Page 75 of Infernal Bindings

“I loved you,” I correct. “Past tense, Daemon. How many other times did you sleep-feed on me? How many times did you make me dream of you?”

“None. It was just that once.”

God, I wish I could believe him, but I can’t, and I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to trust him again.

“I’m not interested in playing games with you, Daemon. I want something real with someone I can actually trust. Did you kill Martha? Be honest. Because the grounding stone only resonates for you, and if I find out you brought me into that club for nothing… If I sacrificed my soul for nothing…” My voice cracks.

“I didn’t do it,” he says. “We already discussed the possibility that Salios could have puppeted my body—”

Before he can finish the sentence, the archdemon appears between us, and the wounds I’d been nursing fade as if they’d never been there at all. To my absolute disappointment, Salios still looks exactly like Daemon. I refuse to acknowledge why—refuse to accept that even now, after everything Daemon has done, I still want him more than anything else. It’s too fucked up, even for me.

Dressed in a white button-down and tailored black pants, Salios clasps his hands together. “I hope I wasn’t interrupting something,” he says sarcastically.

Rolling up his shirt sleeve, Salios exposes a red and gold wristwatch with Roman numerals for numbers. It gleams in the darkness, the minute hand tick-tick-ticking loud enough that it echoes. We watch in silence as it hits 12:17, exactly six days since I struck our bargain.

“Time’s up,” he says. “Annalise, do you have a name for me?”

As if he doesn’t already know.

My nose crinkles in irritation and revulsion. “You, asshole.”

The archdemon laughs—a full and throaty sound that makes me shiver. He throws his head back as if I’m the funniest person he’s ever met. When he’s done, Salios wipes a stray tear from the corner of his eye, though his lips remain twisted into a smirk.

“I can assure you, Annalise, I didn’t murder your Regent, nor did I order Daemon to. I’ve been every bit as interested in this murder investigation as you’ve been. I would have loved to see you prove those witches wrong. I take it you can’t?”

He didn’t do it.

The weight of those words settle into my bones.

If it wasn’t a witch, and it wasn’t an incubus from the club, then there’s only one possibility. I feel my heart shattering in real time, even as I fight the urge to call Salios a liar. But he has no reason to lie to me. He’s already won the wager.

Swallowing, I glance at Daemon, blinking back tears. Fuck him.

“Annie—” he whispers.

“Shhh,” Salios says. “It isn’t your turn to speak.”

He raises his hand and traces an invisible zipper over his lips. When Daemon opens his mouth next, no sound comes out. Sighing, the archdemon turns to me. “How disappointing for both of us,” he says. “To think one of my own demons would be responsible. It goes to show I’m not as feared as I once was. I’ll need to fix that.”

All I can do is stare and stare and stare at the man I once considered my best friend—my only friend. It feels like looking in a funhouse mirror, only now realizing the image he’s been casting is a distorted version of his true self.

Salios steps in front of me, temporarily blocking my line of sight. “It’s been a pleasure playing this game with you, Annalise. But rules are rules.” He snaps his fingers the same way Daemon does, and dark metal cuffs clamp down around Daemon’s wrists, ankles, and neck. “Angel blessed,” Salios explains, turning to him. “It’ll feel like you’re being flayed alive any time you try to cast a spell. Go ahead and try for me, Daemon.”

He hesitates.

“That’s an order.”

The second Daemon snaps his fingers, he collapses to the ground, writhing in pain. Soundless screams escape his mouth. Tears and snot cover his face as he twists from side to side, his skin red and puffy. Meanwhile, Salios picks at his fingernails.

Reflexively, I turn to help Daemon—unable to watch him hurting, even now—but the archdemon grabs my wrist. “No. This is his punishment. You won’t interfere.”

He cracks his neck from side to side. “Now, what to do with you, Annalise? I can’t let you go, not after so many demons saw you in my club. Normally, the witches who get caught here end up in the sleep rooms and fed on until they inevitably die.” Salios clicks his tongue. “But that won’t do with you. Not with my witch.”

The way he claims me sends spiders crawling up my skin. The wrist he’s holding glows brighter where the infernal tattoo is.

“Hmmm…” He thumbs the pink letters. “Do I kill you now and keep your soul in my castle? Do I keep you alive and torment you in other ways? Maybe in front of your lover? God, there are so many possibilities. What do you think, Daemon?”

Salios turns to him, who’s breathing heavy on the shadowy floor.