Page 42 of Enchanted

“Don’t worry, I have a plan.” Ferry was already pulling out his phone.

He didn’t have it on speaker, but we all heard Harlow’s voice as if he did. “Ah, my favourite death-man. How goes it?”

Ferry rolled his eyes at the greeting. “I have an issue that requires your…expertise.”

“Ooh, do I get to torture someone?” Harlow sounded far more excited than before. “A little murder, perhaps?”

“Murder and torture aren’t the only things you’re good at,” Ferry said.

“A compliment too?” Harlow trilled. “Must be my lucky day.”

Ferry pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. See, this was why I hadn’t wanted to deal with Harlow. Everything was a song and dance with him.

“I’m in London,” Ferry said. “Rami’s mate’s in danger and we need your help.”

I waited for whatever quip he had loaded. Perhaps a teasing comment about how I’d finally found someone who was mine.

Joke was on me. Ethan was as taken as everyone else I’d ever hit on.

But when Harlow spoke, there was no humour in his tone. Just a deadly calm. “Tell me what you need.”

I grunted in surprise. I should’ve given the demon more credit. What he’d been through with his mate…well, it wasn’t a shock that he didn’t want anyone else experiencing anything close to that.

Ferry gave him a brief rundown. “I can lift the wards, but we need to know who set them in the first place.”

“Yes, so you can find out why,” Harlow said. “And it’s not a signature you recognise?”

“No, but that’s not a surprise given I haven’t been topside for long in the grand scheme of things.” Ferry took a step sideways to study the wards once more. “If I had to guess, they’re a vampire.”

Benji and I exchanged a look. There were a few vampiric clans in London. His eyes narrowed and I knew his brilliant mind was running through every detail we knew about them.

“You should bring Toby with you,” Ferry said. “Just in case you don’t recognise it either.”

“Toby’s away with Blaise this week,” Harlow said. “They’re on holiday in Italy.”

“Shit,” Ferry said before his lips curled into a slightly evil smile. “Guess you’ll have to bring Sebastian.”

The litany of curses that came through the speaker had me grinning. If Harlow was chaos personified, then Sebastian was grumpiness. Grumpy with a sadistic side. One that tended to stab first and ask questions later.

“He won’t come,” Harlow said. “He always says no to me automatically.”

“He’ll come,” Ferry said. “I’ll text Matty. Sebastian won’t say no to him.”

Matty was Ferry’s human brother-in-law and Sebastian’s mate. One of the men in the photo with Ethan. I’d actually met him once a few years ago. Matty was another man I’d flirted with, unaware that someone else was already in the picture. In my defence, Sebastian hadn’t made anything official with Matty at that point. I think he’d been in denial about his feelings.

That had definitely changed since then.

“But I’ll have to fly him there,” Harlow whined. “Do you know how much he’s going to moan and snark?”

“Probably about as much as you are now.”

Harlow huffed. “I just don’t see why⁠—”

Enough. I grabbed the phone from Ferry. “Harlow, please. My mate is in there and I can’t get to him. If he’s in danger, I need to protect him. Surely you can understand that?”

Harlow sighed. “Yeah, I can. Sorry. I’ll quit bitching.”

My lips twitched. “You can bitch all you like as long as you bring Sebastian with you.”