A few women around me nodded, and belatedly, I spotted my chance for a smooth exit.
I placed my hand on my stomach. “Actually, you may be right. I think I should go to the restroom, just in case.” I extradited myself and plowed through the crowds.
With every step I took, I searched. Someone had been trying to perform magic on me, and I had to find them.
Unfortunately, everywhere I looked, the attendees appeared normal, if eccentric—which was basically normal for this kind of crowd. I’d done one slow lap around the entire room when I spotted Hunter flapping his arms to get my attention.
I pursed my lips. Two things were odd about this scenario; the first was that Hunter was still sitting beside Amelia. It would’ve been natural for him to remain with her for a short period, and then part to find our target. The second was how ludicrously he was trying to get my attention.
Why doesn’t he just come over and talk to me?
I made my way through the crowd, and as soon as I approached Hunter, he whispered something under his breath. A faint green shimmer floated from his hands and caressed Amelia’s face. Her eyes glazed over, and I stiffened.
“Why are you using magic on her?” I looked around. “That was risky!”
Hunter snorted. “You’ve got to be kidding, right? These people are so into themselves that no one’s even looked our way since we sat down. Well, almost no one.” He patted the spot next to him.
I arched an eyebrow.
“We need to talk,” Hunter said, and I obliged. As soon as I sat, my partner leaned close and pointed to the far side of the room. “It’s him.”
I followed his finger and shook my head. His target was unmistakable.
“The senator?” I asked incredulously. “Are you—?”
My mouth snapped shut, for at that very moment, the senator turned, and his eyes flashed red for a millisecond. It was such a short time that a human unfamiliar with magicals, would have thought their imagination was running amok.
A demon probably wouldn’t even cross their mind.
I sucked in a breath. Hunter was right. I’d steered clear of the senator so as not to get pulled into one of his long-winded stories, and of course that was the one person they had sent us to find. What a dumb mistake. Especially after seeing the state of Amelia.
“What are we going to do?”
Hunter didn’t answer, and silence hung between us for a full minute before I loosed a frustrated sigh.
“Well, one thing is for sure. We have to lure him away to exorcise the demon.”
Hunter took a massive inhale. “We could use her.”
“‘Her’ who?” I asked, checking out the room for someone who would be an obvious choice.
“Amelia.”
I bit my bottom lip. Senator Smith’s wife. If anyone could lure him away from the crowd, it would be her. But still . . . after realizing that the demon was the source of her pain, it felt very wrong to involve her.
“I don’t like it, either,” Hunter admitted. “When we got over here, she didn’t want me to leave her. I think she felt like he might come over and force her to do something, or—”
“Feed on her energy,” I muttered. “I bet that’s why she looks so terrible. Last time I saw her, she looked much younger and very vibrant.”
My eyes ran over the once-statuesque blonde with the reputation of lighting up rooms. The fact that others weren’t even approaching her to socialize said a lot. Either they were those rare humans who were sensitive to demonic energies, or they’d already dismissed Amelia as washed up.
I heaved a heavy breath. “You’re right. Amelia’s our best chance. We can have her say there’s a problem with their son. The senator wouldn’t dare brush that off in public. Not even a demon would be so stupid as to make the human they were possessing look bad like that. Lift her enchantment. We need to have a talk with her.”
Amelia was not at all astonished to learn that demons existed, or that one had possessed her husband. Her reaction hinted at the horrors she’d probably been hiding.
“You’ll be waiting in the nursery, right?” Amelia checked for the third time. She didn’t want to be alone with her husband for even a second.
“I promise. We’ll rush up there as soon as you leave,” I assured her.
