The Unlikeable Demon Hunter (Nava Katz #1)(72)

I gave the tiniest shake of my head.

Drio locked us up in the room where the kumiho demon had been. There was no longer any trace to show she’d existed. That was creepy and didn’t bear thinking about.

He left us there, sealing us in with only a dim bulb for light.

Leo sunk to the ground with a moan. I ran over to her but she held me off. “I’ll puke if you touch me.” She pressed a hand to her head, the skin at the corners of her eyes tight.

“It’s the wards,” I said. “I’m sorry. If Drio hadn’t pulled you through and you’d been outed?” Unable to punch the solid iron wall for fear of breaking my fist, I gave a loud “fuuck!”

“Forget it. I should have remembered this place was warded.” She gave me a faint grin through her pain. “Rohan distracted me.”

“He does that.”

“Why didn’t we take Drio down?” Leo asked.

“He’d have gotten away before you had the knife out. Then we’d really have been screwed.” I slid down the wall. “All I wanted was to keep Ari safe until I could give him back his destiny. I failed. Where’s the gray area now, Leo?”

She was seated with her arms curled around her knees in a tight ball, as if trying to make the least contact with all the iron, taking deep, even breaths. “Your brother spent his life training to be a hero. Not an insurance agent. He was never going to be safe.”

I leaned my head back against the wall, defeated. “But if he’d become a hunter he would have had magic. A fighting chance. He’s helpless against them.”

“And there will come a time, more than one I bet, that you face demons when you’re helpless,” she said. I already had with Asmodeus. “Whose fault will it be then? The Brotherhood screwed up with Ari. Not you. Stop being so committed to your guilt over this.”

“How do you do it?” I asked. “Live in the gray and still have such a strong sense of yourself? You’re a good person and yet you still have to balance a demon heritage. No offense.”

“None taken. I’ve known what I was since I was tiny. The goblin used to come visit me when I was small, telling me who I was, what to expect. What I could have if I embraced it. I didn’t want it. I like being human. The trick has been figuring out how to use my goblin side to enhance my humanity. Just like you’ll have to do as a hunter.” She shrugged, her voice growing weaker. “It’s a work in progress.”

“I think you’re amazing as is.”

She swayed slightly and I caught her, propping her up with my hand on her back.

“Apparently this much iron and me don’t get along,” she whispered.

I wasn’t ready to absolve myself, but I was more than ready to save my twin and, more immediately, my best friend. I took stock of our surroundings. No windows, a bare bulb, nothing in here other than that chair bolted to the floor. One door that required–

I could have kissed Drio, that “females can’t be Rasha” nonbeliever, for putting us in here. Informing Leo I was letting go of her, I scrambled to my feet, blood pumping and pressed my ear to the door, straining to hear if he was gone, but the walls were soundproof.

“Here goes everything.” I lay my hand against the scanner, hoping my access had gone through and that I still existed for Demon Club administration.

After the longest second in the world, the light turned green and the door opened, releasing us back into the Vault. We crept up to the ground floor office level. It was slow going because Leo was still shaky but we made it to the outside door without mishap. “Go.” I whispered, one eye on Ms. Clara’s office.

Leo shook her head.

Still keeping my voice low, I said, “I can be found here. You can’t.”

“Nee, I told you, you won’t find Asmodeus.”

“I don’t have to. Do you need me to take you back across the wards?”

“No. I’ll be okay leaving. It’s entering that’s the problem.”

I hugged her. “I appreciate everything you did. Call me if you learn anything. Now get.”

“Call if you need me,” she whispered back, and left.

Soon as she’d safely made it across the yard to the trees, I inched my way up the stairs, holding the bannister so it would take most of my weight in case any of the treads were prone to creaking. I expected to be caught at any second, but no hand came down on my shoulder, allowing me to reach the library door, crouch down, and listen.

“I’m sorry about Ari,” Rohan was saying.

I peeked through the crack between the open door and the frame to see Rohan lay a hand on Kane’s shoulder. Yeah, he was the one who needed consoling.

“I’ll confirm the demons’ location. Then we do clean up.” That was Drio. I didn’t begrudge him his bloodthirsty tone, though I worried they’d be so focused on killing they’d fail to find Ari. Or worse, hurt him in the carnage.

“Meantime, I’m off to confront Montague.” By the growl of Rohan’s voice, this wasn’t going to be a friendly meeting.

“Nothing he says can justify betraying fellow Rasha,” Drio said. “Undoing our wards and letting Asmodeus in.”

A Rasha had taken down the wards?

Baruch’s blink of fury made my stomach plummet into my toes.