“Borrow, bargain, or steal,” I murmur, Patricia’s words coming back to me.

“Aether is a resource,” he mutters. “The living cannot access and use it for free.”

Valechaz enters the office without warning, nearly sending me tumbling backward to the floor. The air around the edges of his body blurs like a heat wave.

“You two!” He slams the door behind him. As he walks past he takes the heat wave with him. “You have really gone and fucked things up, haven’t you? If it weren’t for the wards, that pulse of power would have had every demon in a mile radius banging on the goddamn doors!”

When Valec takes a seat at the desk, he jabs a finger at the two cracked-leather chairs opposite. We are clearly meant to sit down.

“I extended a courtesy to the two guests that accompanied you tonight by letting them know you’d violated our mores. They agreed to wait peacefully while we determine your punishments.”

I can’t imagine William, and Alice especially, “waiting peacefully,” but something about Valec and his control over the club makes me think they didn’t really have a choice.

I try to imagine him authorizing my death. Did he sign off on it without knowing the details? Collect and disburse the money between Jonas and Kizia? The air around him is ready to spark into mage flame at any moment, hungry to burn the world where it begins at his shoulders, at his elbows, around his thick curls. Could this boy, barely a few years older than me, care so little for life that he helps people negotiate ways to end one?

As if he senses me watching him, his head snaps up, eyes flashing from brown to red and back again.

“Sit. Down.”

I move to take a seat, but Sel stops me. “Let her go down to the others. I’m the one who broke your rules. I’ll take the punishment.”

“No, you both committed sins tonight.” Valec points a finger at Sel. “You initiated an act of aggression under my roof, in direct violation of the Lounge policies you agreed to upon entry.” His finger travels to me. “But you have done much, much more than that. Do you have any idea the effect that little public display of power has already had on my business? Stripping a warlock’s powers on demand? Whether it’s temporary or permanent, it’s a damn powerful parlor trick, and Alonzo is owed redress. I’ve got a pack of hungry, furious demons out there, half a dozen spooked warlocks asking for amendments, and a dozen human clients who think I’ve been holding out on them.”

Valec pulls a drawer out from the side of his desk, producing a folder of paper and a pen. Without seeing his eyes flash demon, I’d assume he was just an annoyed businessman.