“A what?”
He nodded toward my arm. “A demon who can recite the incantations to raise the map. And he’s a servant of Penemue. That gives him special insight.”
“What’s it going to be, Lily? You do your job—do what you were made to do—or your sister dies.”
I drew in a breath, prolonging the moment. But there was never any doubt. How could there be when Rose’s life was on the line? “Fine,” I said. “I’m in.”
“No.” Deacon reached out and grabbed my upper arm so firmly I feared for finger-sized bruises. “You can’t do this.”
I cut my gaze toward Rose. “Yeah. I can.”
“We’re going to talk,” he said. “Alone.”
On the bed, Johnson chuckled. “Go on, then. I’ll stay here, toying with your sister’s life.”
“Are you crazy?” I hissed, as soon as the motel door closed behind us.
He held up a finger instead of answering, then moved us down the walkway to the stairs. Only after we’d made our way to the brownish green pool did he speak.
“You cannot do this,” he said.
“Watch me.” I turned to walk away, but he grabbed my arm and jerked me back. I countered, taking my free arm and landing a solid uppercut on his jaw. His head snapped back, and when he steadied himself, his face was contorted with fury.
“Do not push me, Lily. Not now. Not about this.”
“Ditto,” I said, my blood boiling and my body thrumming. I was itching for a fight. Itching to smash Lucas Johnson’s face in. But if I couldn’t have him, maybe Deacon was the next best thing.
“Two weeks,” Deacon said. “The convergence is in two weeks. What happened to us locking the gate?”
“What happened?” I repeated, my voice rising in bafflement. “Try Lucas Johnson. He happened.”
“Dammit, Lily, we’re meant to lock the gate.”
I shook my head. “Hold up there, cowboy. You may have had a vision about us locking the Ninth Gate, Deacon, but that’s been all shot to hell.”
“No—”
“Yes,” I said. “Visions aren’t the future, dammit. They’re a possible future. A possible future that I completely screwed up when I destroyed the Box of Shankara.”
“I don’t accept that. We can still lock the Ninth Gate. We can lock all the gates.”
I ran my fingers through my hair, completely frustrated. “Dammit, Deacon, you said yourself this super-lock is only a legend. We don’t even know that it exists.”
“There are other ways, too, Lily. There are ways to lock each of the gates.”
“Yeah? How?” He was silent, and I raved on. “That’s what I thought. So don’t talk to me about chasing some damned phantom. Not when my sister’s life is on the line.”
“It’s the Apocalypse, Lily. Everyone’s life is on the line.”
“That’s the point! We don’t have time to play games. At least if I get this Oris Clef, then we’ll have something to bargain with. You think I’m going to give it over to a lunatic like Johnson? Or even to Clarence? I’m not. But I need time to figure out how to get that bastard out of my sister.”
“I can’t let you do this, Lily.”
“Dammit, Deacon, I don’t have a choice.”
“You always have a choice.”
I planted my feet and shifted my stance, my arms crossed tight over my chest. “Fair enough,” I said. “I choose Rose. I’m not failing her again.”
“Lily—”
“No.” I held up a hand, cutting him off. “You figure out what the lock is, where it is, how we find it, and we can have this argument again. Until then . . .” I drew in a breath. “Until then, I guess I’m a goddamned double agent.”
“You’re playing right into their hands.”
“I have to,” I said. “If I don’t, Rose is dead.” And at the end of the day, that was the bottom line. If I didn’t help Johnson, my sister would die. To me, that made this a total no-brainer. Everything else was just window dressing.
“You don’t get it, do you?” Deacon retorted. “She’s dead anyway if we don’t shut the gate. Kokbiel and Penemue—you don’t want to be in their cross fire. They’re strong. Stronger than you can imagine.”
I lifted my chin. “Then I’ll have to make myself stronger still.”
He shook his head. “Not even possible. Not even if you killed every demon that already walks the earth. And once you have the pieces for the key, there will be no bargaining. No winning. Only death and failure. Accept it,” he said. “Rose is collateral damage. Accept it, and help me find the only key that matters.”