Page 11 of The Devil's Trials

“Not a problem,” Blake says, and I have to stop myself from shooting him a look. His breezy response offers the illusion it’ll be easy to gather a group of demons I can trust and who will want to stand with me. His confidence in that is much stronger than mine. There are bound to be demons who judge me for killing Lucia. She had a vast collection of devoted followers. Those who are certain to see me as a monster. Someone unfit to rule. And perhaps I am. Maybe killing Lucia is proof that I’m no better than she was.

“Very well,” Rupert says, and I don’t miss the flicker of suspicion in his eyes. “You are dismissed.”

I turn to leave with Blake at my side. My heart thumps against my ribs with each step through the empty house, and I don’t stop moving until we get to the car. Blake says nothing until we’re far away from the property.

“Care to tell me what revelation you had back there, mate? You froze the second Dominic asked you why you killed Lucia and then you got this look like you’d seen her fucking ghost.”

I shake my head, my chest constricting as my lungs struggle to fill with air. “Camille,” I force out.

“Is fine,” he says, glancing toward me. “She—”

“Camille was my soulmate.”

In seconds, Blake pulls off the road and slams the gearshift into park. “I’m going to need you to say that again because there’s no shot I heard you correctly.”

I sigh. “You did.”

He blinks, the utter shock on his face nearly laughable if the situation wasn’t what it is. “Fucking hell, Xander.”

“But you—”

“I know.”

“This can’t—”

“I know,” I all but growl at him.

He blows out a breath, turning his attention forward again. “Do you think she knows?”

My stomach drops at the thought. “I don’t think so. Even if she felt what I did when everything happened, she wouldn’t think that. Why would she?”

Blake presses his lips into a thin line for a moment. “Right.” He glances sideways at me. “Where do we go from here?”

I rake my fingers through my hair. “Wherever we can find a group of demons just crazy enough to agree to be on my council, I guess.”

He exhales a short, hollow laugh that lacks any real humor. “We’ll figure it out, mate.”

I nod, drumming my fingers on my thighs as I stare out the windshield.

“What’s that look?”

I cut a sideways glance at him. “What look?”

His eyes narrow. “You’re going to do something stupid, aren’t you?”

I offer a short laugh. “Probably.”

“Xander—”

“I want to see her.”

Blake blinks at me. “No good can come of that. Not to mention getting anywhere near her, especially right now, is reckless as shit.”

“You’re right.”

His brows knit, and he mutters, “Bloody hell.” Sighing deeply, he gets back on the road, shaking his head. “We need to figure out the safest way to pull this off that doesn’t end with either of us on the sharp end of a dagger.”

I nod, adjusting my seat to lean back a bit. “Still sure you want to stick by my side?”

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