The icy shock of his hold snaps me back to reality, and I turn to stare at Tac’s enormous form in horror. “Babies.”
There’s no way we can house multiple Tacs. We’ll definitely be discovered. Babies are horrible. They get into everything. They’ll escape the house in a matter of weeks and terrorize the neighbors.
Not to mention, the mother of these babies eats people for fun. Murder babies.
Panic shoots through me as I meet Emil’s calm blue eyes. “What are we going to do?”
He strokes my wrist. “We’ll deal with it when we know for sure. We have more pressing issues right now.”
“Yes,” Tobias cuts in, the growl still in his voice. “Like what you were summoned for and why I just received an email demanding I report to the demon clerk’s office as your and Julian’s representative.”
“It was Adie’s idea,” Julian announces. “I was willing to find someone else.”
I spin to glare at him. “I saved your ass hours of waiting, and this is how you repay me.”
He shrugs, not at all repentant for sacrificing me in the face of Tobias’s wrath.
“Let’s just take a moment and hear what’s going on,” Kellen cautions as he settles into his chair once more. “Start with the summons.”
Giving into Emil’s urging, I settle next to him, my feet tucked onto the couch since Tac takes up the floor space. Emil’s chill seeps into me, calling to the ice that rolls in my core. I haven’t had time to digest my earlier feeding yet, and now that I’m still, all I want to do is curl up with my ice demon and let him hold me while I pass out.
I force my eyes to stay open, though. Who knows what will happen if I let down my guard? I don’t want to wake up to find myself back in the conference room with Victor Hesse standing over me.
A shudder rolls down my spine at the memory of the mortifer demon, and I turn to meet Julian’s troubled gaze. “The higher-ups have noticed Domnall’s disappearance.”
Emil stiffens next to me, and I glance at Tobias. “Victor Hesse is in charge of the initial investigation. We’re not charged with anything, yet, since they’re not positive Domnall is actually gone and not just off their radar.”
Tobias sits slowly. “I see.”
“We listed you as our representative to hold off the questioning,” I rush to reassure him. “We’ll find a lawyer and refile, just as soon as we line someone up.”
Tobias’s brows pinch together in confusion.
“No need to find someone else.” Emil traces snowflakes on the back of my hand. “Tobias is perfectly capable of representing you.”
Tobias nods in agreement. “I’m a lawyer. Why would you need someone else?”
My lips part in surprise as I stare at him. “You are?”
His scowl deepens. “What do you think I do at the bank?”
I huddle closer to Emil. “Paperwork?”
“Legal paperwork.” He scrubs a hand over his face. “This is easy enough to resolve. We just have to prove that Domnall attacked you first and would have killed you given the chance. His death was self-defense.”
“Two problems with that.” Julian leans forward to rest his elbows on his knees. “No one saw Domnall attack Adie, right? So it’s only her word, and we all know that’s not enough proof.”
I swallow hard, eyes dropping to the tufts on Tac’s ears. What Julian said isn’t true. Both Slater and Xander were there. But I can’t use them as witnesses, and not just because their witches and our two species aren’t supposed to interact.
If I admit they were there, Kellen will have to kill Slater for failing to protect me that night. It doesn’t matter that there’s no way Slater could have stood up to Domnall, that Domnall would have squashed him like a bug before going after me. Slater was tasked with my safety, and he failed.
“Adie?” Kellen asks. “No one else was there, right?”
Carefully, I blank my expression before I meet Kellen’s lightning-filled eyes. “No one else was there.”
I hold his gaze steady. He didn’t believe me back then, and it’s clear he doesn’t believe me now, but I will protect Slater at the cost of my life. That fact has not changed. I owed him then, and I owe him more now. He and his fellow witches are on a very short list of people I will defend to my last breath.
Kellen blinks, shuttering away the storm, and nods his acceptance.