Wylder curses under his breath. “There are always huge crowds, and with high emotions, and thinning barriers between realms, it’ll be perfect conditions for a feeding frenzy.”
It will be. Our family went every year until my parents’ death. It’s a huge event, and if these demon minions need an abundance of souls, this is where they’ll be. “Okay, we have our where. How do we track them, and what do we do when we find them?”
Wylder frowns. “Well, you and Sebastian obviously have the inside track on sensing this kind of disruption in the Force, so I say we break up into teams. Divide and conquer.”
Orion tilts his head, his cool, ice-blue eyes glinting silver in the low light. “So, we break up into two teams and wander around looking for people flopping over onto the grass?”
Rowan snorts. “That sounds amusing, but I think we can do better than that.”
“What are you thinking?” Wylder asks.
“There are five witches sitting here. Surely we can enchant an object with some kind of tracking spell.”
S’Nark lands on the table between us, his tail lashing. “Oh goodie, we’re tracking demons and getting in between their master and his freedom. And here I was worried things would be boring.”
Sebastian meets my eyes across the table. There’s something heavy in his expression. Gratitude, maybe? Or possibly relief that he’s no longer carrying this alone.
Hell, it could be gas. I barely know the guy.
“Two teams then,” he says. “Poppy and I will split up, and we’ll each take two more.”
“I’m with Poppy,” Asher says immediately. “You all have been hogging her for almost two weeks. Besides, we’re always a team.”
Wylder sits forward. “I’ll go with Poppy and Asher. Orion and Rowan, you go with Sebastian.”
Asher scoffs. “Wait, why do we get stuck with Captain Broody?”
I laugh and pat his hand. “We’ll survive. Hell, I’ve almost grown immune to his glowering.”
Orion, Rowan, and Asher all chuckle, Wylder arches a brow, and Sebastian just studies our group and doesn’t seem to know what to think. Okay, so maybe not everyone here is his strongest ally, but they’re here and willing to help.
That’s got to count for something, right? And who knows? It might just be enough to keep us all alive.
Once the plan is set, everyone gathers their things and prepares to leave. I hug Orion and walk him to the door. Rowan excuses herself to go upstairs, stating that she needs to call her parents and explain how she ended up here instead of at Arcana.
As Sebastian slides on his trench, I reach out and lower my voice. “Hey, can you hang back a minute? I need to talk to you about something.”
His dark brows knit together. “Of course.”
Wylder pauses mid-step. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, I just need to ask him something. Spirit stuff.”
Asher snorts, gathering the dirty plates to take over to the dishwasher. “Spirit stuff. This life of ours is crazy, baby girl.”
It sure is.
Wylder lingers, his attention bouncing between Sebastian and me, suspicion swirling in his gaze like a building storm.
“It’s fine.” I raise a hand, cutting off the questions I see forming in his mind. “Thanks for all your help at Arcana.”
He hears the dismissal and dips his chin before gathering his bag and heading out. When it’s only Sebastian and me alone in the living room, he turns to face me fully. “What’s going on?”
My stomach churns. I’ve been carrying this secret since Arcana, and it’s been eating me alive. “Can you do a privacy thing? Like, so no one can hear us?”
His expression sharpens, concern flickering across his features. He raises one hand and mutters something under his breath. The air around us shimmers, then settles into an odd, muffled quality that makes my ears pop.
“Done. No one can hear or see us clearly. What happened?”
