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“And what about…that?” Sanderson nodded toward Madame Mason’s corpse.

“I’ll take the book with us,” Gabriella said. “That will simplify the paperwork,” she added with a smirk.

“As for the body, my partner is a homicide cop,” Simon added. “I’ll let him know we’ve found the missing seer.”

Simon called Vic to report finding the body and waited until Vic and Ross came with a team from the medical examiner’s office. Before the cops arrived, Simon took a photograph of the grimoire, and Gabriella took the book with her upstairs into a room in the hotel she had already swept, warded, and cleansed ahead of time, not wanting it impounded as evidence and out of reach for the impending showdown.

“You think someone kidnapped her and moved the body here?” Vic asked Sanderson, who shrugged.

“That’s my best guess. The story I heard is that she vanished when the lights went out at an event and was never seen again,” Sanderson replied.

Simon was proud of the man for not playing up the supernatural aspect of the kidnapping, although he felt certain Vic could read between the lines. Simon also gave a statement, staying truthful in what he said while omitting anything to do with magic. Vic gave him a look, and Simon knew they would be having a conversation about it later.

“That’s all we need right now,” Vic told them as photographers and forensic technicians jammed into the small room. “We’ll let you know if we think of anything else.”

Relieved to be dismissed, Simon caught Sanderson’s eye. “Let’s do the cornerstone right now, just in case. I think these pieces all go together.”

“Gabriella’s on her way,” Simon told him. “She’ll meet us there.”

Sanderson recalled the two workers who had helped them downstairs. The workmen trailed Simon and Sanderson as they headed toward the damaged cornerstone. Once again, Simon paused before attempting to break into the stone container. Gabriella arrived just as they did.

“I can sense an item inside that had a lot of protective magic at one time and has been weakened to almost nothing,” Gabriella said. “What I don’t know is whether the damage to the cornerstone and the objects inside was bad luck or influenced somehow by the entity. We may never know for sure, but we can try to make sure that doesn’t happen in the future.”

Once the workmen verified that the broken cornerstone wasn’t load-bearing, it didn’t take long for them to use crowbars to open a cavity. Gabriella stretched out her magic to make sure anything inside was safe, then Simon used a flashlight to see the contents.

“Looks like protective amulets,” Simon reported. “Is that what you’re getting, Gabriella? That would be another way to strengthen the restrictions on the landvaettir. Once the cavity in the stone broke open, the magic weakened, which would have helped the entity break loose.”

“Yes, I agree.” Gabriella looked at the contents in concentration.

Sanderson looked worried. “Can the protections be replaced?”

Simon nodded. “We’ll have to remove the damaged items and get Gabriella to cleanse the space and create a new anchor. But in the meantime, it’s another protection that isn’t working right.”

“I don’t think we can wait long, with the damage that the entity is doing,” Sanderson warned. “Without the protections, we’re back to how it was before the entity was bound. We’re all in danger the stronger it gets.”

Sanderson and the workers kept watch as Simon removed items from the cavity inside the broken cornerstone. He found a ritual dagger marked with sigils and a variety of protective amulets, mostly silver.

“Take them for safekeeping,” Sanderson told him. “I trust you. Figure out why they’re here, and we can decide what to do with them.”

Simon took pictures and put the pieces into a magic-damping sack Gabriella had brought with her so she could transport them safely.

He and Gabriella returned to the warded room upstairs, where they’d secured the grimoire. “Did you have a chance to find anything in the book?” he asked.

“I was just getting started,” Gabriella replied. “It’s dark magic, so I’m going to need to cleanse this room again and myself when I’m done, but I think we’ll get a good idea of what kind of spells might have been used originally to bind the fire entity and its companion spirits.”

“This is the stuff from the cornerstone. I agree that it would be safest with you.” Simon handed over the bag with the spelled weapon and the amulets.

She took a cursory look inside and closed it again with a word of warding. “Better here with me than out there, but small potatoes with everything else we’re handling. I’ll make sure they’re taken care of.”

Since Simon figured Vic would be busy with Madame Mason’s murder, and Gabriella would be engrossed in the grimoire and the items from the cornerstone, he headed back to the shop. A sudden flare made him throw one arm up to shield his eyes. Only a few yards ahead of him, a stream of flames wound its way up the trunk of a palm tree, setting it on fire and toppling it into the road. For just a second, Simon could have sworn it looked like a flaming lizard.

“What the hell?” He hit the brakes to avoid hitting the tree. Tires screeched, and the car lurched to a stop, slamming Simon against the seat harness hard enough to bruise.

It was sheer luck the tree hadn’t fallen on a pedestrian or onto a parked car. Simon sat still, heart thudding, and tried to collect his wits.

“Hey buddy, you okay?” Someone knocked on his window.

“Yeah. Did anyone get hurt?” Simon stared at the burning palm tree and knew he didn’t imagine seeing the fire salamander.