The world detonated around me, a vision blasting into my head.
Black Church exploding in a fireball of blue magic. The streets around it going up in flames of green and orange. Shouts and screams, magic flying through the air. The gates collapsing, and London—human London—looking in on Guild City and seeing all our secrets.
I gasped, stumbling backward.
The Devil broke my fall. His hands were gentle on my arms as he steadied me. “What is it? Are you all right?”
I tried to catch my breath, the vision still flickering in my mind. “Guild City is under attack. It’s going to blow up.”
5
The Devil
“Blow up?” I asked. “As in, the city will explode?”
Carrow’s face had turned entirely white, and it appeared to cost her an effort to nod. “I saw it.”
“When?”
“I’m—I’m not sure.” She looked at the body, apprehension in her gaze. “I’m going to try to look again.”
She raised a hand toward the corpse, trembling slightly.
Something tugged in me at the sight. I didn’t like it. I didn’t want her to do anything she was uncomfortable with.
Bloody hell, I hadn’t felt anything like that in forever. Not ever.
I barely resisted rubbing my chest, as if I could drive the feeling out.
It didn’t matter, anyway. If Guild City was going to blow up, we needed to know when.
She touched the body and jerked, then closed her eyes. “Three days’ time.”
“Only three days.” Was the date significant? “Who is he?” I had an idea of who he worked for, but not who he was specifically.
“No idea. I can’t get any more information.”
“Why not?”
“Chill, okay?” Her gaze snapped to me. “I’m doing my best.”
“I apologize.” I’d said those words many times over the centuries. I’d never really meant them until now. Guilt streaked through me at pressing her. I needed to try to be more careful.
She was a…person to me.
Until now, everyone in my life had been a pawn. No more alive than a chess piece.
But not her.
And I’d had no practice at dealing with people.
I’d need to be a fast learner.
She frowned. “My magic gets tapped out. It’s like fatigue. Like, you can only run so much until you pass out.”
“That’s normal. All magic needs to be recouped. Strong supernaturals have the ability to store more magic to use, but even they run out.”
“Can practice make me stronger?”
“It can make you more skilled with the magic you have, but it can’t make you more powerful in the sense that you can’t expand the reservoir of magic inside you.”
“Oh.”
“I wouldn’t worry about it too much. You’re already incredibly powerful. I can feel it.”
“You can feel it because I can’t keep it on lockdown.”
“Precisely.”
She nodded, her expression firming. “I’m going to do better.” She turned to the corpse and began riffling through the pockets, pausing only brief to ask, “He isn’t going to be turned in to the police, right? There’s no need to guard my fingerprints?”
“You’re fine. The Council of Guilds won’t be concerned with him.”
“Good. But we need to tell them about the explosion so that they can start to evacuate the city.”
“I’ll send Miranda to alert them to the threat, but so far, we only have your vision as proof.”
She frowned. “They won’t believe me?”
“Some will. Some won’t. And even if they do, there are many people in Guild City who can’t leave. They have magical ties to this place. Others won’t blend in the human world. We could get many of them out, but not all.”
“So it’s up to us to stop this.”
“With some help, maybe. But yes. Largely so.”
Shadows flickered in her eyes as she nodded and turned back to searching the body. As she worked, I called Miranda on my comms charm and told her to go to the Council. They’d do what they could to mitigate this, if they believed us.
Carrow pulled a plain white napkin out of the man’s pocket, a frown on her face. “This was the only thing on him.”
“Try it.”
She closed her eyes, and I felt her magic swell on the air. It smelled of lavender, and the scent was stronger than ever. I wanted to roll around in it.
I was no longer surprised by it, frankly.
“I see the interior of a bar. A posh one. There’s writing behind the bar. La Papillon.”
Dread uncoiled within me. “Is the writing in gold script on top of a large, antique mirror?”
“Yes. You know it?”
“I do. It’s in Romania.”
“Where you’re from?”
I ignored the question. Townsfolk speculated about my past, but I’d never confirmed it. “It’s a popular meeting place for criminals.”
“Looks too posh for criminals.”
“Top criminals. Not the rabble.”
“Oh, excuse me.” She raised her brows. “I didn’t realize there was a hierarchy.”
“Oh, there most certainly is.”
“Well, our bloke was there. And maybe he got his marching orders while meeting someone else. I think we should look into it.”
Surprise flashed through me. “You would want to help?”
“Of course. This is my new home. And investigating crimes is kind of my thing, anyway.” She pointed at me. “Not to mention, you need to help me with my magic. This is the perfect opportunity.”
“Excellent.” Pleasure flashed through me.
“Just give me one more moment.” She lifted the man’s shirt to check his skin.
“What are you looking for?”
“Any distinct marks.”
She moved toward the short sleeves on his shirt, about to pull one up. I reached out to stop her, but she was too quick. She lifted the left sleeve, revealing an intricate tattoo that looked like the compass rose. North pointed toward the man’s triceps, as if he were leaving it behind.
Shite.
“That’s a strange tattoo,” she murmured.
“It is.” A familiar one, in fact. One I’d hoped she wouldn’t see. One connected to my past. “Just a bit of pretty artwork.”
Her gaze flicked to mine, suspicious.
Damnation. I’d laid it on too thick.
“How did you know he might be a threat to Guild City and not just your empire?”
“They’re one and the same.”
“Hmm.” The suspicion didn’t fade from her eyes.
“When you’re done here, we’ll need to prepare for a visit to La Papillon.”
“Prepare?”
“Dress for it.”
“What do you mean, dress for it?”
“You aren’t with the police anymore, Carrow. We can’t walk in there dressed in our street clothes.”
She looked me up and down. “Those are your street clothes?”
“It’s a casual suit. And we need to blend in to get our information.”
“Hmm. I don’t have any clothes that are posh enough for that place.”
“That won’t be a problem. I’ll drop you at a shop that specializes in the kind of clothes you’ll need.”
“I also don’t have any money.” She grinned and shrugged.
“It won’t be a problem. Tell the proprietress that it’s on the Devil.”
“Just like that? I don’t need to give her a card or some fancy password?”
“That will do.”
“Wouldn’t people in town just charge stuff to you all the time?”
I laughed. “No, I’m not worried about that.”
“They wouldn’t dare, would they?”
“They wouldn’t.”
“All right then, but beware, I’m going to be expensive.” Her eyes gleamed. “And I prefer to shop with friends. Mac is going to join me.”
“Fine.” She was going to ring up a serious bill, I could already feel it. I didn’t mind a bit.
Carrow
The Devil walked me to a shop near his tower that looked like the poshest dress boutique I’d ever seen. I’d called Mac, and she was waiting for us when we arrived, leaning against an ancient tree that grew out of the pavement.
I turned to the Devil. “See you in an hour.”
He nodded, then strode back toward his tower.
“What’s going on?” Mac asked.
I looked at her, my brows raised. “We’re going on a shopping spree.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Which is the second reason I asked you here. The first one is that I’ve got info. I wanted to be able to tell you, and this was the best way.”
“Works for me. What’s going on?”
I filled her in on the explosion, watching as her face went pale. “Really?” she said.
“Really. But we’re going to stop it.”
“Hell yes, we are.”
“There’s another thing, though. I don’t trust the Devil.”
“Good.” She drew out the word in a way that implied that was the obvious thing.
“The guy on the table had a tattoo that the Devil didn’t want me to see. And I still don’t get how he knew that this guy was a threat to Guild City. He says that the city and his empire are one and the same, but…”
“It’s too much of a coincidence.”
“Exactly.”
“And you’re still going with him to this bar?”
“The alternative is Guild City blowing up, so yes.”
“Fair enough. I’ll ask around and see what I can find out about this, but I bet’s its nil. The Devil keeps his business close to his chest.”
“I can imagine.”