“Considering someone in the know obviously informed Monica about the tracer in her purseandthe fact we were shadowing her, I think I have every reason not to be.”
“I do see your point. Hang on a sec.” The soft sound of humming briefly filled the line, then my phone pinged. “Okay, sent.”
“Got it. Thanks. Any update on Ginny?”
“According to the ambos, there’s a cut on her leg requiring stitches, but nothing major.”
Which was a relief. I’d half envisaged broken limbs or worse, given the speed at which she’d been sent tumbling.
“I’ll keep monitoring you until you reach your vehicle,” he continued, “just in case something untoward happens.”
“I really think we’ve had more than our fair share of ‘untoward’ this evening.”
He chuckled. “And, of course, now that you’ve put that out in the ether, more is bound to happen.”
“Let’s hope not.”
I signed off, pulled up the details of the forensics team, and quickly scanned their files. I doubted whoever was behind this whole farce would go so far as to impersonate Black Lantern personnel, but, as I’d said to Jack, every possibility was on the table right now.
The cops arrived a few minutes later. I showed my Society ID, gave them a brief summation of the situation, and asked them to tape off the area. As they did so, I sat down on the bench and called Ginny.
“Please tell me you got the bastard who hit me,” she said before I could say anything.
“I not onlydidn’tget him, I lost Monica.”
“How the fuck did that happen?”
“Long story. How’s the leg?”
“They’re about to stitch me up now, and they want to keep me overnight for observation. That’s not going to happen.” She paused as someone in the background said something I couldn’t quite catch. “The doc is here and arguing my need to stay, so I need to go. You going back to the apartment?”
“After I do the audit, yes.”
“At this hour? Damn, that’s mean. Payback for us being imported up here for the assignment rather than his team being allowed to handle it, perhaps?”
“Does Lowell look that petty to you?”
“Will the sun rise tomorrow?”
I laughed. “I’ll meet you for breakfast, and we can plot our next move.”
“Plan,” she said, and hung up.
I tucked my phone away and watched the cops for several seconds before my gaze drifted over to where the stranger had hit me from behind.
He’d said the thing that had stalked us in the curtain was a comp demon, but what the hell was that? It certainly wasn’t one I’d ever heard of, though in truth, the only teaching I’d had on them was what I’d learned at high school before I’d quit to get married, plus the few sessions we’d had during the year-long training I’d undergone for the Society. Even then, it had been little more than a minor part of lessons dealing with dark sorcery and mages.
He’d also said he walked in the same world as them, so did that mean he was a demon? They came in all shapes and sizes, and just because he’d felt soveryhuman when he’d been lying on top of me didn’t mean he actually was. There were certainly a few demons who could assume human shape—though it tended to be a temporary thing, thanks to the fact most demons burned too hot to maintain human flesh for too long—and some who consumed a person’s soul in order to take control of their body.
And yet, something within me doubted either was the case with my enigmatic stranger. Of course, that might also be nothing more than wishful thinking on the part of hormones that had been rather... stirred... by his closeness.
A car pulled up onto the sidewalk close to the taped-off area, and two women climbed out. Both matched the photos Jack had sent me. After showing the cop their IDs, they ducked under the tape and strode across to me.
“Hanna Kang?” the blonde asked, again flashing her ID.
I nodded and rose. “Did Jack brief you?”
“Bare basics,” the other woman said. “You just need to show us where the attacks happened, and we’ll take it from there.”
