeth. “I’m taking you back to my apartment, and you’re staying there until we have a plan.”
“But—” I started.
“But nothing,” he insisted, turning to the others. “Serena is alive and well. He wouldn’t have made a bargain with her life if she wasn’t. We have time to find her and put a stop to this.”
Caim pushed up from his chair and nodded solemnly. “Someone at the party must have seen something. We’ll talk to everyone we can. Search everywhere he might have taken her.”
Phenex and Stolas joined him by the shredded map. They began murmuring amongst themselves, plotting out a route to hunt down the killer. And Serena. Heart pounding, I turned my gaze up onto Az’s shadowed face. “I want to help. I should search the streets with Caim and Phenex.”
“The best way you can help is to stay safe,” he said in a commanding voice that welcomed no argument. “Right now, he’s keeping Serena alive because he wants you instead. If he somehow got his hands on you before tomorrow night…”
The rest of his sentence was left unsaid. I knew how it ended. Gut churning, I fisted my hands. It was all I could do not to break down in tears and rip the world apart trying to find Serena.
“I hate this,” I hissed. “I don’t want to run and hide.”
He wound his arms around me and pulled me to his chest. “I know, Mia. But if we don’t play this right, both of you will die.”
* * *
We returned to his apartment while the others took to the streets. The clouds had opened up, and rain poured down on our heads, sleeting sideways from a westerly wind. I shivered in my tiny dress and swiped my drenched hair out of my eyes. When we stepped inside the quiet penthouse, Az bustled into his room and returned with the fluffy robe he’d lent me for my stay with him.
“You’re shivering. Change into this,” he demanded.
Normally, I’d bite off his nose for ordering me around, but I didn’t have the energy to do it tonight. Not with the exhaustion in my bones. Not with Serena missing. With a small smile, I took the robe, vanished into the bathroom, and quickly changed out of my wet clothes.
When I returned to the living room, he was waiting for me on the couch with a gin and tonic and a pigeon. I padded over to him and took the drink. He patted the cushion by his side as he tossed a dried kernel of corn into the air for Hendrix.
I sank into the soft sofa and downed the drink in one gulp. He shot me a raised eyebrow, but all I could do was shrug. “It’s been a long night.”
He nodded and handed me another. “I thought that might be the case. So, I made you an extra drink.”
“I’ll probably need more than one extra.” This time, I took a slower sip. Az curled his strong fingers around his own glass and watched me while I drank. The look in his eyes reminded me of that moment in the hallway. When we’d been pretending and nothing more.
I shivered.
“You’re still cold,” he said with a frown. “Do you want me to get the hot tub started? I can—”
“No.” I shook my head. “It’s okay. I’m not really cold. Anxious and worried more than anything.”
“Serena means a lot to you,” he said quietly.
I closed my eyes and leaned back into the couch, taking another sip of gin. “Serena is the best person in the entire world, and she’s the only one I trust. I don’t know where I would be if it wasn’t for her. She’s the only one who believed me about…well, you know.”
“The only one?” he asked gently.
I nodded and opened my eyes to find him gazing at me with soft concern. What a strange expression to find on a demon’s face. “Theonlyone. You’ve read the articles. It looked bad, Az. Really bad. Why would anyone believe it wasn’t me? My car. My street. On a night I was out at a party.”
“But you testified that you didn’t do it.”
“Because Ididn’t,” I said more harshly than I intended.
“Then, who did?”
I sucked in a sharp breath and glanced away. “Despite all the evidence, Serena always believed me. She never once doubted my innocence even when the rest of the world did.”
Az cocked his head, tossing another corn kernel to Hendrix. “You never told her who did it?”
