Suddenly recognizing the pizza as the distraction he had meant it to be, I nodded. Of course Quen would want to see them, and I reached into my pocket, little pings of energy jolting my burned fingertips. They clinked as they hit his outstretched palm, and his lips parted as he brought them close, nudging them apart with a careful finger. “They’re nothing like wedding rings,” I said as we looked at them in his creased and calloused palm. “Al recognized them. He almost destroyed them before I reinvoked them.”

“Al helped you?” He was close enough for the scent of warm spice rising up between us to remind me of Trent. His fingers twitched as if to keep them for himself, and I stiffened.

“Sort of. And when this is over, we are going to destroy them,” I said, suddenly nervous. I took a breath to tell him I had made a bargain with his goddess, then didn’t. Trent probably had an arsenal of defunct magic that should stay that way. Besides, it sounded so lame. It had all been in my mind, hadn’t it? Al had once said demons could do elf magic but didn’t because it was considered beneath them.

Frowning, Quen held up the smallest ring. “I can’t believe you managed this,” he said quietly, and I was suddenly glad I hadn’t told him how I’d done it. They were evil in a way I’d never considered, and I was going to destroy them right after I took care of Ku’Sox. Tonight.

“You need to leave so I can change,” I said as I tugged them out of his grip and set both rings on my dresser next to my perfumes.

Quen walked to my dresser, turning his back on me but not leaving. His neck was stiff and his arms were crossed over his chest. I took a breath to tell him to get out, then decided against it. He probably had something else to say he didn’t want the pixies knowing. Outside were the low rumbles of gargoyles, and not knowing how good their hearing was, I jerked out the pencil that had been propping the window up. It closed with a snap. Quen jumped, but didn’t turn.

“You do know that we likely aren’t going to come back,” I said, satisfied that he wouldn’t turn around. “One elf and a badly trained demon won’t be enough.”

“I have a duty,” he said, and I frowned.