But then I felt the rise of demon magic all around us, like a foul breeze.
“Incoming demon magic,” I warned. “Everybody back!”
I pulled Gwen back with me, and Connor and Theo moved in the same direction.
The demon’s brow knit as if in confusion, and he looked down at his feet, which had begun to smoke.
“The fuck?” he asked, and stamped his feet to put out the flame.
But it wasn’t human flame. It was magic. And it had smoke flowing off his body, a precursor of the line of white-hot fire that followed it. That line raced upward, leaving copper ash in its wake, until the only things left were his horrified eyes and pompadour. And then they were incinerated, too, and he was metallic dust on the ground.
“What the fuck?” Gwen said softly.
There was a scream, and we all looked at the other two demons, whose boots had begun to smoke. In seconds—two or three—they were both gone. And the attack was repeated on the bodies of the demons who’d died in the fight, so the only things left on the battlefield were piles of shimmering ash and smoke and broken things.
For a good ten seconds, we stood in complete silence.
“All my fucking evidence,” Gwen said finally, “literally up in smoke.”
“Demon smoke,” I said.
“I guess the upstart didn’t want his minion naming names,” Theo agreed. “And that magic traveled.”
“Contagion,” Connor said.
“So, let’s go see the demon we know,” I said. “And we will make him talk.”
* * *
Gwen would stay at the scene to canvass for human witnesses and oversee the collection of what evidence remained. Connor, Theo, and I took the Pack’s SUV to the Gold Coast and the former Buckley condo. I had to put Lulu out of my mind for now and look at the big picture.
“So, Dante isn’t the only major demon player in town,” I said,thinking aloud. “He and this ‘upstart’ are…what, vying for the same territory? Is this a Sharks and Jets situation?”
“A who and what?” Theo asked.
“Sharks and Jets. Gangs fighting inWest Side Story—the musical.”
“With the dancing?”
“With the dancing.”
“Least the demons could do is add a little soft-shoe to the bloodshed,” he murmured.
“Someone doesn’t seem to like Dante’s plan,” Connor said, “and is willing to fight him in public in order to stop it.”
“Not him,” I pointed out. “Only his minions.”
“Generals aren’t usually on the front line,” Connor said.
“Point,” I said.
“Maybe there’s something related to the buildings where they fought,” Theo said. “We know Dante is big on property. I’ll have Petra take a look.” He pulled out his screen.
“Presuming the minions got the ‘upstart’ moniker from Dante,” Connor said, “Dante doesn’t think she’s been in business as long as he has.”
“Or looking at it the other way, maybe Dante isn’t starting his empire from scratch. Maybe he’s just relocating one. If he wants to play boss here, maybe he wasn’t able to play boss the way he wanted in his hometown.”
“New York,” Theo said.
