Page 113 of Demon's Bane

But I’m not going to risk it. I’m just going to try to keep him talking instead.

Shifting my wrists again, I feel the rope give a little more.

Time. I need time.

“What are you doing here?”

He scoffs. “What the fuck do you think I’m doing here?”

Over his shoulder, he gives the satchel a shake, and as the top flap is jostled, I catch the faint blue-green glow of lapilian crystal.

“Fine.Howare you here?”

“Same as you,” he tells me, nodding toward the Veil.

I shake my head. “No. Not possible. You never would have gotten past Esme’s wards on your own.”

David doesn’t answer, just smirks down at me in an expression that’s self-satisfied, smug, so damn familiar it makes my gut twist.

“You had help, didn’t you?” I guess quietly, stomach sinking even further when he says nothing to deny it.

I wonder who he got his claws into this time. I imagine someone young, like I was, gullible, trusting, saying too much to the wrong person.

“What the hell do they do to all of you at the coven hall, anyway?”

It’s not asked in a way that makes it seem like he actually wants an answer, and I don’t give him the satisfaction of providing one.

David, however, seems to be in the mood to talk.

“So eager for validation, all of you witches,” he muses, and my skin crawls at the superiority in his tone. “So ready to do anything to get a leg up on one of yoursisters.”

The image in my mind shifts and twists. Not only did he have help, but I can’t stop myself from wondering what he exchanged for it. Knowing him, and knowing what kind of foul shit he likes to cook up, maybe I don’t want to know.

David laughs to himself. “Not that you would know anything about that, would you? You never had a leg to stand on at all when it came to the coven.”

His little monologue is interrupted when Tyvar stumbles back over. He’s looking a little less green around the gills, and is apparently ready to take us back through the Veil as he stalks right past and moves to lay his hand on the stone archway.

“You’re not going to get away with this,” I shout after him. Stupid, but it’s the only thing I can think to say.

And it does the trick as Tyvar pauses and turns to me with a sneer.

“Really. And why would that be?” He takes a step closer, and I pretend to shift uncomfortably under his red gaze while pulling the knot looser.

Close. So close.

I glance from Tyvar to David to the shining light of the Veil. I’m only going to get one chance at this, and the barest threads of a plan start to weave together in my mind.

“You don’t think anyone’s going to notice I’m missing?”

Tyvar just shrugs. “Rhett’s gotten good at running from his responsibilities. What’s going to stop everyone from assumingthe two of you took off together? It’s not like Rhett will be there to say anything different.”

The words land like a blow, and panic clogs my throat at the idea of Rhett being in danger, too.

“Come on,” Tyvar says, taking me by the arm and dragging me toward the Veil. “The sooner we can get you back to your realm and tucked away somewhere, the better.”

I drag my heels in the dirt, trying to twist myself out of his grasp, and wrench my wrists hard.

“Fuck. Off.” I pant as he drags me forward, saying anything I can think of to buy me more time, just a few more seconds. “Rhett’s twice the demon you’ll ever be, and just because you’re jealous of—”