Then I was running toward her, darting around people in the street. I reached her, stopped short. If she was surprised to see me, she didn’t show it.

“At least your message to Roger was honest,” I said flatly. “You’re clearly alive.”

“Clearly.” There was no fear in her now, no trembling. But she glanced at the sky, then again, as if waiting for lightning to strike, figuratively and literally. “I plan to stay that way.”

“You lied to us,” I said. “You lied to Roger.” And I already knew the debriefing was going to suck.

“Everyone lies,” Rose said. “I just happen to be especially good at it.” She lowered her gaze, glanced at me. “Combine a convincing backstory and a pitiable character, and humans will believe it. I had plenty of time to plan while I waited for my chance.”

“To use us to cross the gate? You thought, what, that we’d battle our way through for you?”

“The timing wasn’t by choice,” she said. “I was discovered, you might say, by my former colleagues. I needed out of Edentown and knew I’d need help. Or ballast, at any rate. The time I’d spent nurturing my relationship with the Ombuds’ office paid off. You battled, so thank you.” Her smile went thin, and the loathing in her eyes had goose bumps lifting on my skin. So very different from the last time I’d had that reaction. There was nothing similar between her magic and that of the Pack’s.

“How did you know the gate would keep you out?”

“I’m a demon. I can tell.”

“How?”

She rolled her eyes.

“Why are you here? What do you want? Why did you wait so long to come back to the place that exiled you?”

“Do you really think I’m going to answer those questions? Like some spineless human criminal in an interrogation room?” She leaned in, and I felt the hot and bitter edge of her magic. “I’m here because you let me in,” she said, each word an indictment of me. And I felt the truth of it in my gut.

Mechanical thunder rumbled. “But I’m afraid I don’t have time to talk right now. The weather has taken a turn.”

With a ping of steel, I unsheathed my sword, extended it. “You’ll be going nowhere but a cage.”

She laughed, the sound hoarse and smoky. “You’re fighting alone, and we’re surrounded by humans I’m sure you don’t want damaged in the onslaught. What risk could you possibly present to me?”

It was my turn to feel that spark of concern. Not because I was alone; this wasn’t the first time my sword would be the only one swinging. But because I didn’t know the full extent of her power, and that made me nervous.

Of course, my fear didn’t really matter. She was here, and it was my job to stop her—while injuring as few people as possible.

I flicked the tip of my blade, snagged one of the feathers around her face. Her gaze followed as it floated through the air. “Would you like to see what I can do?” I asked. I figured my best bet was keeping her contained—or keeping her from doing any more damage—until backup arrived.