Hannah’s home was crowded with antique furniture which had been dusted and polished until each piece gleamed. She instructed me to head into her kitchen and I took a seat at the scarred wooden table dominating the room. Vas leaned against the wall, his eyes dark. Hannah ignored him and moved toward her stove. I cleared my throat.
“Last time we did this, I needed some of Samael’s hair.”
Hannah kept her eyes on the spell she was stirring and nodded. “His ward was set to recognize only his magical signature. The place you are going must, by nature, allow the entry of multiple people. Their ward will have been created to prevent exactly what you’re planning. I added a little something into the look-away spell to help you get through the ward, but ultimately, that’ll be up to you and your power.”
My mouth went dry. Hannah smiled and glanced over her shoulder at me, inhaling deeply.
She was totally feeding on my fear. I scowled at her.
“Tone the creepy down a notch, Hannah.”
Her face fell. “You’re no longer scared of me.” Anyone else would have been pleased. Hannah’s voice was heavy with disappointment.
I rolled my eyes. “So how do we know I can get through their ward?”
“They may be good, but I’m better.”
I raised my eyebrows at that and she smiled. “If there’s one thing I was born to do, it’s break through wards. They so often contain the things that I want.”
“Alrighty then.”
She poured her potion into two mugs, handing one to me and one to Vas. Mine tasted like lemon and ginger. From the look of disgust on Vas’s face, his tasted like a potion from a black witch. I gave Hannah a look and she smiled at me.
“I have to get my pleasures where I can find them, and the young demon has been mean to me.”
Vas gulped his potion down. “I don’t like black witches.”
Hannah shrugged, apparently unconcerned. “I don’t like bigoted demons.”
Vas bared his teeth, and I shook my head at him. I’d never seen him act this way with anyone. Something was going on.
“You prey on the weak, witch. It’s not bigotry.”
Hannah’s face turned hard, the wrinkles around her mouth deepening as she narrowed her eyes at him. Her hand clenched on the wooden spoon she was holding, and I prepared to jump between them. Something was going on with Vas’s power, and I didn’t know if he could take down a black witch of Hannah’s power level.
I cleared my throat. “Cash or Venmo, Hannah?”
She finally pulled her gaze away from the demon. “Cash. I don’t need any transactions connecting us. You know how it is.”
Yeah, I knew how it was. If I was caught, anyone who helped me was at risk. Hannah was covering her ass.
She opened her mouth and muttered a word I couldn’t catch. A dull pop sounded, and I felt the spell smooth over my skin. Vas shot me a questioning look and I nodded. We were now invisible to everyone but each other.
Vas stalked behind us as Hannah led us out of her home. I turned to her once we were on the porch. “Thank you.”
She nodded in the direction of my voice. “You’re welcome, halfling. Happy hunting.” She turned, walking slowly back into her house. I glanced at Vas as she closed the door. When they’d first met, Hannah had teased the demon. Now, she seemed almost lost.
“I think you hurt her feelings.”
He cursed and prowled down the porch steps, holding out his arms. “Let’s go.”
I gave up. I had enough problems of my own. If he wanted to be pissy because we were working with a black witch, that was his prerogative. In the meantime, we needed to get to the auction.
* * *
Danica
The problem with being invisible was that you forgot how many tiny sounds you made without even noticing. Well, I did, anyway. Vas moved soundlessly through the night, shooting me the occasional dirty look as I scuffed my foot, breathed too loudly, or brushed up against a wall.
