She reached the corner in time to glimpse Daemon helping Jaenelle into another carriage. Staggering back a few steps, she braced a hand against the nearest building. He wasn’t hurt. Her beautiful love wasn’t hurt.

But he still wasn’t free to be her beautiful love, and if she couldn’t find some way of preventing him from marrying that used-up bitch, it could be decades before he could be with his real love.

Maybe Roxie was right. Maybe she’d gone about this from the wrong direction. No woman would give up Daemon Sadi. But since Jaenelle Angelline didn’t have any status anymore to attract a strong male, maybe the thing to do was give Daemon a reason to walk away from Jaenelle.

4

Feeling the cold rage wash over the town house, Lucivar stepped into the small entrance hall and shivered. A moment later, Surreal rushed down the stairs.

“Mother Night,” she muttered. “We’re going to dance with the Sadist, aren’t we?”

“Yeah, it looks like we are.” What had provoked Daemon into cold rage? Lucivar looked at Surreal. “Maybe you should get out of here.”

She shook her head. “Two people distracting him are—”

“Twice as many targets for him to splatter over the walls.”

“He doesn’t splatter,” she snapped. “He’s not that merciful when he’s this pissed off.”

She was right. Unfortunately.

A minute later, they heard a carriage pull up in front of the town house.

Taking a deep breath and blowing it out, Surreal opened the front door. Her shock hit Lucivar with the force of a fist. He gave himself a moment to acknowledge his stomach-churning fear before he locked it away. He couldn’t afford to show even a hint of fear. Not if he had to deal with the Sadist.

“Hell’s fire!” Surreal flung the door wide open and stepped back. “What happened?”

“A carriage accident,” Daemon replied as he carried Jaenelle into the house.

“Cat!” Lucivar leaped forward, but Daemon’s glazed, sleepy eyes stopped him from actually touching Jaenelle.

“I’m fine,” Jaenelle said.

“I’ll settle the Lady upstairs,” Daemon snarled. “Then we’ll talk. In the meantime, contact Gabrielle and ask her to come as quickly as possible. We need a Healer.”

Lucivar stepped aside to give Daemon a clear path to the stairs. “There are Healers in Amdarh.”

“None that I trust,” Daemon replied. He climbed the stairs and disappeared down the hallway that led to the suite he shared with Jaenelle.

“Oh, shit,” Surreal said as she shut the door. “If he considers all the Blood in Amdarh as an enemy, someone is going to die.”

“Let’s try not to be among the corpses,” Lucivar growled. “You stay here. I’ll contact Chaosti.” He walked into the sitting room and closed the door. Ebon-gray to Gray, he could make the psychic reach to the Warlord Prince of the Dea al Mon.