Should have brought your own car then.
“Yes, but then I wouldn’t have had the pleasure of riding in the sports car.”
The only thing you want to ride is its owner.
Atticus! Seriously.
He casually batted a saltshaker off the bench. It was metal, so didn’t break, but it did make a serious amount of noise on the tiles, which seemed to please him immensely.
I note you do not deny it.
Thankfully, I was saved having to reply by approaching voices and walked over to the remains of the front door. The ambulance officers arrived first, then a Society team to collect our prisoners. Sienna and Janice were the last to arrive.
“How many dead this time?” Sienna asked in a somewhat resigned tone.
“None, but this place belongs to our chief suspect, Luke Marlowe, and we did have a transport fog and a couple of demons here.”
“Did we?” Janice said. “How exciting.”
“Not really,” I said wryly. “They’re the sort who love to tear still-beating hearts from a body and consume them while still warm. Can I borrow your car?”
Sienna blinked. “What happened to yours? Car, I mean, not heart.”
“Long story, but it got left at the beach. We need to go interview our thugs’ boss before she’s taken out.” I held out my hand. “I’ll get Lowell to send another car here for you.”
“Why not just call a cab or Uber?”
“Because they’ll take time to get here, and that might be the difference between saving a life and losing it.”
She rolled her eyes and handed over the keys. “Just don’t dent it—the mechanics tend to get narky about things like that, and they’ll clap back at me rather than you.”
“No promises,” I said with a grin. “Where is it parked?”
“Directly out the front—small white van.”
“Thanks muchly. Ginny? We’re out of here.”
Atticus, I noted, was no longer knocking things off the counter, but had instead jumped down and was stalking toward the still-open sliding door. Neither Sienna nor Janice paid him much heed, so maybe they thought he belonged to Luke.
And maybe,he said,I do not wish them to see me.
I frowned.But you’re visible, so how does that work?
I walk between worlds, and I’m clever when it comes to witchcraft. You are not.
I’m hoping you mean magically,I replied dryly.
You may hope.
I rolled my eyes and headed out of the apartment. Ginny caught up with me as I neared the stairs.
“The medics don’t think the damage done to Monica is too serious, but she’s likely to be kept in hospital for observation,” she said. “Lowell’s apparently requested an HCI protective detail be placed on her.”
“And our bloodied thug?”
“One of the ambos was still examining him, but apparently, neither his nose nor his cheek is broken despite all the blood.”
“I’ll have to try harder next time.”
