She was a mess. Her chest didn’t rise, her heart didn’t beat. I started CPR, and a hand on my arm stopped me.
“She’s gone, Danica,” a voice said. “Her neck is broken.”
I stared up at Gemma. So fast. It happened so fast, and out of nowhere. I’d been thirty feet away and I hadn’t seen it coming.
Goddamn it.
Kyla appeared, her eyes burning with wrath. “Lost him.”
“Did you get the plate?”
“They’d covered it up. Taped a piece of cardboard over the license plate. There are cameras in this neighborhood, Danica. We’ll find him.”
“It’s a man?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. I guess it could be a woman.”
The other witches were arriving, along with an ambulance. I got to my feet and stepped out of the way, watching Gail as she crouched next to the body, tears rolling down her face.
Either she’d just arranged for someone to kill a woman she’d lived with for years, or she was the next target.
We spent the next few hours questioning witnesses and gathering as much camera footage as we could find.
As usual, approximately half of the witnesses said they saw a man, while the other half insisted it was a woman. We noted down every description, but our biggest lead was likely to be the car.
“You think it could be a rental?”
“I hope not.” We walked back to my car. “They’re not going to fucking get away with this.”
19
Danica
Idanced.
Twirling, flying, strong arms holding me close, keeping me grounded and spinning me faster at the same time.
I looked up into Samael’s face, and he smiled down at me as he led me across the dance floor.
“I can’t wait to dance with you once more.”
I turned as the dream began to fade. Samael now stood a few feet away. The music quieted to a low hum, and while everything else in my dream was blurred at the edges, he was sharp and… real.
“Are you in my dream, or am I in yours?”
He smiled. “I am visiting your dreams.”
I gaped at him. “And how exactly does that happen?”
“Your subconscious reached for me. I obliged.”
Heaviness on my chest. Something sharp poked me in the boob and I yelped.
“What the fuck?”
Samael’s smile widened. “I think the cat wants to be fed.”
I opened my eyes, meeting amused silver. Samael had pulled the cat off me, and she was purring in his arms as he stroked her.
