We were treading on thin ice. In our haste to reclaim her, we lost her again—and this time we didn’t have one of her familiars handy to track her down.

No matter. We had someone better.

Sin may not be able to instantly find our girl like a familiar could, but she also wouldn’t step out on us at the first failure, and as much as I wanted to flay Rysten for going against the plan—someone had to keep us together. Over four thousand years and we’d never had a true division amongst ourselves. As much as I wanted my mate back, perhaps we needed this.

I glanced over at Julian. The necromancer spoke in a low voice with his back turned, the volatile cold inside of him seeping into New Orleans itself. We needed to find Ruby, but I had to wonder if perhaps my little she-demon wasn’t so far gone. Wonder if the beast had known that her leaving would be the thing that would finally spur Julian to make a decision.

He wanted her back as much as the rest of us, if not more.

And in the end, it would make all the difference. We were united now, in our search, our cause, and our reasoning.

Julian hung up the phone and leaned against the granite countertop of the apartment. The beast had trashed a good portion of the first one in her escape. Fortunately, we’d bought the entire building. Relocating to the floor below had only taken a matter of minutes.

“What did she have to say?” I asked him, angling the glass of scotch in my hand. It refracted a face behind me as a woman stepped out of nothing.

She smiled at me in the reflection.

“Hello, Sinumpa,” I said cordially.

We had a complicated history. Made more so by her mother. As some of the longest living immortals in both worlds, you ended up running into each other once every hundred years or so.

“Long time no see, Allistair,” she replied with a Cheshire smile. Her white hair swayed gently in the air conditioning. The ends were still purple, much like the last time I’d seen her.

“I much prefer this look on you,” I said. Our banter always came easily, even if seeing her was anything but.

“Last I saw, you had your eyes on the child you’re supposed to be protecting.” Her voice lashed at me like a whip, but it missed its mark.

“Ruby is not a child. She’s your Queen.” Her smirk didn’t falter at my reply as she wiggled an eyebrow.

“When you’ve lived as long as us, most things in the world are children. Your mate will only live to be the true Queen if she survives the Six Sins. You should know that.”

So, she did know Ruby and I were at least partially mated. Good. That would make this easier, although I didn’t appreciate her reminder about the Sins because I was painfully aware of it already. It was yet another reason to make sure her bonds with each of us were cemented before we arrived in Hell. Without them, the Sins might actually break her.

“That’s why we need your assistance,” Julian broke in. Impatient. He paced back and forth, his hands clenching and unclenching. I knew that Sin saw this in a matter of moments by the way her grin turned vicious.

He was unhinged, and that provided her with an opportunity.

She always was her mother’s daughter.

“What you need is enough magic to bind and contain the most powerful she-demon to ever transition. Do not attempt to insult or lowball me, Death. The cost for this will be steep.”

I knew what he was going to say before the words left his mouth. It was the only reason I had held off on telling any of them, especially him, that I already knew she was in town. A tangle with Sin was never cheap, and one never came away unscathed.

“Anything for her. I’ll pay it.”

I looked away. It was never good when you let another immortal know the single piece to use against you, and Julian was making no attempt to hide it in his desperation. He wanted our girl back.

We all did.

And that’s why none of us stopped him.

“Excellent. Let’s get started.”