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It swung open and Leo was there holding up my phone. “This thing is going crazy.”
I moved across the room and took it from him, swiping through the sea of notifications. I’d set search alerts for everything related to Matty and the shadow that I could think of. Then I’d taken it a step further, asking his friends to let me know if they heard from him.
What I saw turned my blood cold. “Another attack,” I said. “At a bridal shop? That doesn’t make any sense.” Aside from the fact that it was on King Street. Right in the heart of Charleston’s historic district.
Historic and occult went hand-in-hand.
I did a quick search, but all the great and powerful interwebs showed me was a luxury boutique bridal shop that claimed to have been in business for close to eighty years.
“Either of you have any idea why the demon might attack a bridal shop?” I asked, holding up my phone so they could see the image of the storefront on my screen.
The two men gave me nearly identical shrugs in response.
“What has the creature been targeting up to this point?” Hook asked.
“Mostly occult-related shops and businesses,” I said, turning my phone back so I could swipe left and right on the map.
That was when I saw it. A sliver of a black door caught at the edge of the frame, almost as if someone had deliberately tried to keep that doorway hidden from the digital world.
“We need to get downtown,” I said, heading for the hallway.
Hook caught me by the arm. “What we need is a plan for dealing with the shadow if it’s still in the area.”
From the way my phone was still lighting up with notifications, there was a solid chance whatever was going down was still happening.
I shrugged out of his grip as gently as I could. “Then we plan on the move.”
“Downtown?” Leo asked. “So, we’re taking your car?” If the cringe he tried to hide was any indication, he was not a fan of that idea at all.
“Suck it up.” I brushed past him. “It’s that or the bus.”
In the living room, Lily was already pulling on her shoes. I knew the pup version of Lily was a big fan of comfort. What I didn’t expect was for that mentality to transfer into Converse shoes and no socks.
“I take it you heard,” I said.
She inclined her head. “Downtown.”
Seriously, I adored this woman. She didn’t waste words or energy if she didn’t need to. That didn’t mean she was lazy by any means. She’d been out looking for Matty with me every moment that I was, and I suspected she’d snuck out on her own a few times while I was sleeping. Or healing.
I glanced back over my shoulder, expecting Hook and Leo to be gathering their stuff, but they were still in my room. I turned my head, straining to hear what they were discussing. Unfortunately, supernaturally good hearing wasn’t on my list of abilities.
“Can you hear what they’re saying?” I asked quietly.
Lily gave me a quick nod, but nothing else.
“Well?” I gave her my best ‘what gives’ gesture.
“It’s between them.” She stood, snatching my keys out of the bowl by the door and tossing them to me. Then she turned her head, keeping her eyes on me, and called, “Wrap it up, boys, or we’re leaving without you.”
16
HOOK
Never swept out of the room and down the hall, taking her irresistible energy with her. I moved to follow, only to have Leo step in my path.
“We need to talk,” he said, keeping his voice low.
My hackles rose at those four words, but I did my best to smother my reaction. “About?”
