“Maybe I deserved it.”
“What are you talking about?”
Her heart thudded in her chest. “You said that you knew someone else in the Chambers.”
He pulled away, studying her. “Yes.”
“Was he an incubus like you?”
His eyes narrowed. “Yes. Did you see him?”
She nodded, hugging herself. “I saw him. Malphus. But he couldn’t get out of the chains. He’d been staked in the heart.”
Caine backed away, his eyes darkening. “Is he dead?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. I never saw him after that day. Josiah told me he was a murderer and a rapist. He even showed me the pictures.”
“Josiah lies.” His eyes flashed like storm clouds.
She tried to force back the tears. “Josiah said if we didn’t interrogate Malphus, it would lead to hundreds or thousands of human deaths. We hurt one to save many. A demon for many humans. It was simple math.”
“Math,” he repeated, his voice glacial. “That’s an interesting way of putting it.”
“You know him.” A hollow opened up in the pit of her stomach. “Who is he?”
“It’s none of your concern.”
Caine glared at her, his eyes cold, black pools.
The judgment on his face stoked her ire. “What are you on your high horse about? You seemed perfectly fine with torture a half hour ago when it was me in the chair.”
“When Josiah was interrogating you, you didn’t have a hawthorn stake jutting from your ribs.”
“Humans don’t need a hawthorn stake to feel the blows,” she shot back.
“And I would have stopped it before he did any serious damage. I would have got you out of there. Can you tell me the same for Malphus?” His voice sent a chill through her. “Is he even alive?”
“I have no idea, but I guess you could say when I interrogated Malphus, I was acting tactically. It is a war, after all. Isn’t that what you said?”
“Well, then.” Venom laced his voice. “If you plan to be strategic, you’d best get to work on your brilliant plan. And I really do hope it’s brilliant.”
Chapter 30
Over an hour later, and after three cups of coffee, she’d managed to piece together what she could remember of assembly languages. She was fairly certain her plan was brilliant.
Now, she needed to shove all the panic into her mental vault so she could focus—just like she was attempting to block out the open hostility radiating from Caine, who’d been pacing back and forth across the room like a caged animal for the entire hour.
She sat at the edge of the bed, laptop open. Before emailing Josiah, she glanced at the clock: 3:14 a.m. She’d set up the email to come from a burner account, [email protected]. In the subject heading, she typed “Info about Rosalind.” She clicked the paperclip, attaching a document called “Rosalind_location.docx.”
Only a lunatic would open a random file from a suspicious account, but Josiah probably fit that description. Her entire plan hinged on his fanatical need for control outstripping his judgment. The man was so desperate for revenge that he might not be able to restrain himself.
Once he opened the attachment, the worm she’d created would infect the system, allowing her to explore the network.
Her body buzzed with excitement—or possibly caffeine overload. If she’d gauged this right, she had the potential to gain control over the entire security system. Finally, all the time she’d spent listening to Professor Carroll’s monologues would actually pay off with a stunning takeover of the Chambers.
Caine paced over the floor, clearly riled by the inaction. “You realize that we can only rescue Aurora before the sun comes up, right? I think we should revisit Tammi’s suggestion to use explosives.”
“Explosions would risk killing the people we’re trying to save.”
“I want to kill people. And you want me to wait while you tap away with your fingers.”
“There’s a point to this. I’ve created a computer worm.” She took another sip of Orcus’s weird, herbal coffee. Ignoring Caine’s fierce glare, she opened Terminal and typed tail -F access.log.
“You’ve created a worm,” he repeated in a tone that said she’d lost her mind.
“The US government used something like this to hack into Iran’s nuclear centrifuges. The worm will install itself, giving me access beyond the firewall. Through the server, I’ll be able to command the system. I can survey the network to see what’s there. I’ll be able to figure out how to control the building.”
Caine rested his palms on the table, staring down at her. “You’re not talking about a literal wall of fire, are you? That was the only thing I could picture from what you just said.”