He gasped, and from that I knew he’d heard my message. Adam’s phone began to ring just as the elevator doors opened. Lugh stepped inside.

“You can’t mean that!” he objected.

You know I do. And, because there was no corner of my mind he couldn’t see into, he did. I’ll find a way to get back in control eventually, even if you decide to toss me in that oubliette again. Do you want to be at war with me as well as with Dougal?

He shook his head. “Why?” he asked. “Why do this over a request you don’t even know if Adam and Dominic will honor?”

Why ask questions when you already know the answers? But in case you need me to verbalize it—it’s because I have to take a stand somewhere, sometime. This is where I’m drawing the line in the sand.

“Hello?” Adam said, and Lugh didn’t immediately respond.

“Perhaps I should have put you directly in the oubliette after all,” Lugh muttered very softly.

“What?” Adam said. “Morgan? Are you all right?”

Lugh made a soft growling sound that my throat shouldn’t have been able to make. “Actually, it’s not Morgan, it’s Lugh.”

Even without a body, I felt as if I were holding my breath, nervously waiting to see which path Lugh would choose. I didn’t want to be at war with him, but that decision now rested firmly in his hands.

“Morgan was just attacked in the basement of her apartment building,” Lugh said, and I mentally breathed a sigh of relief. “She wasn’t hurt too badly, and I don’t dare heal her injuries since her attackers got away. However, she should make a police report, and you should be the one to take her statement.”

“Of course. I’ll be right over.”

“And, Adam?”

“Yes?”

“Morgan has a request from me that I’ve tasked her with making. I’ll allow her to phrase it however she wants, but don’t leave her apartment until she conveys the request. Understood?”

“Er. . yeah, I guess.”

“Very well. We shall see you soon.”

Lugh hung up just as the elevator doors opened on my floor. He stepped out into the hallway. “I hope you will consider that a fair compromise,” he muttered.

I wasn’t sure what I thought about this “compromise” yet, so I didn’t answer.

Lugh let himself into my apartment, dropped the laundry basket by the door, and drove my body to the couch. He sat down, and then suddenly my entire body ached and throbbed, and nausea roiled in my stomach.

With a groan, I lay down on the couch and clutched a throw pillow over my face, blocking out the light in hopes that it would ease the pounding in my head.

CHAPTER 16

Eventually, I hauled myself off the sofa and headed for the kitchen to make up an ice pack for my aching head. My left eye was on its way to swelling shut, and any motion of my jaw sent fingers of pain stabbing throughout the side of my face. Holding a baggie full of ice to my eye, I made my way to the bathroom and downed three ibuprofen. I didn’t think it would help a whole lot, but it couldn’t hurt.

I’d taken a lot of physical abuse since I’d begun hosting Lugh, but most of the time he’d been able to heal the damage so that the suffering didn’t last terribly long. But this beating he hadn’t healed, and I understood why. No one was supposed to know I was possessed, so I couldn’t miraculously turn up uninjured after I’d taken a thumping like that. I cussed him out for it anyway. Hey, pain makes me grumpy.

I’d gone back to lying on the couch, moving the ice pack back and forth between my eye and my cheek, when the front desk called to let me know Adam had arrived. The walk from the couch to the door seemed to take forever, and my face throbbed to the beat of my heart. I detoured to the kitchen to dump the ice, which was mostly melted by now anyway, before opening the door to let Adam in.

“Wow,” he commented as soon as he saw me. “You look like shit.”

I scowled and tried not to slam the door behind him. “Thanks. Your compassion knows no bounds.”

He laughed, and I seriously considered decking him just to vent a little of my frustration and fury. But no, I was bruised and battered enough already. The last thing I needed was to start a fistfight with Adam.

“Tell me what happened,” he said as we sat on opposite ends of the couch.

I did. I wasn’t able to give much of a description of my attackers. Short, squat, powerfully built, with blah-brown hair and no identifying marks. At least, none that I’d been able to see while I was being pummeled. It wasn’t a whole lot to go on.

“I’ll check with building security,” Adam promised. “See if I can figure out how they got in. One assumes they aren’t residents.” I gave him a sour look, but didn’t comment. “Do you have a theory on who they were?” he asked.

I shrugged. “I assume they’re in league with Brewster.”

Adam looked thoughtful. “Maybe. But let’s keep an open mind. Who else has reason to want you to leave Brewster alone?”

My stomach did a backflip as an unpleasant possibility came to mind. “I had dinner with Claudia Brewster tonight. She was suddenly very anxious for me to butt out. She wouldn’t confirm or deny it, but I’m sure someone must have threatened her.”

Adam didn’t look any happier with that idea than I was. “I’m not sure she has the connections to hire a rent-a-thug on such short notice, but she certainly has the money. Anyone else been bugging you about the case?”

“Well, there’s you.”

He grinned. “Love, if I wanted you roughed up, I’d do it myself.”

I was too miserable to work up a good retort, so I settled for a dirty look. “There’s also Raphael,” I said. “Maybe he wasn’t as forthcoming with me as he claimed. Maybe there’s more to the Houston project than he was willing to admit, and he wants me to stay out of it.” I bit my lip, remembering my last conversation with him. “He did tell me to back off. He claimed it was because it was a hopeless cause, but maybe he had other motives.”

Adam looked grim. “I suppose that is a possibility. Damn, that guy is a pain in the ass.”

I had other, less charitable ways to describe him, but I’d voiced my opinion on the subject plenty of times already. “Is there any point in questioning him?”

“Doubtful. I don’t think he’s going to come clean if he’s the guilty party, and if he’s not, he could be offended.”

I snorted. “Like I care about offending him!”

“Your brother might care.”

I winced at the reminder. I might not be able to convince myself whose side Raphael was on, but one thing I did know—he wouldn’t hesitate to hurt Andy to punish me if I pissed him off too much.

Adam folded up the little notebook he’d been jotting notes in and tucked it into an inner pocket in his jacket. It would have been nice if he’d forgotten all about Lugh’s little “suggestion,” but of course, he hadn’t. “So,” he said, his voice conspicuously neutral, “what’s the request Lugh wants you to make?”

I swallowed a groan, hopefully before any sound left my throat. I did not want to do this. And I wasn’t sure if this could technically be considered a compromise, seeing as Lugh and I hadn’t agreed on the terms before he’d taken matters into his own hands. Unfortunately, my options were limited in the extreme. Despite the threat I’d made earlier, I really, really didn’t want to be at war with the demon who possessed me. My life was tough enough now.

I nearly jumped out of my seat when Adam’s hand came to rest on my shoulder. I’d been staring at my hands, which were clenched in my lap, but now I looked up to meet his eyes. And I saw something in his expression that I’d never seen before, at least not directed at me—concern.

“What is it, Morgan?” he asked, and damn if I didn’t feel the prickle of tears in my eyes.

I swallowed hard, taking in a deep breath and banishing that hint of tears. “Have you told Dom about your extracurricular activities yet?” I asked.