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Ira took a deep, fortifying breath.

“You’ve got this,” Wolf said, rubbing his hands up and down Ira’s arms. “Just let her talk. Let her make her stupid threats. Let her feel like she’s got us right where she wants us.” His crimson eyes cut toward Talon, darkening with intent. “But if she lays a fucking hand on him…”

“I’ll sever it from her arm and feed it to her,” Talon promised. “Consequences be damned.”

“Gross,” Ira breathed, but it was nonetheless reassuring. He didn’t want Lilith to lay a hand on him, either.

Wolf passed a hand down his back, and then hummed. “You’re sweating.” He stroked up and down his spine, where his shirt was damp.

“Wellyeah,” he said. “I hate this. I’lldo it, but I hate it.”

At Wolf’s conflicted look, he held up a stern finger.

“Do not offer to do anything to make this goaway. I’m not putting you in harm’s way. I’m doing this, and when the time comes, she’ll know exactly how I feel about what she did to you.”

Wolf smiled, small and pleased. Talon’s dark eyes glimmered like starlight, and Ira felt as though he’d impressed him with his conviction.

He sucked down one more breath, and nodded. “Okay. I’m ready. Let’s go.”

Talon fell into step with him around the bar and toward the back corner where the black door waited to swallow them like a hungry beast.

“You said she’s not a problem in the future,” Talon said, quiet and careful, like he was afraid of being overheard.

Ira nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

“Focus on that. Try to keep calm. But if you’re afraid, that’s fine. She’ll want you to be. She’ll expect you to be. It might even be better for you if she thinks she has you under her thumb.”

“I know.” Yes, there would be a time in the future when things were better, but it was hard to remember that when Lilith was very much a problem in the present. His heart pounded, and his palms were damp as he opened the door and slowly ascended the black stairs.

He knocked on the closed office door, glancing nervously at Talon, who gave him a encouraging nod.

“Come in,” a smoky voice called, and he pushed the door open.

Lilith was beautiful, like a porcelain Cleopatra sitting on a black leather throne. Her glossy black hair was long, falling past her shoulders. Her lips were the same ruby red as her eyes, and her long fingernails were solid black, stark against her pale, delicate-looking fingers.

“Idon’t believe I requested to see a leviathan,” she drawled. “You can go, Talon.”

“I can, but I won’t,” Talon said, sweeping the door shut behind him. “And you didn’trequestto see the prophet, either. You threatened Wolf.”

Her expression cooled. “He shouldn’t have told me no.”

“You should’ve minded your business. What he does with the human doesn’t concern you.”

“He’s my bartender.”

“I’m here now,” Ira said, cutting the argument off before it could escalate. “You wanted to see me, so I’m here.” He hesitated, then asked, “Whydid you want to see me?”

She smiled, and it reminded him of the Cheshire cat. Gleaming white teeth in the relative darkness of her dimly lit office. “Sit, little prophet. I have some questions for you.”

“I’m not a fortune teller,” he said as he sat with a sigh. Talon hovered behind him, and he’d never been so grateful to have a monster at his back. “I can’t give you specific answers about what the future holds.”

“Did I say I had questions about the future? I am very old, young human. If there is anything I’m certain of, it’s the passage of time and my place within it.” She didn’t stand from her seat at the desk, which set him at ease. The further away she stayed, the better.

“Then what?”

She tapped her chin with a glossy black fingernail. “You and the halfling. Why?”

He flushed. “I don’t know exactly.”

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