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“Let me through!” Darius’s command comes from down the street, followed by a puff of smoke and shouts of pain.
The demons nearest Main Street part, and Darius comes into view, jogging toward us.
He ducks under the crime scene tape and strides to my side, his gaze taking in the gory visuals in a sweeping glance. “What happened?”
About to respond, my phone vibrates with an incoming call, and I hold up a finger for him to wait while I answer. “What have you found?”
“Check your inbox.” The sound of the airport crowds in around Meredith. “I’ll be in my new office in forty minutes.”
“Thank you.” I hang up and open her email.
Inside, I find images from an autopsy. The first is labeled as Vicki’s uterus, and the second is Shawe’s liver, both with alien symbols branded in their flesh.
Darius peers over my shoulder. “That’s script from your people, Sharpe.”
My head jerks up. “Can you read it?”
Regretful, he shakes his head.
“Send it to me,” Sharpe commands, his phone already in his hand.
My gut tells me I know what the symbols mean, but I forward them to Sharpe for confirmation.
He sends them to Syl’vyn and receives a response right away. “Lust and wrath.”
My blood runs cold.
“The seven deadly sins.” Darius looks at Lethoba’s remains. “Gluttony?”
I nod, and Sharpe curses. “That means there will be four more.”
“A serial killer?” Darius’s lips thin. “One who controls a black dog?”
Sharpe turns his body toward us, his back to the gathered demons. “Syl’vyn warned me something was coming, but she wouldn’t say what. Just that I needed to work faster to master my magic. Do you think this is related?”
“I’m not sure.” I glance back at the crime scene. “This is already here. But it could be leading to something. There are a few legends and spells that involve sinners.”
“Call Flint. Even if this is about my people, the Conservatory library should have something that can help.” Sharpe’s worried gaze sweeps over the gathered demons. “We can’t have another Bone Man on our hands.”
My finger presses hard on Flint’s name, and ringing comes through the speaker before I lift it to my ear.
The ringing stops, and his teasing voice fills the line. “Hello, my love, did you enjoy your little escape from The Harbor last night?”
I did, until Marc and I got detoured by the police only to return to the Bone Yard and find a crime scene. “The black dog struck again, this time within our walls.”
“What’s going on?” The scrape of a chair sounds in the background. “Do you need me to come?”
“Yes, but first, we need you to look into something on your end.” I explain about the two new victims and the link to the seven deadly sins. “Sharpe thinks these deaths are leading to an event coming up. Look for something celestial. His people liked that kind of stuff.”
“The Fire Eclipse.” Flint delivers the answer without hesitation. “Reese has been waxing poetic about it for the last week. And if we’re talking fae, the only legend that comes to mind is the Wild Hunt. They’ll be hunting for sinners.”
“They ride with death, and the world burns.” Darius’s gaze meets mine, having eavesdropped with his superior hearing. “The prophet predicted this.”
“I’ll see what I can dig up about the Wild Hunt.” Grimness fills Flint’s voice. “In the meantime, you need to find a way to stop any more sinners from being sacrificed.”
“How do you expect me to do that?” My gaze meets the vibrant green eyes of an incubi. “The whole city is filled with sin.”
“I don’t know, but figure it out before we have an apocalypse on our hands.”
