damn thing. It won’t stop the princes, but it might slow their plans.”
“Summoning isn’t exactly air-tight though. It’s weak at the best of times. A demon like Valenti, pissed off, might break out in a few seconds.”
“How long do you need to pull a trigger?”
A smile touched his lips. “I like your thinking. It’d have to be at Jenna’s place. Anywhere else, and he’ll get spooked before he arrives.”
“Then let’s go talk to her.”
We rode in Ryder’s car, a beat-up old Mustang with doors attached by zip-ties, but it had the guts of a thoroughbred. After stopping off at Ryder’s place to fill the trunk with weapons, we headed for Jenna’s neighborhood. Clear roads seemed all the more ominous under the bright afternoon sunlight. Most businesses were closed. Helicopters buzzed above. Boston waited, as though holding its breath. Radio news stations broadcast the numbers of dead, reaching into the hundreds, but it could have been worse. They didn’t know worse was yet to come. Only those who had seen the netherworld could truly understand what was about to consume the city.
“—Stefan.” Ryder looked at me, eyebrows raised.
“Huh?”
“I said, what have you done with Stefan?”
“Oh, he er…” I’d already explained the disaster that had been the Institute breakout. I’d even added the truth about how I’d lunged for Val and how Akil had stopped me. “Akil brought me back to Boston. We left Stefan there. He’s—er—he’s okay though.”
Bumping the car up against the curb, Ryder cut the engine and twisted in his seat to face me. “You know I ain’t one for hoping, but when I saw him with you… Well, let’s just say, there might be something of him left in there. He may not even know it. He’s helping you. That says something.”
My throat dried up. I growled, trying to clear it. “Yeah, I… He said he wants to make up for his mistakes, but what he says and what he’s thinking aren’t the same. I know demons, Ryder. Dammit, I want to hope you’re right because I thought I’d seen the same in him. But demons are sly, slippery, manipulative creatures. I genuinely hope he’s here to help, but I’m worried.” Especially after he’d walked in on Akil and me in the midst of a heated physical discussion. Or, maybe the fact he’d walked away was a good thing? A demon wouldn’t have. Hell, even Akil had expected the worst, if his threat was anything to go by. Perhaps I could take the fact Stefan had walked away as a sign he still cared. Akil had been weakened by the infusion. It would have been the perfect time to attack. A demon would have. Stefan hadn’t.
Ryder nodded. “Hell knows, we need him on our side.” He opened the car door and climbed out.
I followed him up some steps into a converted redbrick warehouse and tried not to think about the last time I’d seen Stefan. He knew about the soul-lock. He’d understand. Probably. I just had to keep telling myself that.
Maybe because I was thinking about him, I didn’t pick up on the tickle of ice against my element until we stopped outside what I assumed to be Jenna’s apartment door. I stiffened, about to warn Ryder, when he must have heard the voices inside and quickly put two and two together. He bounced back and kicked the door in. It flung open, revealing Jenna curled on a couch in her pale pink pajamas and Stefan seated in the opposite couch, dressed exactly as he had been an hour or so ago, sans ice, but no less intense. Two empty ice cream bowls sat on the coffee table between them.
Jenna glowered at Ryder. “You just stole another year off my life. What the hell’s wrong with you?”
Ryder’s hand had disappeared inside his jacket and likely rested on a handgun. He didn’t say a word, just glared unblinkingly at Stefan.
A twist of bitter jealousy tightened my chest. I knew Stefan and Jenna had been friends—still were friends. I had no right to get pissy over who Stefan chose to spend his time with, but my irrational side, said screw that. What the fuck was he doing here? I tucked a thumb into my jeans pockets and hoped I looked bored. “This is cozy.” It sounded innocent in my head, but when the words left my lips, they hung heavy and ripe with accusation, an accusation I had no right to sling.