Both men were silent. A pang of worry lifted through me. Maybe I’d misjudged Oliver’s greed. “Uh, maybe the reward was two million,” I added, and Trent blinked.

Beside him, Oliver said, “You want us to lie for you.”

I had a brief memory of asking Minias the same thing, and I shoved it away. “Yeah,” I said with forced casualness. “But it’s not hurting anyone’s reputation, property, or business. It’s a big, freaking white lie, the same one we’ve been telling ourselves for the last five thousand years. Is that okay with you, or do you tell your wife she looks fat in her favorite dress, too?”

The man made a soft noise of negation, but Trent’s nod was even more positive. “What about Brooke?” Oliver asked, and my mood was tarnished.

Eyes down, I said, “I can’t get her back. She was sold three seconds after hitting the ever-after. I’m sorry. I really did try, but she did summon him.”

“I can’t do this!” Oliver said, unable to let it go, and Trent seemed to collapse in on himself in exasperation. “I can’t allow it! Reverse her shunning? Let her run around capable of twisting curses and setting demons loose on the world? It’s insane!”

“Oliver!” I shouted, seeing Jenks’s wings silhouetted against the thick glass in the door. He was hearing all of this, I was sure. “I’m not a black witch. I just twist curses instead of stirring spells. There are a hundred mundane ways to kill a person, and you don’t put people in jail just because they could do a crime.” He was listening, and I gestured, pleading, “You’re going to have to trust me. But if you think I’m bad now, just keep this crap up. I don’t have to stay here. If you make me leave, you can bet I’ll be back, and I’ll still be pissed.”

Oliver leaned over the table, not cowed at all. “We can find you anywhere.”

“Yeah, but you can’t follow me everywhere,” I said, and a flicker of doubt crossed his mind.

“Find a way to work the deal, Oliver,” Trent said. “You’re letting pride get in your way. She keeps her word. I doubt that Ms. Morgan will have children anyway. If she does, they will be kidnapped by demons. Not your problem anymore.”

It was sad but true. Watching Oliver, I held my breath and scooted to the back of my chair, waiting as thoughts flitted across his face. I thought he was almost going to say yes, but what came out of his mouth was a flat “I can’t.”