have stopped him. Instead, I chose to stop you.”
“Why?” I growled.
“Don’t be a fool.”
“Because you know I’m going to destroy everything? Val told me, Akil. ‘The world reduced to rubble at your feet.’” I mimicked my brother’s haughty tones. “You stopped me to protect your investment?”
“Yes. I know what you will be. I’ve always known, but that’s not why I stopped you.” He strode to my kitchen where he preceded to wet a towel under a faucet.
A cruel bolt of laughter shot free. “Don’t tell me you did it because you love me?”
Turned away as he was, all I saw was how his broad shoulders tensed. “Asmodeus charged me with your protection. I was to watch you, guard you if necessary, and when the time came, hand you over to him. That time has not yet come.”
I blinked at Akil’s back, too exhausted to entertain the anger that I should have felt. “That’s what this has all been for? You and me? All these years? You’re babysitting me for my father?”
He brought the damp towel to me and crouched down, draping his arms over his knees. “From the day I first demanded your company for three nights, to this moment now. All for Asmodeus.” He spoke softly. “But I didn’t anticipate one thing.” Handing me the towel, he leisurely sat beside me, leaning an arm on the couch behind my head.
“Which is?”
“That I would care.”
I snorted, grabbed the towel, and wiped the blood and dirt from my face. “You can’t care. It’s not in your DNA.”
“Evidently immortal chaos demons can—and do—change.”
Was he serious? “Do you still have P-C-Thirty-Four in you?”
“No, I burned their filth out the moment I returned to my original form.” He shook his head. “I had one simple motive for my incarceration: To liberate their half bloods. Only half bloods can best half bloods. They would be our response to Valenti’s charge. It was perfect. The half bloods are essentially demon due in part to Adam Harper’s less-than-human methods. They followed me because they recognized power and control.” He paused and curled his fingers into his palm. “I had them. The Institute could only watch. They believed me subdued, thanks, in part, to your marvelous acting.”
“It wasn’t an act, Akil. I believed you were caught.”
“You believed some unremarkable technicians, a few lengths of chain, and some elemental symbols could contain me?” He blinked at my scowl. “That must have been emotional for you.”
Emotional? He had no idea. Or maybe he did. “I should know by now that whatever you say and do, you mean the exact opposite.” He’d sacrificed it all to stop me pulling my own pin and blowing myself away in the netherworld. That was not princely behavior.
His gaze softened. He really had meant everything he’d said. “My plans were perfect. But I did not foresee your volatile return. Had I made my escape any later, you’d have destroyed yourself, and the princes would still breach the veil. You are the best weapon Boston has.”
Speaking of weapons. “Akil, Dawn is alive.”
“Mm.”
“Mm?”
“Well, it’s hardly surprising. Adam Harper is a most resilient human being.” Resilient was one word for him. I could think of several others that weren’t nearly as polite. “The little half blood wasn’t at their facility.” He turned his face toward my window. “I freed all the remaining demons.”
“Then where is she?”
“If I do not know, then neither do the princes, and that is all that matters.” I watched him, watched the light soften the hard, masculine lines of his face. I wasn’t sure when it had happened, or what it meant, but he’d changed.
“It’s bad out there, Akil.” I followed his gaze to the windows but saw only darkness.
“The demon population of Boston will follow me.” He blinked at me as I questioned him with my gaze. “The publicity? Interviews and such? Every demon who’s enjoyed freedom in this city over the past few years knows I’m here. They will rally at my call.”
Every demon but me. Inside, I wanted his power. Not even Mammon could deny me. “And me? If I step outside that door, I’m all demon, and I sure as hell won’t follow you. It seems I have my own agenda.”
“The Mother of Destruction.” Amber singed his dark irises. “I can remove your infusion, giving you back your control. It’s your owner’s influence that’s distorting your desires.”
“Remove it or replace it with your own?”
“Ah, that is the pertinent question, isn’t it?” I waited, while he delayed, measuring his reply. “Do