“Thomas, you need to have this injury treated,” the doc said, using her I’m not taking any of your bullshit voice. Doctor Oliver used that voice with him often. “You hit the back of your head hard against the wall.”

“Thanks, doc, but later. Got other things to worry about now.”

He turned away from her and headed down the corridor to where a group of prison guards stood receiving orders from Jack. Gribben was in lockdown and the prison was being searched from top to bottom for Stefan.

By Isabelle’s account, it was possible the warlock had taken the opportunity to flee his cell when Boyle had rendered Adam and Thomas unconscious prior to his confrontation with her. If that was true, Stefan should not have been able to get out of Gribben. Not with all the checkpoints from his cell to the exit. He was caught like a mouse in a trap.

“He could have gone into the ventilation,” Jack said as Thomas approached. “We’ve called in every available guard to search. Micah is studying the blueprints of the prison now and will brief you soon on how to proceed.”

Thomas hung back, allowing Jack to take the lead. He and Ingrid were the heir-apparents for head of the Coven. Thomas liked having control and had a tendency to micromanage, but he had to force himself to step back and allow them to take the lead sometimes.

When Jack had finished directing the guards, he turned to Thomas. “What if Boyle poofed Stefan through one of those doorways he can pull from thin air?”

Thomas gritted his teeth. “Then Stefan is free and this is a waste of our time. We can only hope the demon killed him somewhere beyond Gribben’s walls.”

“But I don’t get it. Boyle went after Stefan to kill him, as if for sport. He didn’t want him for his ritual. Why would he come here, to the heart of the Coven, to try and kill a warlock whose death doesn’t matter in the scope of his plan?”

Thomas glanced at Isabelle, who stood a distance away talking to Adam. “Boyle told Isabelle he was killing Stefan for her.”

“What?”

“Before the demon hit me and Adam, he said he was doing it because he thought she wanted Stefan dead. It was his gift to her.”

Jack shook his head and rubbed his chin. “I’m not following this.”

“Me, either. He’s developed some kind of fixation on Isabelle, but Isabelle says she doesn’t know why. She thinks it might be because Boyle killed her sister and now he feels some kind of morbid closeness with her. I think…” He trailed off, unable to say it aloud.

Jack said it for him. “A demon crush?”