Foreman rubbed his eyes, wiping away some tears. “Because he lied to me. He lied to a lot of people. I supported him in the beginning, but I didn’t know he actually planned to kill the king. I just thought he was taking advantage of Lugh’s absence to arrange things more to his liking. He tricked me into throwing in with him until I was in too deep to back out.”

Adam suddenly looked a lot more … intense. “He lied to you personally, you mean. You’re not just some peon.”

Foreman blew out a breath. “I am now. But yes, I know Dougal. At least, I thought I did. I used to consider him my friend. But his only true friend right now is his ambition, and he’s making that more and more clear as the water gets hotter.”

“What do you mean, ‘as the water gets hotter’?”

Bitterness and anger did wonders to calm Foreman’s fear. “Dougal never made any contingency plans for what he would do if the coup failed—or at least didn’t succeed on his first attempt. He made a lot of promises to a lot of people, but without the power of the throne behind him, he can’t keep them.”

“What kind of promises are we talking about?”

Foreman grimaced. “He promised a lot of people that we would move them to the front of the waiting list to go to the Mortal Plain, for one thing. That’s how he got Alexander to throw in with him.”

Adam’s face registered shock. “He has a council member in his pocket?”

“He did,” Foreman agreed.

Lugh let out a quiet sigh. Remember when I decided to form my council on the Mortal Plain? I told you I feared some of my official council members would side with Dougal. Apparently, I was right.

“But Alexander got cold feet a few weeks back,” Foreman continued. “He insisted Dougal let him leave for the Mortal Plain, or he’d take the conspiracy public. Dougal had no choice but to let him go, but without Alexander, he can’t get the council to vote his way all the time anymore.”

“And that’s making the rest of his coconspirators nervous,” Adam said.

“Yeah. It was bad enough when Raphael betrayed him, but Alexander’s defection could turn out to be the last straw if Dougal isn’t careful. That’s why he sent some of us to the Mortal Plain to try to find more hosts so he can make the waiting list shorter. He hopes it’ll appease some of his supporters for a little while. I don’t know how well that’s working for him.”

Adam chewed that over for a minute, looking puzzled. “We talked to one of those newly arrived demons the other day.”

“I know.”

I think we all must have been wearing our thoughts on our faces, because Foreman paled and held up his hands as if to ward off a blow.

“I didn’t have anything to do with what happened to her!” he said in a voice tight with fear. “That was Julius. He said he needed to discourage the others from talking too much.”

Adam gave him a look of disgust, but soldiered on. “She said she was a prisoner. She was freed and then told to jump the line.”

Foreman nodded. “That was another promise Dougal made, to free some prisoners who were friends and family of his supporters. But once Alexander left and the council started being difficult, Dougal couldn’t show such blatant favoritism without being blocked. So he pardoned a bunch of jumpers who’d served at least half their sentences, using them as camouflage for the ones he’d promised to free.”

Adam decided to stop looming and sat on the floor facing Foreman. I guess he was trying to develop some kind of rapport.

“What’s your name?” Adam asked. “I mean your name, not your host’s name.”

Foreman stared at his hands. “William.”

Both Raphael and Saul started, and I realized they knew him.

“William?” Adam repeated, sounding somewhere between surprised and appalled.

William nodded. “Yes, that William.”

“Shit!” Adam said, with feeling, and I couldn’t keep my mouth shut anymore. The curiosity was killing me.

“Who the hell is William? And why are you all so upset?” I asked.

William looked up at me and frowned. “How can you not know who I am?” he asked, and I realized he’d made the natural assumption that everyone here was a demon. Apparently, any demon should have recognized the name.

“Not everyone in this room is possessed,” I answered.

William gaped at Adam. “You’ve brought humans into this?”

“The humans have the biggest stake of us all in what happens, so yes. And believe me, I don’t require your approval.”

“Is someone going to answer my question?” I asked. Care to give me a hint, Lugh? I added silently.

They’ll tell you, and then Dominic can hear, too.

Adam was shaking his head. “He’s one of the royal cousins.” He turned his attention back to William.

“That’s why you tried to shoot me. You were afraid I’d arrest you and that no one would be able to exorcize you.”

William nodded, his eyes going wide and his fists clenching in what I recognized as renewed terror.

“You said they threatened to report you. Why?”

William shuddered. “I raised too much of a fuss when they killed that demon, Shae. I was a fool. Dougal had already shown me I had no way out anymore. I should have just kept my mouth shut.”

Raphael pushed away from the wall and came to sit beside Adam, his legs crossed. Apparently Saul was too interested in what William had to say to remember he was supposed to Taser his father if he tried to interfere.

“There’s always a way out,” Raphael said, his voice soft and soothing. I blinked in surprise. Raphael flat-out didn’t do soothing. “If you help me quell my brother’s rebellion, I can promise you a royal pardon.”

Everyone in the room gasped, and William’s eyes went saucer-wide, this time with surprise, not fear.

“What are you doing?” Adam cried, looking at Raphael like he’d sprung a second head.

“Lugh?” William asked, and there was something very like reverence in his voice.

“In the flesh,” Raphael answered with a gentle smile.

WE WERE ALL SHOCKED SPEECHLESS. WHAT THE hell was Raphael up to now? I silently asked Lugh that question, and his response was Your guess is as good as mine.

It wasn’t exactly the first time Raphael had veered away from the official plan, but this was far more drastic than any of his previous deviations. I couldn’t imagine where he was planning to go with it. I had a momentary temptation to argue with him, but I had little trouble squelching it. Whatever Raphael was up to, he’d committed us all to that course of action when he’d opened his mouth. I heartily wished we hadn’t brought him along.

“Now that we’ve been reunited, cousin,” Raphael said, “tell me what you’re doing on the Mortal Plain acting as my brother’s stalking horse.”

William shook himself, and it seemed to effectively disperse whatever clouds were in his mind. “How do I know that you’re really Lugh?” he asked. “For all I know, you could be one of Dougal’s people trying to hammer the final nail in my coffin.”

Raphael smiled, and there was just a hint of condescension in his voice when he spoke. “If I were one of Dougal’s people, the lid would already be firmly nailed shut. But you can examine my aura if you don’t believe me. And I can examine yours at the same time.”

Neither Saul nor Adam looked surprised at Raphael’s offer, but Dominic and I shared a puzzled glance.

Our auras are too indistinct on the Mortal Plain for us to recognize each other with absolute confidence, Lugh explained. Der Jäger’s ability to distinguish auras on the Mortal Plain was part of what made him so extraordinary. But we can sense each others’ power to some degree. William will know from Raphael’s aura that he is one of the royal brothers. Dougal would be able to tell the two of us apart even on the Mortal Plain, but William will not.