“Answer my questions, and I’ll set this young man down,” he said. “I assure you I don’t usually make war on children.”

She did not trust him, but she had little choice. “What do you want to know?”

“What are you doing here?”

She searched wildly for an answer he would believe. “It was cold, and we needed shelter for the night.”

“There’s not much shelter here with that window broken.” His gaze was on her face, reading her expression. He didn’t believe her, she realized in despair. She had never been good at lying. He continued. “Perhaps you’re a thief. Perhaps you came in here to see what you could steal. It wouldn’t be-”

“Marianna wouldn’t steal,” Alex said belligerently. “She only wanted to see the window, but it was gone. She would never-”

“Hush, Alex,” she said sharply. It wasn’t Alex’s fault. He was only defending her and didn’t know the importance of the Jedalar.

“The window?” He glanced up over his shoulder. “Hell yes, it’s gone.” That terrible anger twisted his face again. “Bastards! I wanted that window.”

He wanted the Window to Heaven. Then he must be one of them! “Who… who… are you?”

His gaze narrowed on her face. “Not Mephistopheles, as you seem to think. Who do you think I am?”

She moistened her lips. “I think you belong to the Duke of Nebrov.”

“I belong to no one.” His lips tightened. “Certainly not to that whoreson bastard. I don’t- Ouch!”

Alex’s teeth had sunk into his hand.

Marianna tensed, prepared to spring if he retaliated against the boy.

But he merely shook off the boy’s teeth. “It seems the cub is also fierce.”

“He’s afraid. Let him down.”

“I’ll strike a bargain with you. I’ll put him down if you promise not to run away.”

He had seemed sincere in his dislike of the duke, but that didn’t mean he was not the enemy. He wanted the Window. “You put him down and let him leave us, and I’ll not run away.”