Page 38 of Married to the Devil

“I was merely covering our bases,” I say. For most groups, showing strength and might as a new leader provides the security their instincts seek. But not with this territory.

“You were blowing off steam.”

He’s not wrong. It’s frustrating to speak and try to secure the safety of the people here, only to be met with fear and suspicion. The investigation yesterday had not born useful fruit. Today, a select number of guards will continue to interview people to try and get a count of how many have disappeared and when it started.

People may be more willing to speak to them, or even Fiona, rather than me. I usually appreciate my reputation, but it’s working against us here.

The pit fighting wasn’t completely useless. I was patched up by the demon I’m wanting to lure inandwas able to get metaphorically close enough to Stella to invite her to play without resorting to her hate from our wedding night.

Perhaps I should get injured more often. That impulse has me suppressing thoughts about the two of them. This seduction is a game that serves a purpose, not something to cause distractions.

I nod toward the glass. “We’ll start with them together and then separate, if need be, but I don’t think we’ll glean much.”

“I’m leaning toward this being just a prank.” Silas sounds tired. “It fits with the clownish one’s behavior.”

But not his brother’s.

We’re in the basement of the Firefly where we’ve installed a few holding cells and rooms like this one. In other territories, we’d utilize a section of the local police precincts for such needs, but Lorenzo Leonid has never involved humans in his affairs. Only time will tell if we make arrangements with the humans of this territory who know about our existence, but until then, we will be as independent as he was.

I refuse to make use of the compound he set up outside the city even if it would have saved on the cost of installation. The place had served as a home for the Leonid family and a securitycenter, spelled to only allow those in of Leonid descent and those invited.

It had emptied out shortly after his death. I assume the walls there hold secrets that no one wants to remember.

I make a mental note to diffuse the magic at the location and find a different use for the building, but it’s hardly a priority right now.

Both boys look up when we enter.

“Looks like we’ve caught the eye of the devil.” The jokester of the two, Caleb, elbows his brother.

“Shut up,” Andrew mutters. The hard glint in his eyes doesn’t waver. “You know what we did already. What else do you need?”

“I’d like to know why.” I sit across the table from them as Silas stands next to the door with the guard.

“Do we need a reason? It was a stupid prank,” Andrew says.

Caleb’s grin is wide. “Not that stupid. You had really good security.”

Andrew rolls his eyes.

I imagine he’s always been pulling his brother out of trouble.

“I’m tempted to exile the both of you and call it a day.” I shrug. “Keeping troublemakers, even young ones, is a drain on our resources.”

Caleb’s chair legs come down with a clatter, and his eyes widen in alarm, but Andrew’s shoulders only tighten in on himself.

“That’s hardly a fair judgment from someone with your reputation,” the serious twin says. “Exiling two harmless boys seems like something that will sway the people of the territory in a bad way for you.”

Both of them are pale even with Andrew’s sure-sounding reasoning.

“I have bigger concerns to deal with than thefeelingsof the people in the territory,” I say. Which is both true and untrue. There are whole families who have vanished. At least five that we’ve been able to discover so far. I don’t want to be dealing with pranksters.

But how peoplefeelabout their security is as large concern.

The boys share a look, and intuition scratches suspicions free. They knowsomething.

I make a gesture and the guard comes forward. “Silas, I think Caleb may have some other things he’d like to fess up to while I speak with this one.”

“But—” Caleb doesn’t finish his objection as the guard leads him and Silas from the room. They’ll be in the room next to us, but it’s soundproofed enough that it won’t matter. I don’t think this will take long either way.

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