Raphael’s eyes widened as his gaze locked with Lugh’s.

“Please don’t send me back,” Raphael said in a choked whisper. “You know what Dougal will do to me. Please!”

What the hell. .?

Lugh’s aura continued to push against Raphael’s, but there was no resistance. Just a little bit more pressure, and Raphael would be shoved back into the Demon Realm. And my brother would be free.

Raphael lay still under Lugh’s body. . under my body. There was still no resistance against the pressure of Lugh’s aura, and it finally occurred to me that there was no resistance because Raphael wasn’t fighting back.

“You’re going to make it this easy?” Lugh inquired, his voice calm despite the ugly temper that had prompted the attack.

Raphael swallowed hard. “If one of us is going back, it has to be me. Dougal would kill you, and then it would all have been for nothing.” He closed his eyes and waited. Sweat dewed his face, and his breath came short and frantic, but still he didn’t fight.

Lugh’s aura retreated and he rolled off of Raphael. Raphael just lay there, eyes closed, body tense. Lugh righted the chair he’d knocked over, then grabbed Raphael’s arm, hauled him to his feet, and deposited him in the chair. Then he sat on the edge of the bed again and just stared until Raphael opened his eyes.

The staring contest seemed to go on forever. I had no idea what was going on, what Raphael was thinking, what Lugh was thinking. But I watched through Lugh’s eyes as Raphael’s fear faded to puzzlement, then to understanding, then to fury.

“You bastard!” he spat, and it looked like he was holding himself in the chair by force of will alone. “That was some kind of test, wasn’t it? A test of my loyalty?”

“If you’re to be in my inner circle, if I’m to trust you, then I had to know for certain you’re on my side.”

To my shock, Raphael’s eyes glittered with what looked like a hint of tears. “And that’s what it took for me to prove my worth?” His voice was hoarse, and there was no missing the pain in it. I’d sometimes mistrusted Raphael’s emotions in the past, never sure he wasn’t just acting. This time, I was sure he wasn’t.

Lugh reached out to pat his brother’s shoulder. Raphael actually flinched from the touch.

“Ask yourself this, little brother,” Lugh said. “Given everything that’s at stake, would I have taken the risk of fighting you if I really thought you’d fight back? You may think me arrogant, but surely you don’t think I’m so arrogant as to assume I’d win.”

Raphael blinked and shook his head. “But then why. .?”

“Because I’m not the only one who needed to be convinced.”

Well, shit. That whole show had been for me? I hadn’t been Raphael’s favorite person before, and this wouldn’t do anything to endear me to him.

Raphael thought about that for a long time without saying anything. Then he nodded. “I can’t say I appreciate your methods, but I understand. What happens now that I’ve passed your test?”

“Did you truly tell Morgan everything you know about the Houston project?” I’m sure Raphael could hear the skepticism in Lugh’s voice as well as I could.

Raphael’s shoulders stiffened, but he answered civilly enough. “Yes, I did. There are at least thirty-five or forty facilities scattered throughout the world. I know very little about their day-to-day operations.”

“Am I really supposed to believe that when you were so intimately involved with the project at The Healing Circle?”

Raphael visibly bristled. “I thought I’d just passed your test of loyalty. Apparently, I was mistaken.”

“I believe in your loyalty,” Lugh said with a sardonic smile. “Your honesty, however, is still very much in question.”

To my surprise, Raphael laughed at that. “You’ll make a good king if we can ever get you back on the throne,” he said, and there was no longer any animosity in his voice.

“I’m glad you think so. Now, about the Houston facility. .”

Raphael heaved an exaggerated sigh. “I’m telling the truth, hard though that might be for you to believe. The Healing Circle was something of a pet project for me.”

“But you were overseeing the campaign to breed a better host,” Lugh protested. “You were in charge of the whole thing!”

Raphael shook his head. “Dougal was in charge. I was merely his emissary to the Mortal Plain.”

I didn’t believe him, and I don’t think Lugh did, either. But it seemed there was little point in pushing the issue any further. Raphael wasn’t going to admit the lie. But I’m sure Lugh was as curious as I about just what his brother was hiding this time.

“All right,” Lugh said, though I’m sure Raphael heard the hint of skepticism in his voice. “I’ll accept that you don’t know what was happening in the Houston facility. But you must have known who was in charge. Surely there was some communication between the facilities?”

“Why are you so interested in Houston anyway? Nothing that happened there is important in the grand scheme of things. What’s important is figuring out how to outwit Dougal.”

But Lugh shook his head. “Figuring out what he was up to on the Mortal Plain, and what progress he made, is also important to me. We’ve allowed ourselves to interfere with humans too much already while our monarchs have kept themselves blissfully ignorant. I won’t allow that to continue during my reign. So contact some of your old friends in the breeding business and find out what was happening at the Houston facility. I want to know why Tommy Brewster is so important that a demon would take the risk of possessing him illegally under such suspicious circumstances.”

“Aren’t you forgetting something? I’m an outlaw at the moment, in as much danger from Dougal and his supporters as you are. My contacts have all dried up.”

“Like hell they have. Or are you telling me that Dougal has the means and the desire to inform every demon on the Mortal Plain that you are no longer his sidekick?”

From the look of him, Raphael was about to explode with frustration, but he managed to keep it under control. “Fine,” he said, his voice flat. “I’ll see what I can find out, and I’ll report back to you. Do you have any other orders, Your Majesty?” With that flat voice, it was hard to tell if the honorific was meant as sarcasm or as a term of respect. At least it was hard for me to tell. Lugh would know if it was traditional for his brothers to address him by title, but he wasn’t letting on one way or another.

“Only to be kind to Andrew, no matter how much you dislike him.”

Lugh stood up, and Raphael did, too. They had another one of their staring contests, and I had no idea what either one was thinking.

Um, Lugh? If you’re all done, can I have my body back? I asked. I’d been interested enough in their conversation to forget for a while just how uncomfortable it was to have Lugh in control, but it was coming back to me fast. It took a lot of willpower to keep myself from trying to break free of his control.

Lugh didn’t answer me, but he held out his hand. Raphael stared at him for another second, then shook the offered hand and nodded.

“I’m glad we had this little talk,” Raphael said, and once again I couldn’t tell if he was being sarcastic.

Lugh made a little snorting sound that could have been agreement, amusement, or disdain. Then he jerked Raphael forward and gave him one of those back-thumping hugs men are so fond of. Raphael stiffened for a moment, then responded in kind.

It was all very touching, but I was getting more and more antsy as every second ticked away. I wanted control back, and I wanted it now. I lost the battle against my nerves, and found myself trying to close my mental doors without any conscious will.

And then suddenly, Lugh was gone, and my body was my own once more. I could tell from the frost in Raphael’s eyes that he’d noticed the difference immediately. He and Lugh might have made some kind of peace with one another, but that didn’t mean things were all right between the two of us.