I gave her a blank look.
“Your magical gift. Surely you’ve got one. I can feel your signature, even though you should be keeping it on the down-low around here.”
“Signature?”
“All Magica—that’s magic people, by the way—have a signature that’s uniquely their own. It corresponds to any of the five senses. Strong Magica have all five signatures. And you…” She hesitated a moment, her gaze flickering as she inhaled. “Have all five.”
She looked impressed. Also a little wary.
There was a loud buzzing sound in my head. I didn’t want to believe this. It was crazy. But… “When I touch things or people, I sometimes have visions.”
“Oh, clairvoyance. Nice. You must be powerful.”
“I have no idea.”
“Oh, honey, you are. I can feel it.” She frowned. “But you’ve been living your whole life in the human world?”
“Uh…yeah. What other world is there?”
She gestured around us.
“There are bars everywhere,” I said.
“It’s more than a bar, but I’ll ignore that grievous slight to my honor.”
A million questions raced through my mind, almost all of them having to do with this place and the world and me. So many questions I felt like they could tear my mind apart.
No.
I focused on the one thing that needed to be done to keep me alive. It was a terrible thing to learn how to do when you were a kid, but it was the reason I was still here and the reason I was going to solve this damned murder and clear my name.
Then I could learn more about this crazy world. If it even existed. She might be just great at goading people and pulling my leg.
I knew it wasn’t true, but pretending it was helped me keep my sanity.
“I’m sorry about the bar comment. And I want to learn more about this…new world. But I have to solve this murder and clear my name. I have to focus on that first.” I felt like I’d break apart if I didn’t do that. “Can you help me?”
Something unidentifiable flickered in her eyes, then she nodded. “You’re a strange one…”
She was clearly waiting for my name, so I said, “Carrow.”
“Mac.” She stuck out her hand with a grin. “I like the strange ones.”
I grinned back at her, unable to help it. I extended my hand and gripped hers, starting to shake. It was the first time I’d touched her skin, and as usual, I got a read on her. A vision flashed in my mind—the two of us drinking some violently green drink and laughing.
We would be friends.
But then, a strange buzzing fizzled through my head. I blinked, shaking it, and tried to tug my hand away. But Mac didn’t let go.
Her eyes widened. “Holy fates, girl. You’ve seen the Devil himself.”
“What?”
“The Devil of Darkvale.”
“Who the hell is that?”
“Your killer? The man you saw in your vision? He’s the most dangerous—and powerful—man in Guild City. And if I were you, I’d be very careful.”
5
The Devil
A knock on my office door distracted me from my dinner, an unappetizing cup of blood. I looked up as the door opened and the hostess of my club walked in. Miranda was my second in command, and she knew everything that went on in my empire.
She stopped near the door, a courtesy I appreciated. I didn’t like it when people got too close.
Objectively speaking, Miranda was beautiful, with her slim figure and dark hair, but her beauty barely registered on my radar.
No person had registered for me in hundreds of years.
Not until the woman.
“She has entered the Haunted Hound,” Miranda said.
“Excellent.” My heartbeat quickened.
“Shall I alert you when she enters Guild City?”
“Yes, thank you.”
Miranda slipped back out the door, and I returned my attention to the cup of red liquid. I hadn’t drunk straight from the source in more than a century. Not because feeding incited blood lust. It was unlikely, given my strength and age. No… I had no desire to touch another person. And it reminded me of the horrors of my past—of all the terrible things I’d done, of what I’d been.
The Impaler.
That was long ago, though.
This was the present, and it brought with it the woman.
What was it about her?
I’d find out soon enough when she came to me.
Carrow
“Just my luck.” I frowned at the idea of trying to catch the most dangerous man in Guild City. But… “What the heck is Guild City?”
“I can show you.” Mac grinned and looked at the clock behind the bar. “Quinn will be on shift any minute. Then I’ll take you.”
“Could you give me a few more details about Guild City before Quinn shows up?” I prodded.
A tall figure appeared at the side of the bar, and Mac turned to him, a smile stretching across her face. “Perfect timing.”
I turned to look, spotting a man.
He wasn’t bad looking, actually. In fact, he was very good looking. Tall and strong, with dark auburn hair and tanned skin. His arms were big enough that he looked like he doubled as a bouncer.
One dark red eyebrow rose on his forehead, and I realized I’d been staring.
Shit.
His green eyes studied my face as he approached. “Got a new friend, Mac?” His voice had a pleasantly deep timbre.
“Yep!” Mac grinned widely and gestured between us. “Carrow, this is Quinn. He’s a panther shifter. Big one, too. Quinn, Carrow.”
“Hey.” Quinn’s lips tugged up at the corner in a sexy smile. “You’re something special, aren’t you?”
What a flirt. I couldn’t acknowledge the special comment, so I just said, “Hi.”
“Afternoon shift is best, you know,” he said. “Come back when I’m on. I’ll make you the best drink you’ve ever had.”
Mac slapped him on the arm playfully. “You flirt. Lay off.”
He grinned at her, shooting me another look. “Can’t help it. Never met a girl I didn’t like.”
“That’s true.” Mac rolled her eyes at him, and then looked at me. “Come on, Carrow. We’re going to blow this joint and leave this loser to hit on whoever comes in next. With any luck, it will be old Mrs. Wunklebotten.”
Quinn laughed, a rich, good-natured sound. “Don’t have too much fun without me.”
Mac came around the bar and grabbed my arm, pulling me behind her. For the briefest moment, I felt a warm feeling, like being in a fluffy cloud of friendship. Like this was a place and a group of people where I could belong. Where I might not be alone and looked at as the weirdo.
I shook my head, trying to drive the thought off. I wasn’t that lame. Seriously.
Mac hurried through the bar, headed toward the back corner. Quinn had come from this direction, but it looked like it just led to the toilets.
“Where are we going?”
She looked back at me with a grin. “Guild City, of course.”
“Is it in the toilets?”
Mac laughed. “Almost.”
She tugged me into a dark hallway. One side was lined with shelves of liquor bottles, but the rest was empty. It was dark and quiet back there.
A frisson of nerves skated across my skin. I trusted her. I did. I could feel it.
But still…a lifetime of wariness left its mark.
In my pocket, my mobile vibrated. Dread unfurled in my stomach as I pulled it out and looked at the screen. A text from Corrigan.
Turn yourself in, Carrow Burton. If the city finds you through a manhunt, the judge will be less lenient.
I swallowed hard, ice chilling my skin. The city was gearing up for a manhunt.
“You okay?” Mac asked.
I jerked my head up, startled. “Yeah, yeah.” I shoved the mobile into my pocket. “Just nervous.”
“Don’t worry, it’s cool. You’ll see.”
She could sense my unease. Because she was a…seer?
Did I even believe this?
“Okay, we’re going to see if you can get in on your own,” Mac said. “I feel your magic, so it should be possible.”
“What do you mean?”
“Press your hands against the wall.” She grabbed both my hands and moved them into place. “The ether will pull you in, but you’ll be okay.”
“What’s the ether?”
“It’s the stuff that’s between everything. Like air, but magic. You can’t see it, but you can feel it.”
The plaster was cool under my palms, and then there was a fizzing feeling.
My hands sunk into the wall before my eyes. Shock made my stomach drop, but then the air pulled at me. It sucked me into the darkness, and then I was spinning. Spinning and spinning in the middle of nowhere. I wanted to scream, to run.
But I was trapped.
In the flash of a second, I felt my feet hit solid ground, and I stopped spinning.
Holy crap, the ether was strong.
I blinked into the daylight, shocked by my change of location. I stood in front of a massive wooden gate. A huge stone building was built over it, the glass windows winking in the pale sunlight. Two conical towers extended up from the building, flanked by stone walls on either side.
A freaking castle?
I spun to look behind and saw nothing but thick mist.
What the hell?
Mac appeared next to me half a second later, a big grin on her face. “Looks like you're as magical as I thought.”
“What?” I gasped, my mind still doing an insane tornado thing inside my head.
She gestured to the wall in front of me. “You crossed over into Guild City on your own. Only people with magic can do that.”
“We’re…where?”
“We’re in another realm, but we’re still on earth. Magic created this place hundreds of years ago within the city of London, a place for supernaturals to live where humans wouldn’t find them, and voila!” She gestured to the city wall. “Some say that the Devil of Darkvale himself created it, but I don’t know if that’s true.”