I squeezed Stane's shoulder and glanced at Azriel. "You want to release Tao now?"
"Do you think that wise when Stane is in the room? You and I can protect ourselves from whatever might be bound to the restraints, but Stane has little except his own strength."
"Hey, I have Ilianna's charm and I can fight—"
Azriel's glance barely even flicked his way. "The charm protects you against being spelled, not magic of this sort."
"But—"
I touched his arm lightly, stopping him. "He's right. Ilianna's in the parking lot across the road. Go keep her safe, just in case the Charna doesn't send only magic against us."
He grunted unhappily, but spun on his heel and headed out. I waited until the sound of his steps had faded away, then glanced at Tao. "You ready?"
"If you don't do it soon, I'm not going to have any fucking wrists left."
Azriel touched Valdis's tip to the links. The hissing ramped up, becoming fever-pitched, then the links simply exploded. Shrapnel spun through the darkness, embedding itself into the walls but somehow avoiding skin.
"The notification spell was in fact a minor demon," Azriel said. "It has left to warn the Charna. I can trace its path."
I blinked. "There was a demon spelled to the cuffs?"
"Yes. It is a messenger, nothing more."
"Glad no one told me," Tao muttered, gingerly pulling his shirt away from his torn and bloody wrists. "I think I would have freaked out."
"So once warned, won't the Charna attack? That's what we want, right?" I asked.
Azriel didn't answer immediately, his expression intent and his head cocked to one side, as if he were listening to something.