Twenty minutes later, we were back in the library basement. We trudged down the stairs to find Oscar pacing back and forth on one of the metal shelves, his black cowboy boots clack-clack-clacking in time to his sharp, hurried movements. Tiny was lumbering along the shelf, as though he were also pacing, albeit at his much slower tortoise speed.

“There you are!” Oscar shouted. “I was so worried about you!”

The pixie zipped through the air, landed on my shoulder, and hugged my neck. I patted his back. He hugged me again, then zipped off my shoulder and hovered in the air in front of us. Oscar looked me over, then Devon and Felix. It only took him a second to realize that someone was missing.

“Where’s Deah?” he whispered.

I sighed and flopped down on one of the cots. “She gave herself up and got captured so that I could escape.”

Oscar gave me a sympathetic look, flew over, and hugged my neck a third time. “Oh, Lila. I’m so sorry.”

I nodded, my throat closing up with emotion again. Oscar nodded back at me, then flew over to where Tiny was still lumbering along the shelf. The tortoise stopped and gave me a mournful look as well, as though he understood every word we’d said.

“Tell me about the warehouse where my mom and the others are,” Devon said, pacing back and forth across the basement.

I drew in a breath and told him everything I knew about the warehouse, which frankly, wasn’t much. Just that it was close to the lochness bridge, sometimes guarded, and that I’d never been inside.

“Mmm-hmm. Mmm-hmm,” Devon said, absorbing the information and still moving from one side of the basement to the other and back again.

Felix sat down on the other cot. “Hey, man, stop pacing already. You’re making me dizzy.”

Devon finally stopped and looked at me. “If I create a distraction, just like Deah did, do you think you can sneak into the warehouse and free the others?”

“Sure. I can sneak into the warehouse if the guards are looking the other way. It’s nothing that I haven’t done before.” I frowned. “What kind of distraction are you talking about?”

He pointed at the bags of black blades that were lying on the floor. “I’m talking about giving Victor exactly what he wants.”

Felix shook his head. “No, no way, Dev. You show up with the weapons and Victor will just kill you and take the black blades for himself.”

Devon’s mouth flattened out into a harsh line. He straightened up and anger flashed in his green eyes. In that moment, he looked every inch the bruiser, the leader, he was. “I know he’ll try, but he won’t succeed. I’ll meet Victor and offer to give him the weapons, while you and Lila sneak into the warehouse and free everyone. By the time Victor realizes what’s happening, it will be too late for him and his guards to capture everyone again.”

A cold fist of fear wrapped around my heart, squeezing tight. “And what about you? Because Victor will still have you. He’ll kill you for double-crossing him. You know he will.”

Devon looked at me, his eyes softening. “I know he’ll try, but we’ll figure out a way to get the best of him. Trust me, okay, Lila?” His face hardened again. “Besides, I’m the Sinclair bruiser. It’s my job to look out for everyone else. It’s the only thing I’ve ever wanted to be. So let me do my job now, when it matters most. Help me save our Family. Please.”

We all looked at Devon, then at each other. Felix’s eyes were dark and troubled, but he slowly nodded. So did Oscar and even Tiny. Finally, I did too.

I got up from the cot, went over, and kissed Devon. Then I drew back and stared up into his eyes. “I’m with you,” I whispered. “Now and always.”

Devon grinned. “I know you are, just like I’m with you. Now and always.”

He moved over, opened one of the duffel bags, and started sorting through the weapons inside. Felix and Oscar both went over to help him, while Tiny peered down at them from his perch on the shelf. I stood back out of the way and watched them all work, my gaze locked onto Devon as he examined each weapon in turn.

I’d told him the truth—I was with him in his plan to save Claudia, Mo, Deah, and all the other Sinclairs. But I’d also made a promise to Claudia last night in the restaurant, the same promise I’d made to her the very first day I’d joined the Family. It might be Devon’s job to protect the Sinclairs, but it was my duty to protect him, and that was exactly what I was going to do.

No matter what it cost me.

An hour later, we were still in the basement, all of us gathered around and staring down at Felix’s phone.

“Are you absolutely sure you want to do this?” Felix asked, a bit of nervous tension creeping into his voice. “What if Blake is his usual jerk self and doesn’t go for it? What then?”

“Blake will go for it,” Devon said. “I’m sure of it. Besides, he’s too afraid of his dad not to do exactly what Victor says, and we all know how much Victor wants these black blades. So make the call.”

Felix nodded, scrolled through his contacts, and hit his phone, putting it on speaker so we could all hear. A second later, it started ringing. We all tensed when someone on the other end picked up.

“Who is this?” Blake growled. “And what do you want?”

“It’s Devon Sinclair,” Devon replied in a cold voice. “And I want to talk to Victor.”

Silence.

Then Blake let out a low, ugly laugh. “Finally calling to give yourself up? How sweet. You can join the rest of your loser Family in the cages my dad has them in.”

A muscle ticked in Devon’s jaw and it took him a moment to respond. “Tell Victor I have the black blades—the real ones that are filled with magic. Unless you want to be the reason why he doesn’t get the weapons he wants?”

Blake hissed out a breath at the implied threat in Devon’s words. He knew exactly what his dad was capable of.

“Call me back in ten minutes,” he growled again and hung up.

So we waited ten minutes in silence, each minute seeming longer than the last, but the second the time was up, Felix hit Blake’s number again. The phone rang three times before someone answered it.

“Mr. Sinclair,” Victor’s smooth voice oozed out of the phone. “I thought you might call with an offer, but I didn’t expect it to be such an intriguing one.”