Alec saw a candle in the darkness. Heard approaching footsteps.
Gabriel D’Ange.
He carried a bucket in one hand. D’Ange set it down and gave it a kick. The bucket slid across the stone floor, water sloshing over the edges. Alec cupped his hands and drank deeply. Christ, he was thirsty.
“So,” D’Ange said in a low voice. “Here we are.”
They stared at each other for a long moment.
“All this over a wooden cross?” Alec burst out. He slowly shook his head. “What the hell is wrong with you? You could have just asked—”
“That’s not the point. I invited you into my house. You sat at my table, ate my food, drank my wine, and then you robbed me when my back was turned!”
“You were a murderer,” Alec said coldly.
“And what are you? Two of my brothers are dead. Good men. They wouldn’t have touched you. They had orders only to follow.”
“And not be taken alive. You left me no choice.” Alec calculated the length of the chain, but D’Ange stood just out of reach. “Then you sent wights—”
“I didn’t,” D’Ange snapped. “I hate fucking wights! That was the fils de pute Constantin. I’m sure he’d already gone over to Bekker.”
Alec stared at him. “Where’s my sister?” he demanded. “If she—”
“You’d be a dead man if not for Anne’s sake. You should have left me alone. Left us alone. I might have given you the other cuff back.” He looked away.
Alec sensed an opening. “I have the cross. Safe. It’s yours.”
Gabriel turned and studied him for a long moment. He seemed … torn.
“Putain,” he muttered, more softly. Alec’s hopes rose. Then he shook his head. “No. I don’t want it anymore.”
“Where is she?” Alec demanded.
“Anne is here.” His gaze flicked to the low ceiling, an almost guilty look on his face. “Of her own accord.” A pause. “I want something else.” His eyes rested on Alec’s cuff. “You can find another set somewhere. And you’ll be freed once I’m gone.”
Alec felt a chill, bone-deep. “It doesn’t come off.”
D’Ange reached into his pocket and Alec tensed, expecting a knife. But he held up a key.
“It’s a funny story. There was a market in Kabul, an old woman selling a tarnished gold bracelet. I recognized the griffin. Useless without the match, but I wasn’t about to leave it there for anyone to find. It came with a key though. From what I remember of the Immortals, all the keys were identical so they could be switched if the daēva fell in battle.” He took out a pair of gloves and slid them on. “Shall we test my theory?”
Alec backed away as far as the chain would allow.
D’Ange stepped forward, moving on the balls of his feet.
“Don’t make me hurt you. This doesn’t have to be hard—”
Alec let out a wild laugh. “No?”
“No. I’ll even give you the one I have. You only have to find a match.”
“They don’t fucking exist anymore!”
He shrugged. “I found one. You just have to look hard.”
He was close now, so close….
The chain slithered across the floor as Alec readied himself.