I stare at the spot where Sel had just been. The only evidence that he’d been there are the cracked bricks six feet up the wall, from where his head had struck it when Valec tossed him.

I scrub at my face with my hands, smearing tears across my cheeks. My voice comes out thick and far away. “Where did you send him?”

A pair of tumblers thunk onto the desk. My head whips to the cambion, who is kneeling, opening a cabinet out of sight. After a moment, Valec rises to standing, and it’s like watching liquid flow upward. Preternaturally smooth. He has a small, glowing bottle in one hand and an ice bucket in the other. “Aether spirits on the rocks?”

I blink, taking the scene in. Thoughts in whiplash. “Where did you send him?”

Ice clinks into the tumblers. He pours one glass, then another. Sits on his desk and extends a beverage to me. “You look like you need a drink.”

I stare at the tumbler, full of what looks like bourbon, and the silver mist swirling on top. “Can you please answer my question?”

He sips his glass, eyes dancing. “Why do you care? He lied to you. Cast an illusion without your consent, for who knows how long.”

“Are you going to hurt him?”

He laughs. “He was hurting himself. I just helped seal the deal. He’ll be unharmed by my staff, but tucked away for now with a dense shot of aether to help even him out for a bit. Speaking of—drink?”

Relief at this news floods me, but on its heels are fresh tears clouding my vision. “I’m underage.” It’s the only protest I can think to say.

He throws his head back, laughing loud. “Who’s gonna arrest me for serving apple juice and magic to a teenager?”

I frown. “Apple juice?”

He shrugs. “Cuts the sharpness, I think.”

“Why are you being nice to me?”

“This isn’t kindness, little powerhouse.” He smiles. “This is Southern hospitality.”

I snatch the glass, and he watches me with silent approval. “What’s aether do to humans?”

“To humans? If concentrated and concocted specially, they’ll get what the Order folks call ‘the Sight.’ Temporarily.” He nods at the glass in my hand. “With a little bit like that? Body buzz at most.” He is at my side in a blink, silent and imposing. “But you aren’t a typical human, are you?”

I stare up at him, bold. My emotions have been twisted into a knot and squeezed out into a liquid mess in the last hour. I don’t even know if I have the capacity to be scared of Valec right now. If I do, I ignore it. “No. Which is why I’d worry about threatening me if I were you.”

He grins. “Oh, I really like you.”