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He didn’t see me at first; he was looking for a woman, not a child.

When he did eventually see me, his face hardened. “Lana—” He grabbed my wrist roughly.

I started screaming for all I was worth. “I want mydad!” I sobbed through my screams.

Asher crouched in front of me. “Lana, fuckinglistento me. You stop this right now—”

I stopped wailing long enough to say, “I’m not getting back in that cage of yours.” My words sounded ridiculous through the child’s vocal cords.

Then I began screaming again.

His lips thinned. He spoke quickly, his voice a harsh whisper. “I won’t put you back in the cage if you behave—”

“There a problem here?” A deep voice said from behind Asher. A man stepped up to us. He looked like what the natives called a cowboy. He had friendly eyes, but right now they were boring holes into Asher.

Asher gave me a hard look, his upper lip twitching in anger. “My daughter’s just throwing a tantrum. Ignore her.” He didn’t bother turning to face the man.

“She don’t look like your daughter,” he said, spitting to the side, keeping his eyes trained on the hunter.

“Stepdaughter. You got a problem?” Asher said. And now he did partially turn, loose rocks skittering beneath his boots.

“Where’s her mother?”

“In the bathroom, asshole. Is this an interrogation?” Asher stood. “I’m so sick of you racist fucks thinking I’m some sort of pervert when I’m trying to take care of my own daughter.”

The man puffed his chest out, taking a step closer. “Now who you calling a racist?”

“Do you see anyone else out here?” Asher asked, opening his arms and making a point of looking around.

The man focused his attention on me. “Is this your stepdaddy?” he asked me.

I hesitated, weighing my options.

“You can tell me the truth,” he encouraged.

Asher stared down at me, his face unreadable. I was being offered two ways out. I could leave Asher’s side and make my way back on my own. Or I could stay with him and try to bring him back with me to Abyssos for justice, Infernari-style, which would consist of him being tortured to within a hair’s breadth of death.

But not death.

If I couldn’t kill him, then my duty was to bring him back to Primus Dominus alive. If I ran, I might avoid having to betray my people by saving himfromthem.

But abandoning him was as good as a death sentence. Azazel or another Infernarus would corner him and kill him.

No Infernarus would ever be that cavalier about repaying a life debt, and I was disgusted with myself for even considering it. I had spent too much time on Earth; their treacherous ways were rubbing off on me.

I had to stay and protect him.

That was the only thing my conscience would allow.

While I was repaying my debt, I would do everything in my power to stop Asher from killing Infernari and destroying our portals. I wasnotgoing to let my people die for this.

Asher edged behind the cowboy and, imperceptibly, his hand crept toward his holster. The threat in his eyes was perfectly clear: if I accepted this man’s help, Asher would kill him on the spot.

The man was still waiting for me to speak.

Finally, I nodded.

It was barely perceptible, but I saw Asher exhale. His hand moved away from his hip.