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"Shit," Menolly said. "The demons are the crux. If we can get the spirit seal first and deliver it to Queen Asteria, then they won't have a reason to bother Benjamin. But they'll still be after us, so we have to take them out. The djinn, too. If she's mixed up with them, you know whose side she's on."
"I wish Trillian and Roz were here," I said. "With Zach and his men guarding the portal, we're down on manpower. And Karvanak is going to be a difficult kill. Hell—I forgot! Smoky gave us information on the Raksasa, and with all that's gone on today, we haven't had a chance to look it over." Rushing into the living room, I found my bag where I'd dropped it. Yanking the papers out of the side pocket, I hurried back into the kitchen and sat down.
Smoky reached for them. I handed them over. "Since you're here, maybe you can fill us in on what we need to know."
He pursed his lips. "They're masters of illusion. After tonight, you're going to have to make sure that when you've been separated for any amount of time that you aren't talking to an impersonator. In other words, Dispel Illusion spells would come in very handy at this time. Who besides Morio has them? I can set up a barrier that will force illusions to be shed, but I can't cast a spell on a person, per se."
Iris cleared her throat. "I can dispel illusion, especially when a nonhuman creature tries to pass as human."
"Don't look at me," Chase said. "I can't even twitch my nose."
Delilah snorted. "Yeah, but you've got other saving graces." She gave him a delicious grin, and I let out a soft laugh. Demons or not, it was good to see her happy.
"Well, none of my spells are good for clear sight, so that pretty much leaves Iris, Morio, and to some degree, Smoky. Iris and Morio, we need to make sure we only split into two groups, and that one of you is with one, the other with the second." I stared at the paper. "I guess our first task is set. Find the cave and retrieve the spirit seal. I'm exhausted—we all look tired—but we've run on less sleep before. Let's head out there now. Menolly can come with us that way."
Morio spoke up. "Want to bet some Freedom's Angel member found out the demons aren't human and burned the shop? He wouldn't have to know they were demon, maybe thought they were a Supe."
Chase tapped the table with his pen. "You have a good point there, Morio. I've decided that I'm coming with you tonight, then I'll pull a double shift at work. I've got a cot there I can catch a few hours of sleep on. I'm running two departments now." He sighed and stuffed his notebook into his pocket and stretched, yawning.
"Okay, baby," Delilah said, wrapping her arms around him and giving him a long kiss. "But be careful. I don't want anything to happen to you, and we're facing some pretty potent enemies."
The phone rang again. I snagged up the receiver, hoping it was just a telemarketer for once. But no such luck. It was Nurse Richards.
"Ms. Welter? I'm afraid I have some bad news, and since Benjamin's parents aren't in the country and didn't leave contact information, I thought I would call you." She sounded frantic.
Hell. What now? "What's wrong? Is Benjamin all right?"
"That's the problem. We don't know. He seems to have… disappeared."
I stared at the phone. "Disappeared? What the hell do you mean? Where did he go?" Even as the words escaped my mouth, I realized how stupid they sounded.
"We have no idea. We're searching the grounds for a third time. Tonight, two men and a woman showed up, asking about him. They weren't family, they said as much, and they insisted on speaking to him. I called the doctor, and he denied their request. They left, but they were in a foul mood when we turned them away."
The demons and the djinn. Had to be! On… Morgaine, Mordred, and Arturo.
"You did right," I said. "They were probably media folk, looking for ways to expose our family problems. So what happened to Benjamin?"
She cleared her throat, and I could hear the wheels turning. She was probably terrified the Welters would sue.
"When we went to give Benjamin his nightly medication, he wasn't in his room. We scoured the residence hall, and we've been searching the grounds, but no luck. Right now, we're hoping he just found a quiet place to sleep in one of the empty rooms. But I wanted to tell you. You asked me to call if anything unusual happened."
Thank gods for Fae glamour. I thanked her and said we'd be out as soon as possible, then hung up. "We have to find that cave. Benjamin is missing, and I think the demons were there, looking for him."
"Crap," Menolly said. "Come on. Iris, you stay here with Maggie. Lock the doors and go hide in my lair. You know the secret exit, in case anything should happen."
Iris nodded, pale and looking worried out of her mind. She hurried to gather up Maggie as we readied ourselves. I tucked my silver dagger and sheath onto my belt, then made sure the unicorn horn was firmly in the inner pocket of the cloak Eriskel had given me. In a nod to speed, I switched from stilettos to granny boots with thick heels.
Delilah, in thick jeans and a V-neck sweater, shrugged into a leather jacket and fastened her silver short sword to her leg holster. Menolly slid a blue denim jacket over her black turtleneck and traded her heels for a pair of Doc Martens Eye Zip Boots. As soon as Morio made sure he had his bag with his skull familiar, we headed out the front door.
"Morio, let's take your SUV. It will hold all of us," I said, but a noise interrupted me, and I whirled around, sucking in energy as I prepared to blast whoever it was to kingdom come.
"Hold your fire," a familiar voice rang out.
I slowly lowered my hands. As we clattered down the porch steps, Trenyth and Grandmother Coyote stepped out of the shadows. Neither looked like they were the bearers of good news.
Chapter Twenty-four
"Trenyth! Grandmother Coyote?" I skidded to a halt on the bottom step, and Delilah tripped against me. We both went tumbling to the mud-soaked ground below. I winced as the sharp tip of the unicorn horn jabbed me in the hip. While I wasn't worried about it breaking—it could probably withstand being run over by a truck—I was concerned about accidentally setting off its powers. I still didn't know how the damned thing worked, for the most part.
