No one said anything. I don’t know about the rest of them, but my mind was yammering at me nonstop. I could save my brother and save Tommy’s herd of broodmares all in one fell swoop. All I had to do was give up a God’s Wrath fanatic who would cheerfully burn me at the stake if he had a chance.

Brian put a comforting hand on my back, and, despite my audience, I leaned into the touch. There were so many problems I could solve just by letting Raphael take Tommy. And yet my conscience balked at it. I wanted to scream in frustration and confusion. Then Adam went and made things worse.

“There is another demon we’ve been hoping to find a host for,” he said, and I couldn’t suppress my groan.

My head felt too heavy to hold up, so I lowered it into my hands. This wasn’t fair! Sure I was a control freak, but it was only my life I wanted to control. I didn’t want to have to make life or death decisions for Andrew, or Tommy, or Dominic. And yet even with my head buried in my hands, I felt the weight of everyone’s expectations.

I don’t know whether it was merely because I was hosting Lugh, or whether it was because I was so naturally bossy, but somehow all three of these strong, decisive, confident men had handed the reins of leadership to me. How was I supposed to make a decision like this? Lugh? I pleaded. A little guidance, maybe? Of course, I didn’t hear a peep out of him. Either he, too, considered this my decision to make, or my subconscious had once again shored up my defenses.

“I seem to have missed a memo,” Raphael said, interrupting my pity party. “Who is the other demon in need of a host?”

I’d forgotten Raphael wouldn’t know about Lugh’s decision to summon Saul to the Mortal Plain. Luckily, Adam saved me the discomfort of having to explain.

“Ah,” Raphael said when he was finished. “So my brother would have both me and Saul serving on his council. Well, it certainly won’t be boring.” He answered my question before I even opened my mouth to ask it. “Let’s just say that Saul and I don’t get along and leave it at that, shall we?” Adam made a sound between a cough and a choke, and Raphael gave him a quelling look. “And because of your attachment to Dominic, you don’t wish Saul to return to him. Is that the situation?”

“Yes.”

I heard the edge in Adam’s voice, so I forced myself to sit up straight and get ready to intervene should things get ugly.

“I would have expected you of all people to put your duty above your own personal desires,” Raphael said to Adam.

I laughed. I couldn’t help it, though the laughter took on an edge of hysteria. Both Adam and Raphael glared at me. Brian, my rock, simply rubbed my back in silent support. I bit my tongue to stave off the hysteria.

“Sorry,” I said. “But you’ve gotta admit, Raphael pontificating about duty and self-sacrifice is pretty damn funny.”

Adam made a snorting sound that might have been agreement, laughter, or a burp. Raphael stuck with the death glare. Okay, so maybe it wasn’t funny to him.

“It’s not Adam’s decision anyway,” I said, meeting Raphael’s glare. “It’s Dominic’s.”

“So you would prefer to summon Saul into Tommy, when he already has a demonstrably compatible host available to him, and leave me in your brother? And here I thought you cared.”

I was about to snarl at him, but Brian startled me into silence.

“Aren’t we getting ahead of ourselves?” he asked. “Perhaps we should worry about what to do with Tommy after his demon’s been exorcized—and after we’ve figured out what to do about the children.”

Ouch. I guess I shouldn’t lecture Raphael about being self-centered after all.

Adam visibly relaxed, stepping away from the edge of battle. After a moment, Raphael did the same, and some of the weight lifted off my chest. The issue wasn’t going away, and I felt sure I would have to face it again soon. But “soon” was better than “now.”

I looked at Adam. “May I assume you agree that we’re better off handling this off the books?”

He waved a hand dismissively. “Of course.”

“And may I also assume that you’re not going to argue we need to sacrifice those kids for the greater good?”

“I don’t think the ‘greater good’ is at issue. You, of course, will stay far away from Tommy and his pals so Lugh isn’t at risk. I’ll see what I can do about finding the kids.”

I swallowed the protest that tried to crawl out of my mouth. If Adam thought I’d sit idly by and let him take care of everything, then he didn’t know me very well.

He smiled at me suddenly, his eyes glowing with a spark that had nothing to do with his demon. “I know I’ve mentioned this before, but it bears repeating. You really need to work on your poker face. You leave me with no choice but to make an executive decision. You’re going to stay here while I go have a talk with Tommy, see if I can find out where he and his friends are holding the children.”

Damn it, damn it, damn it! When was I going to learn how to control my facial expressions? I began sliding my hand to the side, though I figured the chances of me getting to my Taser, arming it, pointing it, and shooting before someone stopped me were approximately zero.

I was right. Brian grabbed my hand and gave it a squeeze. He made it look like it was just a gesture of support, but I knew he’d read me as easily as Adam had. I glanced at Raphael, wondering if there was any chance I could convince him to take my side, but that was a stupid idea. Raphael would never agree to let Lugh take any “unnecessary” risks.

I jerked my hand from Brian’s and crossed my arms over my chest. “Fine!” I said, sounding sulky even to my own ears. “I’ll sit on my ass while you go out and play hero.” Adam gave me a knowing look, and I gritted my teeth. “Don’t look at me like that. I got the point. You’re going to lock me up.”

Beside me, I felt Brian start. There was a lot he didn’t know about the water under Adam’s and my bridge. I supposed I should fill him in on some of it someday. But not now.

Raphael rubbed his hands together. “So Adam is going to play policeman, Morgan’s going to twiddle her thumbs, and I presume Brian’s going to resume his usual daily activities. Do I have an assignment, or may I follow Brian’s lead?”

Instinct told me there was something off about Raphael’s voice, but I just didn’t have the energy to think about it right now. “I doubt you want to hear the instructions I have for you,” I muttered, loud enough for everyone to hear. Raphael didn’t seem to find it as funny as the others did.

Our impromptu council meeting broke up after that. Brian had been a bit startled when he discovered Adam planned to lock me up, but instead of arguing for clemency, he offered to keep me company. I imagined it would have been fun, but I was way too surly to be in the mood for fun.

“You’ll keep her safe?” Brian inquired of Adam, which, naturally, pissed me off.

“I’ll keep my own damn self safe!”

Adam shook his head at Brian. “I can’t imagine how you could actually want to be in her presence.” Lucky for him he’d been smart enough to confiscate my Taser already.

I could have hoped that Brian would take offense that Adam was insulting me, but he just shrugged. “I can see behind the prickly exterior,” he said, then ignored Adam and fixed me with a pointed look. “Call me if there’s any news, or if there’s anything I can do to help.”

I agreed, and Brian, visibly reluctant, left.

The room Adam locked me in was right next door to the Dreaded Black Room. The door was closed when Adam led me by, and I wondered if Dominic was in there. I was too pissed off that Adam saw through me so well to ask, however. And so by lunchtime, on a day when my instincts screamed at me to act, to fight, to move, I found myself a prisoner in a comfortable little guest room with convenient iron grillwork covering the windows. Yup, another peachy day in the life of Morgan Kingsley, exorcist.