“What look?” Diego asked.
“The one you just did, likePoor Lucas, he just doesn’t get it.”
“Well, you don’t,” Sebastian replied. “But you will.”
“I already do since I figured out what must be up—you two.” I stood. “Tone down whatever chemicals you’re lobbing around here like hormone bombs, so I can get back to enjoying my life and my freedom.”
Zoe
At the Network the next day, Pandora stopped by my office and stood before my desk with a grim expression. Combined with the way she stood upright rather than sitting in the chair opposite mine meant this likely wasn’t a social call.
“Bad news, Zoe. We had another murder.”
That somber declaration confirmed it. I straightened in my desk chair. “What happened?”
“You know that club that you’ve been investigating with the dancers?”
A twinge of heat circled in my abdomen when I pictured dancing with Lucas there. “Yes.”
“A man was found dead there last night behind the club.”
My heart rammed against my ribs. “Oh no. Who was it?” I touched my collarbone. “What happened?”
“He worked at the club. You may have met him during your investigation.”
My muscles locked.Not Lucas, not Lucas, please not Lucas.
“What was his name?” My ribs clenched my lungs, making it difficult to breathe.
“He was a dancer. Also a witch.”
I exhaled and sagged forward.
Pandora squinted at me. “Everything OK, Zoe?”
“Yes,” I adjusted my position in the chair. “Do you have his name?”
“Ah, yes. Tony Paloma. He’d worked there for years.”
Tony. That poor guy. I pictured the peacock dance off the night I’d met Lucas, what seemed so long ago now.
“Did you meet him?” Pandora asked.
“I did briefly.” That initial encounter was one I could hardly forget. “What happened?”
Pandora rubbed the back of her neck. “It was similar to what happened with witches in the fall.”
“Meaning his heart stopped?”
“Right. That’s what it appears like to a human physician. But dark magic was detected at the scene.”
“Shit.” I banged my hand on my hardwood desk, instantly regretting it as pain radiated from the point of impact.
In the fall, the demon Andre had killed witches to steal their magic. Whether he worked alone or with others, we didn’t know. Since other demons were found in Salem, it seemed likely they were connected.
How many were still haunting the area?
And more could be coming. If we didn’t figure out where this portal was and when it was opening, Salem could be swarmed by demons, and we’d be screwed.
