“Everyone get back,” I whispered, slipping into the cell with them and sliding the bars shut. The sound of the electronic lock snicking back into place pissed me off, but we didn’t have a lot of options.
I’d be able to get the lock open again. Dead guards and eyeballs were a dime a dozen in this place. I just had to focus on the immediate crisis first—six angry, ‘roided up hunters barreling down the corridor.
I ducked into the darkest part of the cell, crouching in the shadows, hoping they wouldn’t spot me. The witches sat in front of me, blocking me from view just as the guards filed in.
“What the fuck happened down here?” one of them demanded. He crouched down in front of the body I’d left. “Benson? Jesus Christ.”
“Who did this?” another guard bellowed.
The witches pretended to cower. “It… it was the demon,” one of them said. “He was terrifying. He came down here to attack us. We called for help, and Benson came, but then the demon attacked him.”
I couldn’t believe the guards were buying this shit, but the lead guy turned to the others and said, “Split up. Find that incubus, or we’re going to have a hell of a lot more than three dead guards on our hands.” Then, to the witches, “You little cunts shut your whore mouths.”
“Wait!” McKenna cried. “You can’t leave us in here with that… that monster on the loose. Unlock the bars at least!”
He stepped up close, snarling. It was all I could do not to bolt for the bars and claw out his fucking eyes.
“Be grateful you’re in there,” he said. “If that incubus catches you outside the bars, you’re gonna die with his dick up your ass, wishing Jon had letmefuck you instead.”
Ooh, I’m gonna like killing you, fuckhole.
With those parting words and a final sneer, he left, presumably to go find the big scary incubus.
The instant he was gone, I was back on my feet.
“On a scale of one to ten,” Yellow Eyes asked me, “how fucked are we?”
I considered the question. “Is ten the good end or the bad?”
“Ten is the most fucked.”
“In that case, we’re about a three. Maybe four,” I said. “But hey, an hour ago you were an eight at least. Now you’ve got your very own demon—who, for the record, is actually a pretty decent guy, despite the smear campaign—a few weapons, a comm device, whatever else we can get off Benson’s dead ass, and—”
“Anda shadowmancer.” Reva stepped out of the darkness at the back of the cave, grinning up at me like she was the only one in on a big, juicy secret. “I’ve got an idea.”
Twenty-One
Emilio
Someone was watching me.
It didn’t feel sinister, exactly, but even as I jogged through the desolate woods behind Elena’s house, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I wasn’t alone.
I tried to tell myself it wasn’t an omen.
It’d been days since Ronan and Darius had left for Vegas and the hell portal, and I was doing everything I could to stay focused on the case instead of worrying about them. Despite the cooperation from my sister’s team, none of our leads had panned out. The hunters in town were lying low, and there hadn’t been any dark fae sightings in days. We were no closer to finding Asher and the witches than we were to finding a cure for death.
I wouldn’t hear news from the Shadowrealm until my brothers returned. And if they didn’t return, well… I supposed I’d get a message from Liam one way or the other eventually.
But eventually was always a long damn time away when you were waiting for news about someone you cared about.
As far as we knew, no other witches had been reported missing or dead anywhere in the Pacific Northwest. But according to my guys back home, the situation in Blackmoon Bay was rapidly deteriorating, with vampire turf wars and shifter skirmishes breaking out all over the city. Illuminae, the fae club where Gray’s friend Sophie had worked, decided to shut its doors for the foreseeable future after a massive brawl broke out inside the other night, destroying the bar and half the club.
We’d had our problems in the Bay over the years, but we’d kept our supernatural community under the radar. Safe, for the most part. Hidden. Now, it seemed like it was only a matter of time before some human got caught up in the mix. When that day came, all hell would break loose.
I dragged a hand across my forehead, wiping the sweat from my brow. My guys at BBPD were holding down the fort as well as they could, but there was no way I’d be able to stay out here in Raven’s Cape long-term.
I hated the thought of leaving Elena, though. Something big was happening here—I could feel it in the air, like the whole place had been soaked in gasoline, and we were all just holding our breath, waiting for someone to drop the match.
