“Do you know where the symbol is located?”
“Not precisely, no. But I did get the sense that it was in or near Guild City.”
He nodded. “That will make it easier for Miranda to find it. You said it was a crypt? Could it be inside a church?”
“Maybe. Or a mausoleum or other burial chamber. I don’t know what you supernaturals do with your dead.” I winced as soon as the word came out of my mouth, reminded of the necromancer.
“You’re one of us now.”
“Right.” I was grateful for the distraction. “But I still don’t know what happens to dead people in Guild City. Are there a lot of crypts?”
“There are some. Graveyards, too. Churches. It’s not terribly dissimilar from what humans do.”
“All right.” I climbed out of bed. “We need to find that crypt.”
My phone dinged, and I looked down to find a message from Mac.
Will get right on it. Text me when you’re back.
I responded that I would, then looked at the Devil. “I’m going to get a quick shower, then let’s head back to Guild city. We only have two nights left to stop this.”
He nodded. I left him, managing not to look over my shoulder.
I made quick work of the shower, thought I desperately wanted to linger. I’d never been in such a nice one—the one in my old London flat had been terrible, and the one in my new place was fine, but tiny and fitted into an ancient building.
This was pure luxury, and I had to race through it.
By the time I returned to my room, I found a set of clothes laid out on the bed. They looked like my normal clothes, but they weren’t. I frowned at them and shouted toward the Devil’s room, “These aren’t my clothes!”
“They are now.”
“How?”
“I had them delivered.”
Hmm. Thoughtful. I dressed quickly and gathered up my discarded gown and shoes. The magic in them might be mostly used up, but it was still a hot dress. I could wear it to the next Witches’ Masquerade. Anyway, I’d never had anything quite so nice before, and I wasn’t about to give it up.
I checked my phone and found a message from Mac.
Meet us at the Haunted Hound. Eve may have something.
I found the Devil in his room, dressed in all-black tactical wear, not dissimilar to what his security detail wore. Which reminded me…
“Why didn’t we bring your security yesterday?”
“It was supposed to look like a date. I didn’t want to trigger the guards before we got our information.”
“And your new look?” Which, I hated to admit, suited him pretty damned well.
“I have a feeling things are about to get a lot more active. Better to be prepared.”
“Hmm. Ready?”
He nodded and held out his hand. I strode over to him and gripped it, unable to help the shiver that ran through me. I still wanted him. I didn’t trust him, but I couldn’t help my physical awareness of him. The connection that drew us together like a wire.
Cursed Mates.
I shoved the thought away. I’d figure out exactly what that meant later.
“Let’s go to the Haunted Hound Pub. Mac told me that Eve might know something,” I said.
“All right.” The Devil drew a transport charm from his pocket and threw it to the ground. The silver smoke poofed up, and I followed him inside, growing more used to the pull of the ether.
10
Carrow
The ether spat us out in Guild City at the gate leading to the Haunted Hound.
“Is there a reason that your friends prefer to meet in the middle ground between Guild City and the human one? Why not here?”
I shrugged. “Not sure. Maybe they’re just oddballs.”
Like me. Maybe that was why we got along. None of them were heavily involved with their guilds. Barely involved, in fact. Members in name only, for the most part. I knew they went to the required meetings, but they preferred to live on their own in the flats over the kebab place.
I started toward the gate, walking quickly through the tunnel to the other side. I’d been here a week, and it was already starting to feel like home.
I appeared on the other side, standing in the dim corridor at the back of the Haunted Hound. The Devil appeared next to me, and we strode out into the pub.
The early crowd was here, a motley collection of strange supernaturals who liked to gather for tea and the paper first thing in the morning.
Quinn manned the bar. The handsome, muscular shifter looked at us, his eyes narrowing on the Devil.
“It’s fine, Quinn.” I knew he didn’t like the Devil. Didn’t trust him.
Neither did I.
“Sure.” Quinn smiled coldly at the Devil, and the Devil smiled even more coldly back.
I didn’t know what the issue was between them, and I didn’t want to know.
“Are Mac and Eve here yet?” I took a seat at the bar.
“Not yet.” He turned to me, his scowl transforming into a smile. “What can I get you?”
“Tea, please. And anything you’ve got for breakfast.”
He nodded and didn’t ask the Devil what he wanted, but he did bring him the same tea he served me. I’d taken my first sip when I heard Mac’s voice from the other side of the room: “Carrow!”
I turned to look.
She and Eve approached. The strange black raven flew behind Eve. I watched the bird approach. The creature’s eyes glinted. It looked strangely familiar. I shook the thought away and turned to Eve and Mac.
Eve’s hair was bright white. When I’d first met her, it had been purple. She used magic to change it from day to day. Eve was a strange Fae, I’d learned. She made potions to sell, generally the province of the witches, not the Fae, and kept mostly to herself. Except for the raven, which she claimed not to see.
Mac gave the Devil a long look as she went around to the other side of the bar to stand near Quinn. Eve took a seat next to me, setting a pile of books down on the bar. The raven sat next to her, but she didn’t so much as spare it a glance.
Quickly, I filled them in on everything we’d learned, starting at La Papillon and ending with my vision of the symbol at the hotel.
“When Carrow sent me the picture of the symbol, I knew I’d seen it somewhere.” Eve flipped open one of the books and pointed to a symbol drawn there. “This is a compendium of sorcerer history, and this symbol is the mark of Mariketta the Vengeful.”
“What did she want vengeance for?” I asked.
“Sorcerers are extremely loyal to their kind. And very intelligent. Someone sought to harness Mariketta’s genius by compelling her to work for them.” Eve looked toward the Devil. “Not the same way you do, though. They kidnapped her daughter, hoping to force Mariketta to do their bidding.”
“I assume she refused?” I asked.
Eve nodded. “Exactly. She found where they were keeping the child, a heavily protected fortress hidden within Paris.”
“Like Guild City?”
“Yes. Right among humans. But it was a single building, not a town like ours. Anyway, Mariketta used her magic to get her child back. They were no match for her, which they hadn’t fully anticipated. After she left the fortress with her daughter, she enacted her vengeance.” Eve’s eyes glinted with a bit of bloodlust. “She left behind a device that blew up half of the fortress. But that wasn’t the serious bit.”
“There’s something more serious than blowing up half their place and killing a bunch of them?” Mac asked.
“Oh, yes. The explosion destroyed the magic that hid their fortress from Paris. Those that survived were left with the bodies of their compatriots in full view of the human citizens. Their home was destroyed, their cover blown, and many of them were caught.”
“What happened to them?” I couldn’t imagine humans suddenly seeing magical beings like the ones I saw every day in Guild City. When I’d first walked into this pub, I’d thought a cosplay convention was happening. There had been no cosplay hundreds of years ago, but there had been a hell of a lot of suspicion of magic.
“The more powerful ones escaped,” Eve said. “The less powerful were burned at the stake as witches. It started one of the greatest witch hunts in Europe.”
“Then that’s what they plan to do here,” the Devil said. “They’ll blow up Black Church, the ceremonial center of our power. They want to recreate Mariketta’s spell and reveal Guild City to the world.”
“To humans.” I cringed. “They’re seeking Mariketta’s crypt. Or they were. Which means they didn’t have the spell when they first broke into your office,” I told him.
“Do you know where the crypt is?” he asked Eve.
She nodded. “She’s said to be buried at the Church on the Hill.”
“The haunted one?” Mac asked.
“Haunted like this pub?” I looked toward the ghostly dog who slept in front of the fire.
“No.” Mac shook her head. “Haunted in the bad way.”
“It might even be Mariketta’s magic that haunts it,” Eve said. “People don’t go there anymore. It’s too dangerous.”
“I’m not sure we have a choice.” I frowned up at the Devil. “What about the key that the bartender saw Ivan give to the man who broke into your office?”
“We thought he was supposed to be a distraction, but maybe he accomplished more than that,” the Devil said.
“Do you think he handed the key off to someone?”
“It’s possible. He may have been working with a team, and he was the liaison with Ivan.”
“But we don’t know where this key is, right?” Mac asked.
I shook my head. “We don’t.”
“There were some witnesses on the human side who said that they saw the man approaching the gate,” the Devil said.
“Humans?” Mac sounded aghast.
“No. Supernaturals who live near my gate. I pay them to keep an eye out.”