Biting Cold: A Chicagoland Vampires Novel (CHICAGOLAND VAMPIRES SERIES)

the fairy world—to power the spell that linked Dominic and Seth back together.”
    “That’s why she can’t leave her tower,” Ethan said.
    I nodded. “And Seth was the anchor that kept Dominic out of the Maleficium . That’s why it hurt. He was, quite literally, ripped away.”
    “It makes a kind of perverse sense,” Luc said. “You’d been twins before. It probably wasn’t difficult to reimagine the magic that made you twins again.”
    “Did you feel anything when it happened?” Paige asked. “When the Maleficium was completed and Dominic would have tried to rebond himself?”
    “There was pain,” Seth admitted. “Weakness. But we all thought that was the result of the separation of magic. Of good and evil. That division was artificial, and all supernatural beings felt the sting.”
    “Dominic undoubtedly wanted to lie low,” I said. “If he popped up too often or tried to control you outright, you’d have known what was up.”
    Seth nodded. “And I would have immediately found a sorcerer to rip him out again and force him into the Maleficium .”
    “And that would have put Dominic back at square one,” I said. “He had no incentive to make himself known.” It also explained why Dominic was so eager to let Mallory do her thing. She was his first real chance in centuries to get out.
    “But Dominic is the only one who split when the book was finally triggered. Why only him?” Paige asked. “Surely others tried the same thing. Why didn’t the Maleficium release all of them?”
    “There may have been others,” I agreed. “But Dominic is the only one who actually touched the book when it happened.”
    Seth nodded. “Any other demons who didn’t bond would have been pulled into the Maleficium in the first place and were destroyed when it was. Or they were bonded to their twins and weren’t able to escape as Dominic was because they didn’t have contact with the Maleficium .”
    “So what do we do?” Jeff asked.
    “We fight him,” I said. “It’s the only thing we can do.”
    I pulled out the wooden token Claudia had given me and handed it to Seth. “This is his sigil. We can use it to summon him to a battlefield of our choosing. When we call him, he must appear.”
    “Correct,” Seth said, looking over the sigil. “But we’ll need supplies.”
    “I’ll get help with that,” Paige said. “I know a bit about summoning, and the tools you use can make a big difference in the operation of the magic.”
    Seth nodded. “We can certainly make him appear, but then what?”
    “I will fight him.”
    We all looked at Ethan.
    “I owe him one,” he said. But before I could object, he held up a hand. “I know the arguments you will make, Sentinel, and while I’m sure you would have made them well, this fight is mine. There will be no discussion. There will be no debate.” His eyes narrowed. “He has brought this battle on himself, and I mean to see it through.”
    “All due respect, Liege,” Luc said, “but Jonah and Merit together couldn’t take him out with two swords. A few nicks and cuts aren’t going to do it. Hell, a few slices and stabs aren’t going to do it. The man can fly, and he made Merit disappear just by touching her. I’m not objecting to your doing the deed, but we have to even up the odds.”
    Ethan and I looked at each other. I had a duty to object, but he seemed to understand my objection even if I didn’t voice it to him or the rest of them. That said, it was easy to see that he needed the battle. And if that’s what he needed, far be it from me to stand in his way.
    But I’d certainly stand by his side.
    I looked at Ethan. “If the odds are bad, we even the odds.”
    He gave me a smile that curled my toes. “And how do you propose we do that, Sentinel?”
    “He’d be easier to fight as a toy poodle. Or a dire badger,” I jokingly added, then looked at Paige. “Got any spells for that?”
    “Yes, we do,” she said.
    I frowned. “Seriously? You can make him a toy poodle?”
    “No, I meant more generally. If we can’t fight him the way he is because he’s too strong, let’s make him less strong. Let’s take away his magic. Let’s make him human. Or more human, anyway.”
    Ethan’s expression lifted. “Can that be done?”
    Before Paige could answer, the clock in Ethan’s office suddenly chimed, striking twelve.
    It was midnight—the witching hour and the time for Darius’s meeting.
    “Time is short for all of us,” Ethan