“Good boy,” Adam said with a sneer.
Tommy didn’t seem to like that much. He snarled, baring his teeth.
“Behave,” Raphael said, holding up the stun belt trigger.
Tommy suppressed the snarl and struggled up into a sitting position. “You’re all going to fry for this,” he said, setting his face into a petulant expression that was probably one of the human Tommy’s favorites. “I’m a legally registered demon, and you can’t—”
“You’re the one locked in my room with a stun belt around your waist.”
Tommy seemed about to retort, but then it must have occurred to him that if we were all so blatantly breaking the law it must mean we thought it didn’t matter.
“You’re going to exorcize me,” he said, sounding stunned. He looked at me, eyes wide. “You’re going to jail for the rest of your life for this!”
“No one here’s going to jail,” Adam said. “You’re going back to the Demon Realm, though.” Tommy started. “Yes,” Adam confirmed, “everyone here already knows exorcism doesn’t kill us.”
Tommy’s lip curled again. “If you know it’s not going to kill me, then you know I’ll be back someday and kill everyone here.”
“You can try. You might find it a little harder than you imagine. But that’s beside the point. What’s important is that you can either go back quickly and painlessly, or you can go back after I’ve shown you what an amateur you are at inflicting pain.”
Tommy’s eyes narrowed. “And what would I have to do to get this quick and painless exorcism?”
“Tell us who has the children and where they are.” Tommy’s jaw dropped, and those narrowed eyes widened. “Children? What children?” Then he suddenly screamed and collapsed.
It took me a second to figure out what had happened, but when I did I turned to look over my shoulder at Raphael, who was smiling as his finger hovered over the trigger.
“Should I give you another jolt just for fun?” he asked. “Don’t lie to a liar. We’re far too good at picking up each other’s tells.”
All Tommy could do at the moment was glare. The electricity fucks up a demon’s control of the nervous system so badly they’re essentially helpless. Unfor tu nately, it meant his tongue wasn’t functioning too well, either, so we had to wait until he’d recovered before we could get anything but drool out of him.
Eventually, he regained control and managed to sit up again. There was a glint of fear in his eyes, but his face was set in stubborn lines. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said.
Adam held up his hand in a gesture obviously meant to stop Raphael from zapping Tommy again. “If we have to wait ten minutes for him to recover every time, this is going to take all night,” he said. “Just zap him if he tries anything.”
“Sure thing, boss,” Raphael said dryly.
Adam paid no attention to him, instead piercing Tommy with a look that should have left him bleeding. “If you think the stun belt hurt, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Now, would you like to reconsider your answer?”
Tommy firmed up his resolve, getting that stubborn, mulish expression on his face once more. I tensed, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dominic tense, too. Neither one of us wanted to see whatever Adam was going to do now. We both stood with our arms crossed over our chests. I seriously considered not watching, but that seemed like cowardice, especially when I had guilted Dom into being here.
I held my breath as Adam casually reached for Tommy. I had no idea what he was going to do.
And I didn’t get to find out, because, before he laid a hand on Tommy, there was the distinctive pop of a Taser, and Adam went completely limp.
CHAPTER 24
It was Raphael who’d Tasered Adam. Why was I not surprised? Raphael seemed to make a habit of Tasering his allies.
It was only by force of will that I was able to sound relatively calm. “I’m having déjà vu,” I said to Raphael as Dom rushed to Adam’s side. “This is the part where you change sides again, isn’t it?”
He smiled at me. “No. This is the part where we cut through the bullshit and get this over with in something less than five years.” He put the Taser away. He was still holding the trigger for the stun belt, so Tommy wasn’t going anywhere, though I’m sure he must have been enjoying this evidence of dissension in the ranks.
Dominic, after confirming that Adam wasn’t injured, took a menacing step toward Raphael. I grabbed his arm, but he was a lot bigger than me, so I wasn’t stopping him if he was determined to play macho man. It wasn’t typical behavior for him, but he was as capable of going Tarzan as anyone when his lover was hurt.
Raphael snorted. “Trust me, Dominic. You don’t want to start something with me.”
“Come on, Dom,” I said, pulling on his arm. “Let’s not make this any worse than it already is.” I noticed suddenly that Lugh hadn’t made an effort to surface, which he usually would have done the moment there was even the slightest hint of danger. I wondered if that meant he knew where Raphael was going with this and didn’t object. I hoped so.
Raphael turned to Tommy once more. “We haven’t been properly introduced. My name’s Andrew Kingsley, and I used to host Raphael.” Tommy’s face paled at the mention of Raphael’s name. “Let me lay it out for you simply. These folks,” Raphael said, jerking his thumb in our general direction, “may be badasses in the torture department, but I make them look like pussycats. Raphael taught me everything he knows, as it were. And as you’re probably aware, he knows a hell of a lot. Dominic, do you have a fire extinguisher in your kitchen?”
“What the—”
“Just answer me!” Raphael snapped.
Dom’s olive skin had paled more than I would have thought possible. “Yes.” Of course he did—his kitchen was practically professional grade, except for the pedestrian appliances that came with the house.
“Get it.”
Dom looked to me for confirmation. I nodded, and Dom hurried out.
“Now,” Raphael said, turning his attention to Tommy once more, “you might be wondering why I need a fire extinguisher. Let me clear that up for you real fast.” Still holding the stun belt trigger in one hand, he fished a flask out of his pocket. Man, he’d really loaded up for this. You could tell he’d worked in a lab before, because he had no trouble twisting the cap off the flask with one hand.
Smiling evilly, Raphael blew over the mouth of the flask, spreading the distinctive scent of gasoline throughout the room. I’d thought Dominic was pale; Tommy looked like he was auditioning for a part as an albino.
Dominic returned to the room, fire extinguisher in hand. His face went from white to green when he sniffed the air.
“You might want to get Adam out of the way,” Raphael said. “We don’t want him getting singed.”
Please, God, let this be a bluff. Only I knew Raphael too well. He wasn’t bluffing. I could see it in his eyes, and I bet Tommy could, too.
Dominic looked like he wanted to argue, but one look from Raphael banished whatever he’d been about to say. He put down the fire extinguisher, then grabbed Adam under the arms and pulled him away from Tommy.
“I’m sure if they thought they could take me, Morgan and Dominic would try to stop me from lighting you,” Raphael said to Tommy. “Adam would even have been able to do it, but he’s not available to come to your rescue just now. So here’s the deaclass="underline" you tell me where those children are, who’s holding them, and how many of them there are, and I’ll let Morgan exorcize you.
“Otherwise, I start toasting marshmallows and lead Dominic and Morgan in a rousing rendition of ‘Kumbaya.’ Which would you prefer?”
Tommy didn’t answer immediately. I think he was on the verge of hyperventilating. It seemed he hadn’t been prepared to face threats of death.
Raphael splashed some gasoline out of his flask onto Tommy’s lap. Tommy yelped and tried to get away, but Raphael held up the trigger.