“Someone keeps killing demons before they can answer my questions. They’re using arrows. I’ve got one of them with me if you have a minute to take a look?”
“Hand it over.”
The arrow was ridiculously light in my hand considering it had the power to take down a high demon. Cara’s face lit up as she examined it, and I took a seat in front of her desk, watching her.
Light brown hair that fell seamlessly into perfect waves, deep blue eyes, petite frame. Cara wouldn’t be out of place working in a fancy boutique. But I’d started working on these streets around the same time that Cara had left them and I’d still heard all about her reputation. She’d worked her way up from bounty hunter to apprentice mage, and her ultimate goal was to be the first female mage on the council.
Cara’s rise through the ranks had been unprecedented. And while I’d never seen her fight, I wouldn’t ever make the mistake of underestimating her.
“What can you tell me?” she asked. I took a deep breath and spilled my guts.
“It must have been dipped in some kind of poison for it to kill a high demon that easily. I was hoping you could analyze it.”
“Sure.” Cara smiled as she examined the arrow, her eyes inches from the black feathers. “Hello, gorgeous.”
I flipped my hair. “Hello, yourself.”
She laughed, but her gaze was still trained on the arrow. “Custom made, I’d say. Four blade. This is some kind of wood insert in here. Strange considering it adds nothing to the bolt. It was designed for accuracy.”
“Aren’t they all?”
She shook her head. “It’s a balancing act. Speed, accuracy, and power. This little beauty wasn’t made to take down anything bigger than a small lesser demon.”
I frowned. “The lesser demon was shorter, but probably twice my weight. The high demon was taller and lankier.”
Cara pushed herself away from her desk and rolled her chair along the wooden floor to the long table in the corner of her office.
“I’m testing for some of the most common poisons,” she said. “Some of these tests will take a while, so I’ll text you with the results.”
I didn’t want to leave the arrow. It was now the only lead I had. But I trusted Cara. “Thanks.”
Vas ignored me as I walked toward him. I’d kept him waiting again. And I’d forgotten to bring him a cookie.
“Sorry. I had to get some information on my missing witch.”
He kept his eyes on his phone. “Why, exactly are you hunting a witch? I thought the Mage Council was only interested in paranormals who came through the portals.”
“Failure to appear.” I scanned the file. “It’s ridic— Are you kidding me?”
“What?”
I raised my gaze from the file. “Her ‘crime’ would get her a slap on the wrist at sentencing. She was channeling too much power through her ward and didn’t calibrate it solely for paranormals. A couple of human teenagers tried to break into her house and got hurt. Their parents found out when they went to pick them up from the hospital and the incident was reported to the Mage Council.” I scowled. “If Mary had been sentenced, she would’ve gotten a fine, maybe some community service making healing spells at the human hospital.”
“So she over-calibrated a ward, knocked out some punks planning to steal her shit, and now you’ve got to bring her in?”
“Yeah.”
Vas raised one eyebrow. “That seems like a waste of time considering your experience level.”
Damn right it was. I scowled, kicking at my front tire. “I pissed off the Council by getting bonded to Samael. Now they’re making an example of me with bullshit jobs.”
Vas’s face went cold and he slowly turned his head, staring at the facility with an expression of such wrath that goosebumps broke out on my arms.
“Anywayyyy,” I said quickly, “look at this.”
Vas pulled his gaze away from the building long enough to glance down at the piece of paper in my hands.
“That’s a lot of black.”
