The hiss of the door was less this time as Quen carefully put Ellasbeth’s book away. It bothered me that Trent was with her right now, believing whatever drivel she was feeding him.

“And you know how to do this?” Quen said as the door sealed shut with a cold sound. “Separate imbalances?”

“No,” I admitted. “But if Bis and I went out there, we might be able to figure it out. He’s really good at separating line signatures.”

Neither one of them said anything, Jenks sitting on Quen’s shoulder and both of them eyeing me in doubt. “He is,” I said in Bis’s defense. “You look at him and all you see is a kid, but I’ve seen the lines through him, and he knows what he’s doing. Besides,” I added, “either of you Abbas got any other ideas? I’m all ears.”

Quen flushed as I used the elf name he’d given himself, but Jenks flew almost into my face. “You’re not going into that purple line. You saw what it did to Al.” He spun to Quen, an alarmed gold dust making a sunbeam on the table. “It fried his aura, and they both almost died!”

Ignoring him, I chewed on my lip. “I’d be careful,” I said, then stifled a shiver. What if I got sucked into it by mistake? Or Ku’Sox shoved me?

“You’re not going out there!” Jenks shrilled, and Quen winced, looking at the closet door. “It’s not safe, and you know it!”

“When is my life safe?” I said, trying not to get riled up. “Trent could spot me if I used Al’s rings. Would that make you happy?”

Jenks dropped several inches before he remembered to move his wings. Still leaning against the cabinet, Quen seemed to stiffen. I knew being almost helpless bothered him. “Al’s rings?” Jenks scoffed, coming down and kicking at the gloves I’d taken off. “You think demon magic is going to work with an elf?”

My eyes went to Quen. He was frowning in thought. “I don’t know. You got anything on demon wedding rings?” I asked, but he was already at the cabinet, putting his gloves back on. “I yanked Al’s soul out of that event horizon using a pair of rings,” I babbled. “They sort of melted our minds together.” Jenks made a face, his dust shifting green. “Not like that,” I said. “It was weird, though, as if I could pull on his strength, and he could pull on mine.”

“Without asking?” Quen reached high to pull down a slim volume. It was falling apart and had no title, so I figured it was a demon text. “You sure they weren’t slave rings?”