His voice when he answered was almost gentle. “Not very appealing, I know. But your other choice is to leave him to our mercies. We’ll send you a new video every day. I’ll oversee it myself, make sure he isn’t hurt enough to kill him. If his pain doesn’t move you after a week or two, we can add some sexual molestation to the mix, see if that motivates you to change your mind.”

“You motherfucking son of a-”

The phone clicked off. Hands shaking with fear and rage, I hit redial. He answered on the first ring this time.

“From now on, you’ll speak to me with respect. That outburst will cost Brian another day of fun and games in our dungeon.”

“Raphael-”

“You’ll receive another video tomorrow. I’m sure you’ll find it most entertaining.”

“Please-”

“When twenty-four hours have passed, you may call me again and we will have a civilized discussion of your terms of surrender.”

He hung up again. This time when I hit redial, my call went straight to voice mail.

CHAPTER 19

I don’t know how long I sat there hyperventilating, trying not to think about what might be happening to Brian. It was probably a long time. Lugh snapped me out of it with another icepick — through-the-eye.

“Okay, okay,” I said, “I’m going back to Adam’s. Knock it off.”

A comforting numbness stole over me, making everything seem temporarily unreal. I thanked God for small blessings, even though I knew I’d pay for it later when it all came crashing down on me again.

It was late in the afternoon, so I gambled Adam would be home from work by now, assuming the murder charge didn’t interfere with his work schedule.

Dominic answered the phone. He wasn’t happy to hear from me. “You’ve got a hell of a nerve calling here!” he snapped.

I sympathized with his feelings, but I was far too distraught to muster a good apology, and a half-assed one just wouldn’t do.

“Is Adam there?”

“No. And don’t call here again.”

He hung up on me. I considered calling back, but decided against it. Odds were he wouldn’t answer. Adam might still help me for Lugh’s sake. Dominic wouldn’t.

Hoping Adam would be there by the time I arrived, I left Brian’s condo and took a cab across town. When the cabbie dropped me off, I glanced at the parking lot across the street and was relieved to see Adam’s car there.

That relief faded quickly when I imagined facing him after what I’d done yesterday. Had it been only yesterday? So much bad shit had happened in my life in such a short time it felt like several years had to have passed.

I dragged my feet as I climbed the three steps of his stoop, butterflies flapping wildly in my empty stomach. Then I remembered what Brian was going through, remembered the fear in his kind eyes, remembered the horrifying sound of his scream. I had to do this.

I rang the bell and held my breath. The seconds ticked by like slow torture. Then Adam opened the door.

He looked at me like you’d look at a dog turd you’d stepped on in your brand-new Manolos, but he didn’t slam the door in my face. He stepped back, giving me room to come in without brushing by him.

I stepped inside and tried to remember how to breathe.

Dominic stood in the entryway. If looks could kill, I’d have been dead before I took a step.

“How dare you!” he spat.

“Dom,” Adam interrupted. “This is between Morgan and me. Go home. I’ll call you in a little while.”

The dismissal seemed to hurt, though Dominic tried to cover up the expression immediately. He strode toward the door, shoving me out of the way with his shoulder.

Adam caught him by the arm as he reached for the door. They didn’t say anything, but something passed between them, some communication that relieved the tension in Dominic’s shoulders.

Then Dominic was gone, and I was left alone with a dangerous demon who had every reason in the world to hate my guts.

“They have Brian,” I said, reaching into my bag and pulling out the hateful videotape.

Adam raised his eyebrows, a look of mild curiosity on his face.

“My boyfriend,” I clarified, and my throat tightened up. “They’re torturing him.” My voice wobbled, but I wasn’t about to let myself cry, not now. If I let go of the tight reins on my emotions, I wasn’t sure my sanity would survive.

Adam didn’t look particularly moved by my plight. Not that I expected him to be. I forced myself to meet his eyes.

“I’d say I’m sorry, but that’s so inadequate…”

“Quite,” he agreed. His was a cold, marrow-chilling anger, not like Lugh’s hot rage of last night.

“But you’re all right?” I asked. “They didn’t…find anything?”

“No.”

Okay, we were into monosyllabic answers today. I forced myself to soldier on. “They’re going to keep torturing him, send me a new tape every day until I turn myself in.”

“Which, of course, you’re not stupid enough to do, though you’re pretty monumentally stupid.”

I couldn’t help wincing, thinking I liked the mono-syllables better. I shook my head. “I don’t know what to do. I can’t let them keep hurting him. I just can’t.”

“If the alternative is giving yourself up, then yes you can. If Lugh dies-if Dougal takes the throne-your people are doomed. Not immediately, because Lugh still has supporters who will fight for you when he’s gone. But one day, Dougal will turn you all into empty vessels, with no purpose in life but to host whatever demon wants you.

“I’m a demon-hunter because I’m one of Lugh’s lieutenants. I’m here to help send as many of Dougal’s people back to the Demon Realm as possible. I’m genuinely sorry that an innocent civilian has to suffer for the cause, but the cause is more important than any one person.”

Nothing there I could argue with, though I was tempted. However, I wasn’t about to give up on Brian.

“Then I’m just going to have to find a third choice, aren’t I?”

He just looked at me, a dead, ugly stare that told me he’d definitely made the transition from disliking me to full-out hating me. I deserved it, but that didn’t make it easy to swallow.

“I have to find him,” I said. “I have to find where they’re keeping him and get him out of there.”

“And just how do you plan to do that?”

“With your help.”

He laughed, but it was a bitter, brittle laugh. “You think I’m going to help you after what you did? Woman, you’ve gone mad! I’ll shelter Lugh and do whatever it takes to help him. You, on the other hand, can go to Hell.”

He grabbed my arm and started dragging me toward the stairway.

“I promise I’ll stop by every couple of days to feed you,” he said as I stumbled along behind him. “ Lugh won’t let you starve to death, but I doubt he’ll be able to do much about your discomfort. Such a shame.”

“Adam, please-”

“Shut the fuck up, Morgan.” We’d reached the stairs. He took them two at a time. I was practically airborne in my attempt to keep up.

“Brian doesn’t deserve to suffer for my sins!” I cried.

Adam didn’t answer me-why should he care what happened to a complete stranger when his king’s life was at stake? Certainly he didn’t care about the pain Brian’s capture was causing me. We’d reached the top of the stairs. The door to the black room stood gaping open like the mouth of Hell. My stomach did a back-flip. Adam wouldn’t help me out of the goodness of his heart, but I knew with a sickening certainty what might tempt him to change his mind.

“What if I gave you my consent?” I choked out as he dragged me past the black room.

He came to an abrupt stop, turning to face me. “What?”

“You said once you wanted to hurt me, and you said you needed consent.” My voice shook, and I doubted there was a drop of blood left in my face. I had to focus on saving Brian. I couldn’t let myself think about what I was offering. “So what if I consent? Will you help me find Brian?”