Quen took the blanket from me, giving it a sniff as well. “Thank you for making the next forty minutes of my life hell,” he muttered, clearly not smelling anything, either.

A tiny smile quirked the corner of my mouth up. “I’m sorry.”

“No, you aren’t,” he said darkly. “You enjoyed it.”

“Oh, you’re just mad that I could say it and you couldn’t.” Taking the blanket back, I folded it up.

“Quen!” Ellasbeth shouted. “Come open this door! My hands are full with the children.”

“I’ll get it,” Jenks offered, and Quen shot him a thankful glance. Immediately my mood swung back to melancholy as Jenks darted out, halfheartedly telling his kids to leave Lucy and Ray alone.

Still holding the faint remnants of a smile, I pushed away from the counter to give Quen a hug. Ceri was gone, and it hurt. My eyes closed as his arm went around me and the scent of burnt amber mixed with the smell of wine and cinnamon. “I’m sorry,” I said as I stepped back, and his eyes took on a deeper shine.

“Thank you for bringing Lucy back to us,” he said, and I shrugged with one shoulder.

“I wish I could have—” My throat closed. Damn it, how could Ceri be dead?

“It wasn’t your task,” Quen said, and I forced myself to look up. “It was no one’s fault.”

“But . . .”

He smiled, the pain thick in the new wrinkles around his eyes. “She’d tell you to mind your own business and to not blame yourself.”

My head dropped. Probably in loud, small words so I wouldn’t run the risk of misunderstanding. “She would at that,” I said, and he touched my shoulder as he turned away.

“Quen,” I said, and he halted. From the front of the church came a loud boom of sound as the door shut, then blessed silence. I looked at Quen. I had things I wanted to say, that Trent was braver than I had thought, and foolish. That I trusted him, but I also knew there were limits to magic and luck. That I didn’t see a happy ending to this.

“I don’t think Trent is planning on coming back unless he can kill Ku’Sox,” I said flatly, and Quen’s lip twitched. “That Lucy is safe has given him more freedom to act, but unless we can convince the other demons to band up against Ku’Sox, I don’t see a happy ending to this.” I lifted a foot and rubbed the back of my calf to hide my trembling.

Quen’s expression gave me no clue as to what he was feeling. “You think he can do it?”