She looked up at him. Close, so close she hardly dared to breathe. The first time she met him, she’d thought it was like being swallowed whole. There had been nothing, in that moment, but the man, the devil looking down at her, and she’d had no sense of when it would end. Or how. I could drown watching him, she thought. I could do something foolish.
More foolish, the little voice added.
“And Bryseis Kakistos,” he said, taking her face in his hands, “would gladly let her devil rot in the Hells.”
It’s a thousand times more terrifying to kiss Lorcan. It would be, she thought. Like that first dip into the fount of the Hells’ power. Like falling into darkness.
“I’ll try,” she whispered.
“If anyone can manage, it’s you.” Something in his expression softened, seemed almost human. “I suspect,” he said, “that’s more than true. There is not another soul on any plane who cares even a little if I die. No one but you, darling.”
Tears sprang to her eyes. She turned her cheek into his hand, so she couldn’t see him. So the breadth of his burning palm pressed against her face. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m so tired. And I know, Sairche’s bound to find me, to find us-”
Lorcan let go of her face, and she pressed her lips shut. “You need to take this.” He took off the pendant he wore and pressed it into her hand. “It will keep Sairche from finding you. Don’t ask what it is, just keep it safe. You can hand it back once you’ve solved the problem of how to keep her from finding me too.”
She took the strange charm, a nine-tailed scourge with copper beads at its tips, and wiped her eyes with her other hand. “I don’t want to send you back.”
“Much as I’d love to tell you not to,” Lorcan said, “it’s for the best.” He hesitated. “I may have an idea. Will you cast this again? In a day, no later?”
Farideh nodded. “I have the components for once more. But after I need to find a source of silver. And down here …” She swallowed-such a stupid thing to say when he might never come back to her.
“Well, you’ll just have to make sure you only need the once. Good luck, darling.”
“Yes,” she managed. “Thank you.”
Farideh hardly considered what she was doing before she’d already done it. Only the barest of seconds unfurled with the recognition that she was being an utter, utter fool-then she kissed his cheek, close enough to brush the corner of his lips, one hand on the opposite side of his beautiful face. He froze. Her brow resting against his temple, she shut her eyes tight, so that she wouldn’t have to see his expression.
One arm slid around her waist.
“Please,” she whispered, “be careful. I can’t … I can’t lose-”
“Oh gods’ books.” Farideh broke off and turned to see Dahl, standing at the edge of the shelves with a bare sword in his hand and a horrified look on his face.
Twenty feet from where Dahl stood, there was a devil in the library. Worse, the creature clearly had Farideh entranced. Dahl started forward, pacing around the devil, looking for a weak point. It hadn’t noticed him-with luck it wouldn’t until he was close enough to pull Farideh out of reach. He kept his eyes on her, ready to drop the sword and dive forward if-
He heard her breath hitch, and she darted forward, pressing her lips to the creature’s cheek. Dahl stopped in his tracks.
Over her shoulder, the devil’s nightmare black eyes met Dahl’s, and narrowed. One arm snaked around her waist-possessive or protective or-
“Be careful,” she whispered. “I can’t … I can’t lose-”
“Oh gods’ books,” Dahl said. Farideh turned, and her eyes went wide-with surprise, with horror, with what he couldn’t have said.
“Karshoj,” she said. “Gods. Damn it.” She let go of the devil. The devil did not let go of her. “Wait, Dahl. Put the sword down.”
“You called a stlarning devil,” he said, still shocked, still dumbfounded. She all but told you this was what she meant to do, he thought. You should have seen that. Warlock. Tiefling. Gods. “I was so sure I’d find you in some monster’s clutches,” he said. “And instead you’re off kissing the monster.” And that-that was the polish on the whole mess. He’d had to stumble in on some bizarrely intimate moment.
She turned red as hot irons and shoved the devil’s arm off her. “It’s not what it looks like.” The devil’s wings twitched, bound by an iron pin. His dark eyes pinned Dahl to the ground.
“Where do you find all these broken holy men?” he drawled. “A cleric who can’t be counted on. A fallen paladin pouting because he can’t save you. Terrible taste, darling, or terrible luck?”
Farideh turned on the devil. “Stop it.”
“Or what?” he said. “You’ve already got me in the circle.” He glanced over at Dahl. “Are you going to do something with that sword, or do you just like holding it?”
Dahl’s grip tightened. The devil might have powers he couldn’t see, but Dahl was quick, the sword sharp. The devil was trapped in that circle. It would be better all around-
Farideh leaped over the ring of runes and put herself between Dahl and the devil. “Stop it,” she said again, this time to Dahl. “He’s baiting you. Can’t you see that?” She swallowed. “Just let me … I’ll send him off. Don’t do anything rash.”
Dahl found he couldn’t look at her. He sheathed the sword. “Fine,” he said. “But the next time you want to dally with fiends, don’t do it when I’m supposed to be watching out for you.”
The devil laughed. “I’m sure you’re watching her ever so well.”
“Lorcan, enough!” Farideh snapped. “It’s not funny.” Her voice was shaking. “Ask me to send you back.”
“You’ll call again?” he said.
“Trust me,” she answered. “Now, ask.”
The devil watched her for moments so long and taut that Dahl had to look away. “Will you send me back?”
He’d no more than spoken the words but the circle of runes burst into wild, leaping flames. The devil took on a searing, silvery light that grew and grew until, with a rush of air and magic, it overwhelmed Dahl’s eyes. Farideh flinched away.
The light faded, the runes stopped burning, and the devil was gone. Farideh held still, facing the empty circle. After a moment, she looked back at Dahl.
“I suppose you’re going to bring this up to Tam,” she said.
Dahl shook his head, at a loss. He’d have to. What would happen if the silverstar found out and Dahl hadn’t told him? She was putting herself in peril-putting all of them in peril by calling down devils.
“He’s not …,” she started. “It’s complicated. He’s not that bad.”
That was it. “You’ll pardon me if I don’t take your word on it. There are Shadovar at the doors, by the by. You might want to follow me.” Dahl turned on his heel and stormed back toward the camp, not caring much if she followed. It was one thing to run off (you told her to run off, he thought), another to dabble with the Hells (you knew she was a warlock, he thought), but he was not going to stand there while she tried to tell him he ought to get to know her devil better.
The sound of footsteps came out of nothing, as if several people had suddenly materialized in the long aisle behind him, striding purposefully his way and making an absurd amount of noise. Dahl held his sword ready and turned cautiously toward the sound.