“Your supporters are loyal in the extreme,” Dougal said. “What’s to stop someone from coming to the duel in your place and then sacrificing himself with some kind of suicide bomb?”
Lugh thought about it for a moment before speaking. Apparently this was one contingency he had not previously considered. “You needn’t face me until one of your people has had a chance to confirm my identity.”
“Confirm that the demon who shows up is either you or Raphael, you mean.”
Lugh grinned. “Even if Raphael and I were on speaking terms at the moment, do you really imagine he would show up in my place? Since the plan is for your people to outnumber mine, it would be suicide for him. If you believe he would take a risk like that for anyone, then you clearly don’t know him as well as you think.”
Dougal conceded the point with a gracious nod. “It’s true I can’t imagine the little bastard sticking his neck out unless he felt sure no one was going to chop his head off. All right, so one of my people will confirm your identity before we begin, and when he has done so, I will enter the battlefield, as it were.”
He raised an eyebrow. “And we will fight each other with bare hands?” There was just the faintest hint of eagerness in his voice.
Lugh sighed. “No, I don’t suppose bare hands will work, since I’m sure your host is so … durable that disabling him enough for you to burn would be well-nigh impossible.”
Dougal didn’t try to hide his disappointment. “You have learned a lot about the experiments, haven’t you?”
Lugh ignored the comment. “We will have to use Tasers.”
“And whoever gets the first shot in is the winner.”
Lugh nodded. “We will need to have a pyre ready, since we both know Tasers don’t work as long on your lab-bred hosts as on human hosts.”
For a moment, Dougal looked irritated. Lugh obviously knew more about the superhosts than Dougal had hoped. He’d probably have a cow if he knew that Lugh’s host was a superhost himself. Then Dougal’s shoulders slumped slightly, and his gaze dropped to the table in front of him.
“We really mean to do this, then?” he asked quietly. “Really mean to condemn each other to death by fire?” He didn’t sound scared. He just sounded … sad.
Lugh’s jaw tightened. “Don’t pretend the thought distresses you! You’ve already tried to have me burned at the stake.”
“Yes, I have,” Dougal replied. “But I find thinking about doing it with my own two hands is a bit more
… troubling than merely ordering it done.” He met Lugh’s eyes. “Are you sure you can do it, brother?
Sure you could take my body, put it on a pyre, and let me burn?”
Lugh’s expression didn’t change. “Yes, I’m sure.”
Dougal’s face hardened, the melancholy fading as if it had never existed, which it probably hadn’t.
“Very well then. We have only to set a place and time.”
“Give me a contact number,” Lugh said, “and I will have Adam get in touch with you about the place. Once the place is set, we can choose the time.”
There was a little shuffling among Dougal’s minions until one of them came up with a piece of paper and a pen for Dougal to write his number down. Adam was very, very watchful, making sure no one reached for a weapon. I suppose he wasn’t as confident in the power of Lugh’s threat as Lugh was.
Once he had the contact number, Lugh rose without another word. The rest of us—who had not spoken at all during the war council—took that as a cue and rose with him. Adam stayed behind, guarding our backs, making sure we weren’t followed. And then we all went back to my apartment, where I was pretty damn sure Lugh’s council would have a lot to say.
twenty-seven
RAPHAEL STARTED THE FESTIVITIES AS SOON AS WE had my apartment door closed behind us. He grabbed Lugh’s arm, yanked him around, and got right up in his face.
“You are not dueling with Dougal!” he said, and though moments before he’d seemed cool and selfcontained, his eyes now glowed and it looked for all the world like he was considering throwing a punch.
Lugh’s eyes glittered strangely as he glared at Raphael. Andy was taller than Tommy, so Lugh had to look up to meet his brother’s eyes, but that didn’t reduce his air of authority.
“Let go of my arm, Raphael,” he said. He hadn’t raised his voice even a little bit, but it was a command, not a request.
“And if I don’t?”
Lugh rolled his eyes. “Don’t be childish. This isn’t helping the situation.”
Raphael gave Lugh a little shove when he let go of his arm, but Lugh didn’t retaliate. “Do you understand how many people will suffer if you ride out on your white horse and get yourself killed?”
“Of course I do,” Lugh answered mildly. “That’s why I don’t plan to get myself killed. Now why don’t you all sit down? I’ll tell you what I have in mind, and then we can shuffle hosts again so that Andrew doesn’t have to put up with you any longer than necessary.”
“Shouldn’t we call in the rest of the council now?” Adam asked.
“I promised Andrew his sentence would be as brief as I could make it,” Lugh said, drawing a scowl from Raphael. “You can call the rest of the council members later and fill them in.”
“All right,” I said, “let’s hear this plan of yours that’s going to let you duel with Dougal without getting yourself killed.”
Lugh pulled over a dining room chair and sat on it. Maybe he thought the straight-backed chair was more dignified—or more like a throne—than the sofa or love seat.
“When the time comes for the duel, we will switch hosts once more so that I am in Tommy’s body. I believe Dougal won’t dare cheat, so my chances against him should be fairly even.” Raphael opened his mouth as if he was about to interject something scathing, but one look from Lugh shut him up. “If I win, then our problems are solved.”
I was pretty sure that was an overstatement. Dougal had sent an awful lot of his supporters through to the Mortal Plain already, including who knew how many criminals and at least one demon who was powerful enough to be part of the official royal council. A change in leadership in the Demon Realm would have no effect on the demons who were already here. But killing Dougal would be a nice first step.
“But I have a contingency plan for what to do if I lose,” Lugh continued, and I’d almost describe that little smile of his as smug. He looked at Adam. “When you go looking for a location, make sure there are woods nearby. On the day of the duel, you’ll go to those woods early and find yourself a secure hiding place up in the branches. If Dougal Tasers me, you shoot my host.”
We all started talking at once, but Lugh held up his hands for silence.
“Let me finish,” he said, and we all subsided. “Morgan, you’ll be stationed here, at your apartment. If I should fall, Adam will send you a signal on the phone, and you’ll immediately begin the summoning ceremony. I will give you my True Name. You’ll be able to get me back to the Mortal Plain before any of Dougal’s people can manage it. We’ll be set up to move faster, because we’ll be expecting it.
“The situation will, obviously, not be optimal. Whoever is with me for the duel may well be killed by Dougal and his people when they figure out what has happened.” He looked at Raphael. “And we would not have Tommy Brewster to move Raphael back into, so he would have to remain with Andrew, at least until another alternative appears. But I will not be dead, and Dougal will not have the power of the throne.”
There was a long, painful silence as everyone chewed that over. I had to admit, it sounded like a pretty good cheat. The worst-case scenario still sucked, but it was not the utter disaster that Lugh’s death would be. And it was unlikely we were going to find a better way to kill Dougal.
“Do you have any idea how many things can go wrong with this clever plan of yours?” Raphael asked.
“What if Dougal’s people spot Adam? What if he can’t get a good shot? What if he does get a good shot, but it doesn’t kill Tommy? Remember, a superhost can take a bullet to the brain without dying. I’m not sure I know exactly what it would take to kill one.”