The door creaked open, and she glanced up to see Caine holding a laptop bag. He slid the bag onto the desk. “I got the thing you wanted. I hope this works.” He eyed her. “Are you okay? You look a little… upset.” He approached her, gently touching her shoulder.

“That’s what happens when you get tied to a chair and tortured.”

He folded her in an embrace, his strong arms encircling her, and she melted into him, listening to his heart beat. He ran a hand down her hair. “You’re okay now.”

“Maybe I deserved it.”

“What are you talking about?”

Her heart thudded in her chest. “You said that you knew someone else in the Chambers.”

He pulled away, studying her. “Yes.”

“Was he an incubus like you?”

His eyes narrowed. “Yes. Did you see him?”

She nodded, hugging herself. “I saw him. Malphus. But he couldn’t get out of the chains. He’d been staked in the heart.”

Caine backed away, his eyes darkening. “Is he dead?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know. I never saw him after that day. Josiah told me he was a murderer and a rapist. He even showed me the pictures.”

“Josiah lies.” His eyes flashed like storm clouds.

She tried to force back the tears. “Josiah said if we didn’t interrogate Malphus, it would lead to hundreds or thousands of human deaths. We hurt one to save many. A demon for many humans. It was simple math.”

“Math,” he repeated, his voice glacial. “That’s an interesting way of putting it.”

“You know him.” A hollow opened up in the pit of her stomach. “Who is he?”

“It’s none of your concern.”

Caine glared at her, his eyes cold, black pools.

The judgment on his face stoked her ire. “What are you on your high horse about? You seemed perfectly fine with torture a half hour ago when it was me in the chair.”

“When Josiah was interrogating you, you didn’t have a hawthorn stake jutting from your ribs.”

“Humans don’t need a hawthorn stake to feel the blows,” she shot back.

“And I would have stopped it before he did any serious damage. I would have got you out of there. Can you tell me the same for Malphus?” His voice sent a chill through her. “Is he even alive?”

“I have no idea, but I guess you could say when I interrogated Malphus, I was acting tactically. It is a war, after all. Isn’t that what you said?”

“Well, then.” Venom laced his voice. “If you plan to be strategic, you’d best get to work on your brilliant plan. And I really do hope it’s brilliant.”

Chapter 30

Over an hour later, and after three cups of coffee, she’d managed to piece together what she could remember of assembly languages. She was fairly certain her plan was brilliant.

Now, she needed to shove all the panic into her mental vault so she could focus—just like she was attempting to block out the open hostility radiating from Caine, who’d been pacing back and forth across the room like a caged animal for the entire hour.