I purse my lips and as I take another drink. I don't disagree with Fen, but I hate that after so many years of immortal life, their family is falling apart and going to war because of me.
"Be that as it may, I've taken the liberty of increasing security here," Sly says. "No one gets in without my permission."
"So we're safe?" I ask.
Sly nods.
But Fen doesn't look convinced. "There are always ways to get to someone," he says.
"That is true," Sly says. "I can only control The Black Lotus. Are you vulnerable in other ways?" he asks, addressing me.
"What do you mean?"
"Is there anyone else Levi can use to get to you?"
Blood drains from my face as his meaning settles into me. "My mother," I whisper. "He could go after my mother's body at the hospital."
Fen shakes his head. "Won't happen. The contract protects her. Levi can't break the contract."
I let out a deep breath. "Are you sure?"
Fen and Dean both nod.
"Okay then. That's good. But… what about my friends? Es and Pete?"
Sly shrugs as he pulls out a cigar from his black silk robes and lights it. "In his position, I would target them."
The smell of pine and smoke fill the room as Sly puffs on his cigar. It's a musky scent, but not unpleasant.
"I need to warn them."
Dean shakes his head. "And what good would that do? Your friends know how to fight a Prince of Hell?"
My hand tightens around my drink, my brain scrambling for ideas. "Can they come here? For protection?"
"No," Fen says.
"Of course," Sly says, cutting him off with a smile and a flourish of his hand. "For a price."
Fen looks at me. "Don't bring them here. It's not worth it. Sly always takes more than he gives."
Sly clutches at his chest. "Please… you wound me."
I ignore him and turn to Fen. "Can you promise me they will be safe if I don't?" I ask.
I see him struggling to answer, because I know what he will say if he's being honest, and he knows what I will do with that answer. Finally, he speaks. "No."
"Then I have no choice." I look at Sly. "I will owe you a favor, if you keep my friends safe until the threat against me is eliminated."
Sly claps his hands and grins from ear to ear. "Wonderful. You must summon them at once then."
I nod. "Great. How? Do you have some kind of portal or spell I can use?"
"Oh darling! We aren't in your prince's Middle-earth anymore," he says, reaching into one of the many hidden compartments of his robes. "We have cell phones here."
I look down at the shiny silver device he hands me, enjoying the smooth polish of glass and metal. It seems like so long ago that this was a daily part of my life. I turn it on and type in Es's number first. When she answers, all I hear is the sound of shouting.
"You best be getting your ass out of here if you know what's good for you," Es yells in her fake southern accent to someone in the background.
A man lets out a string of expletives, and I hear glass shattering. Someone calls for a broom.
"Es? Hello?" Did she even mean to answer or have I been butt-answered? Is butt-answering a thing? I imagine it must be. The opposite of butt-dialed.
"Hello, one moment. I'll be right with you," she says into the phone, before she continues shouting at whoever crossed her.
She's on speaker, and all the guys in the room listen to the exchange with a range of facial expressions. Sly is entertained. Fen bemused. Dean amused.
"Thank you for holding," Es says. "Some twat-weasel thought he could stiff us the cost of his meal and harass the staff, all in one glorious hour. He's now on the Wall of Shame. Who's this?"
"Es, it's Ari. I'm in Portland—"
"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!" Her pitch rises in decibels that threaten to blow my eardrums. "Ari. Where are you? How are you? Where have you been? I've been so worried about you. You've been gone longer than normal."
That's true, I realize. My time in the dungeon was extensive. It felt like a lifetime. "I have a lot to tell you, but first I need you and Pete to pack a bag and let your jobs know you had an emergency come up. I'm sending a car for you."
There's a pause, where all I hear is her breathing. Finally she speaks. "Ari, what the hell is going on?"
"I’ll tell you everything when you get here. I just need you to trust me. I'm in danger, and you might be too. Because of me."
"Everything? You'll tell me every goddamn thing? No secrets? No lies? No half truths or evasions like last time?"
I suck in a breath, make eye contact with Fen, who nods, and answer her. "Yes. Everything. Just be ready."
Sly has already sent a driver to the address I gave him when I hang up the phone and hand it back to him.
"Thank you, Sly. I appreciate this."
"You're more than welcome. I look forward to discovering what kind of favor I can extract from one as talented and lovely as you," Sly says.
Fen growls under his breath, and for a moment I wonder what I've gotten myself into, but I can't worry about that now. The most important thing is that my friends will be safe.
"They should be here within the hour," Sly says. "Do they know about… them?" he asks, with a raised eyebrow at the princes.