“You don’t look busy,” I pointed out as Roth stretched an arm over the back of the booth, acting as if he was settling in for an afternoon nap.
“Looks can be deceiving,” she said, barely sparing me a glance. Which was funny considering she’d agreed to help the senator with the enchantment in exchange for parts of a Trueborn—my parts. For that alone I should kill her.
“Looks can be deceiving,” I agreed, feeling the anger on my skin like a thousand pissed-off hornets.
Faye smiled tightly as she closed a small black journal in front of her. “How can I help you?” This was asked of Roth. Not me, because obviously I was not viewed as remotely important. “The last time you were here, I told you everything we knew.”
“Is that so?” Roth murmured.
The witch nodded as she leaned back against the booth and placed her hands in her lap.
“Let’s cut the crap,” I said, not wanting to play the coy game. “We know you told Aym or possibly Bael that we’d been to see you. Or maybe you told Senator Fisher. Who knows who you told, but we know you did.”
Her eyes widened slightly. “I don’t—”
“Don’t do the whole innocent thing.” Roth’s voice was deceptively soft. “Aym betrayed you, just like you betrayed us. You should pick better people to team up with.”
Even in the low light and with my eyes, I could see Faye pale, and I took a perverse pleasure in it.
“And I can safely assume you realized the moment you saw us that things didn’t end well for Aym,” I added. “He’s super dead now.”
She said nothing, and that angered me further.
“I might not know a lot about witches, but I was under the impression that you’re not supposed to be team good or bad,” I said. “But boy, did you saddle up with Team Dead, Dumb and Evil.”
“And what team are you on?” Her dark eyes flicked toward me. “As you sit beside the Crown Prince of Hell?”
“Mmm.” Roth hummed low in his throat, like a large cat purring. “I love the way you say Crown Prince.”
I met Faye’s stare. “Like you said. Looks can be deceiving.”
Her throat worked on a swallow. She opened her mouth, closed it and then tried it again. “We didn’t have a choice.”
“There’s always a choice,” Roth said. “Always.”
“You don’t understand. We didn’t go to them. They came to us shortly after you arrived. The very same night—”
“I don’t care,” I said, not recognizing my own voice or what was invading my system. It was like a whole new personality was unlocked and taking over. “You didn’t have to tell them, but you did. Because of that, we walked into a trap. A trap you helped set up. People were hurt, Faye.”
Her lips thinned as she passed a nervous glance at Roth.
“Layla,” he whispered. “She was hurt.”
Now Faye looked like she was about to choke. “We would never do anything that would put Lilith’s daughter in harm’s way. Never. That wasn’t our intention.”
“Intentions mean nothing at the end of the day. I mean, you could set a bush on fire and never intend for it to spread to the apartment complex next door, but when it does, it’s still your fault.” I opened my hands in my lap. “What were your intentions? What did they offer you for this information?”
She gave a quick shake of her head and glanced around the dining area and then back to us. “If we didn’t tell them, they would’ve slaughtered everyone here.”
“What made you think we wouldn’t do that once we found out?” Roth queried.
Faye’s lips parted.
“I’m thinking she didn’t believe we’d survive,” I told him, nodding when she mashed her lips together. I thought about what Roth had told me in the car, about how much of a big, bad demon he was. Something occurred to me. “They risked ticking you off instead of Aym and Senator Fisher, and—” I turned to Faye “—there’s no way in Hell you didn’t think for one second that if Roth was involved, Layla wouldn’t be. So, not only were you hedging your bets on the other side, you don’t seem to have cared about the fact that Layla is the daughter of Lilith.”
“That’s true,” Roth agreed. “And that does not make me happy.”
“Now, Aym was really annoying and talkative, but he wasn’t that scary.” The last part wasn’t exactly true. Aym wasn’t some low level demon. He’d almost killed Zayne.