Page 29 of January Blues
“Aww, thanks, Mori.” Cody went to his dad and hugged him.
The intense emotions coming from my father-in-law were a lot to sift through. I felt his regret, likely at the missed time. The awe and affection he had for his son. There was a tinge of fear. Perhaps he thought this would all vanish in an instant. He clung to my mate for a long moment before letting go. “Let’s eat!”
We were sitting at a great table towards the back of the restaurant with a decent view of the street. It was difficult to enjoy the excellent meal because my phone kept ringing every few minutes. I’d texted Basil that I was having an important dinner and I would call him later, but it seemed he was too fucking impatient for that and kept calling.
Cody leaned over. “Why don’t you switch it off?”
“He’s using magic to dial. Switching it off won’t work.” I handed the device to him. “Maybe it’ll stop if it risks outing who he is.”
“Frustrating, isn’t it?” Damon said in commiseration with me. “My handler literally cannot say, or even write down, the witch’s name. Sweetness here figured out the human responsible for the contracts on him, but we can’t name the source.”
“It is.” I agreed. “At least now I can admit that Austin was the human that brokered the contract. He’s all yours to deal with, Damon.”
A shark-like smile flitted over his features. “Oh, fun! Thanks. I’m going to play with him a bit. Make it look like an accident when it comes.”
A strange tingling came over me, and I flexed my fingers and toes. My horns wanted out. Every sense went onto alert. It made listening to the conversation difficult.
“There are a number of ways to get out of a contract.” Gregoris began. “His Highness’s way being the most simple for most. However—“
I didn’t get to hear the rest. There was a familiar wrenching feeling in my gut and it pulled me away from my mate, his father, and best friend, and sucked me into a demon trap.
This trap was a tricky one. I knew I wouldn’t be getting out of it under my own power. Basil would have to let me out. The bastard grinned at me before ambling closer. With every step, I imagined my revenge on him. He was lucky I hadn’t hurt Cody, or every ounce of flesh I took would be in my mate’s name.
“There you are, Quezalintoth. Don’t glare, you can’t ignore your master and not expect me to drag you to me.” His voice was ridiculous as he chided me. A low growl escaped me. He laughed, a high-pitched squeal that grated on my ears. He looked better, cleaner, than the last time I’d seen him. “Thank you for your work with Cody. Austin paid up and gave a very generous tip for how quickly and publicly it was done.” Another squeal-laugh. “Thanks to the money he paid, I’ll be sticking around.”
I let out a snarl. “You agreed I’d be free.”
“And I’ll honor that. You’ll hand over a name. Then I’ll release you.” My stomach sank. Could I really condemn another demon, no matter how awful, to servitude to Basil? What was Gregoris saying about other ways to be free? Maybe if I could delay Basil, the others could find me. That sliver of hope evaporated fast. My bond with Cody was too new to be used to trace me. He couldn’t call me out of this trap.
Basil continued, unaware of my inner turmoil. I needed to get back to Cody without ruining another demon’s life and killing any chance of Cody seeing me as a decent demonkin. “First, though, I want to know more about Cody Valentine. Did you know he was a demon before you tried to seduce him?”
Ignoring him was impossible. The contract compelled me to answer. “No.”
“Do you know his demon name?”
No. No. No. He couldn’t.
Cody is a prince, I reminded myself before panic took over. Immune. Safe.
You don’t know his name, my inner self whispered. I could learn it if I listened to our magic, but I wouldn’t unless made to. Cody would be free. Always. Even if that meant I was stuck with Basil.
My smile was triumphant as I answered, “No.”
January 21st
Cody
Noneofushadslept as we searched the city for my mate. Eventually, I’d given in and I’d called in reinforcements from the coven. They had sent me shifters from Sweetwater. I didn’t really understand why they were here. We couldn’t magically trace Toth because Basil had him stuck. Our bond was too new for me to summon him back, and it was likely Basil had warded against that, too. There was no scent trail for the shifters to follow since my mate had been plucked from the restaurant and thrown into a demon trap.
At least now we had a name.
Basil had done this.
Toth hadn’t deleted any of his voicemails from his master. He hadn’t even listened to them. Our joint magic unlocked his phone for me as I looked for clues to who could have taken him. The voicemail icon had been lit up. His inbox was almost full.
It had only taken me seconds to recognize the voice, but I played it again for the coven witches to hear. “Quezalintoth, you need to stop ignoring my calls. Fuck this dinner. Pick up the fucking phone!”
“He’s quite charming, isn’t he?” Mori said beside me. They had me sandwiched between him and Damon.
