“Yes, now I’m telling the truth,” Jaime said. “Why? Because I’m scared shitless, okay? Maybe I did lie earlier, but that was before you killed a Cabal bodyguard and captured the damned CEO.”

A humorless laugh. “So now you take me seriously?”

“Look, you can’t kill Benicio, okay?”

Beside me, Lucas exhaled and slumped against the wall. I stifled my own sigh of relief, for fear of breaking my cover spell.

Jaime continued, “It won’t reopen the portal.”

“Oh, but I could try…and I think I will. Just to be sure.”

Edward stepped toward Benicio. I broke my cover, a spell flying to my lips. Lucas started to swing around the corner.

“Wait!” Jaime said. “If you kill him, you can’t get Lucas.”

Edward stopped. Lucas yanked me back behind the wall.

“You need Lucas,” Jaime said. “You need someone who went through the portal.”

“And what does that have to do with keeping this bastard alive?”

“Think about it. What would happen if you called Lucas and said you have his dad? If you can prove you have his dad? The kid puts his life on the line for total strangers. You think he’s not going to come running to save his father?”

“Good,” Lucas whispered. “Thank you, Jaime.”

I nodded. This was, of course, the perfect plan. Edward wouldn’t kill Benicio until he had Lucas, and Jaime knew that when Lucas received that call, he would indeed come running—backed by a small army of supernaturals.

“My phone’s gone, but you can use his,” Jaime said. “I’m sure he has Lucas on speed-dial. Probably right at the top.”

Lucas tensed, ready to dash back toward the café so he could answer his phone without being heard.

“In a minute,” Edward said. “First, I need to wake this one up…at least long enough to make that call for me. After that, though, I think I’ll test your word. Better hope you don’t fail.”

“W—what?”

“All I need him for is to phone Lucas. Once that’s done, he’ll have outlived his usefulness. And, if his blood does reopen the portal, you’ll have outlived yours. Believe me, if you are lying about that, I’ll take you with me to the other side. And if you aren’t? Well, then, the boy is in for a double surprise when he comes around that corner, though he won’t have long to grieve before he’s reunited with his old man.”

Lucas and I looked at one another. I cast a privacy spell, so I could speak without whispering.

“D—don’t answer the phone,” I said. “Just don’t answer it.”

He cast his own spell. “I wasn’t going to. If he can’t get through, it’ll buy us some time. But not long enough towait for the others. We’ll have to handle this ourselves.” He laid his fingers on my arm. They trembled against my skin. He squeezed his eyes shut, pushing past the fear. “We can handle it. We have spells, and we have the element of surprise.”

“But we don’t know what spells work on vampires. We—” I took a deep breath and fought my own panic down. “A binding spell will work. But I need a way to get close enough to cast it without his seeing me. Maybe a distraction. But I don’t know what—”

“I might,” whispered a voice to our left.

Jeremy appeared beside us. He motioned for us to follow him to the other end of the alley, where Savannah waited.

“Aaron called the hotel for Elena’s number,” Jeremy whispered. “I thought you could use help, and we were closer than the others. Now what’s happened?”

We told him, as quickly as possible.

“Paige was right,” he said. “Distraction followed by attack is our best bet. I can provide the first, and assist you with the second.”

“Me, too,” Savannah said. “I can help.”

“Uh-uh,” I said. “You’re staying—”

“No, Savannah’s right,” Jeremy said. “She can help me with the distraction.”

He told us his idea, then turned to Savannah. “Now, you’ll wait with Paige and Lucas. As soon as you see me, you can start, but not until you see me.”

She nodded, and Jeremy headed down the side alley to loop around the north building. We returned to our hiding place at the head of the portal alley.

Nice Doggie

WE ARRIVED BACK AT THE CORNER JUST AS EDWARD finished telling a now-conscious Benicio that he needed to make a phone call. As we waited for Jeremy, I slid off my heels, in case we needed to dash down that alley.

“And if I refuse?” Benicio said.

A slap resounded through the silence. Benicio didn’t so much as gasp.

“This isn’t some business deal you can negotiate your way out of,” Edward hissed. “What do you think happens to you if you refuse?”

“You’ll kill me,” Benicio said calmly. “And if I do call Lucas, and he comes, you’ll kill him. Do you honestly think I would exchange my life for my son’s?”

Edward gave a short laugh. “So you’re offering to sacrifice yourself to save him. Very noble, but it won’t work. I’ll still find him and kill him.”

“But you wouldn’t need to. Kill me, use my blood on that portal, and it will reopen.”

Lucas’s eyes went round and his lips formed a silent no. I gripped his arm and looked anxiously down the alley for Jeremy, knowing it was still too soon, that he’d never be ready yet.