I shook my head. “She never would’ve gotten the chance to be coven leader. She would’ve abdicated immediately, well aware that a newbie in the top spot would never fly. But she was a loose end that needed to be cut, just in case.”
I studied the list some more. “I’m going to have to take this to them. And they’re not going to like it. But if I don’t take it to them, Gemma could be dead in the next few days.”
“A few of the witches are exiting the hotel,” Kyla announced.
“Is Gail one of them?”
“Nope. You want me to follow them?”
“She could have some of them doing her dirty work. See where they go.”
“Okay, laters.”
Someone stepped into the room. and I turned. Steve practically radiated excitement.
“Wanted to come up and tell you in person. We decrypted the phones of the assholes who attacked you and Evie. We know where their base is.”
Anticipation made my hands fist. “Where?”
“Tennessee. If I were you, I’d put a team together and go in ASAP.”
“You’re damn right I will.”
Steve stepped to the side, coming to attention as Samael appeared.
“I will help you with that team.”
I opened my mouth to argue automatically. I knew of several mercenaries I could hire. He raised his eyebrow and I snapped it shut. If the demon wanted in, I could definitely use his people.
Samael watched me deliberate. He angled his head, his eyes on my face. “If you think I’ll allow you to go without me, we will need to have a talk.”
I ground my teeth. Silence stretched between us. Across the room, Steve cleared his throat.
“I’m coming too,” he said. “You may need a hacker.”
Samael nodded and Steve turned, hurrying away.
“If this is going to work, you need to strike the wordallowfrom your vocabulary,” I told the demon.
He merely set his jaw. Of course it wouldn’t occur to him that the a-word was a no-no. It was going to take a lot of time and effort to bring the demon’s attitudes into the 21stcentury.
“Tell me,” Samael said, and I told him everything Gemma had said, along with the payments from Gail’s account.
“You’ll need some help finding the owner of the overseas account.”
“Yeah. It’s in the Caymans. I could probably do it myself. but it’d likely take weeks.”
“I’ll have my people look at it while we are in Tennessee.”
I frowned and he smiled. “Steve isn’t the only person I employ who is skilled at that type of thing. In fact, he and Sitri have an ongoing war when it comes to preventing hacks and tracing them back to their source.”
My lips twitched. “A war, huh? I bet you laid the groundwork for that.”
“A little healthy competition can build a strong foundation for a good relationship.” His silver eyes glittered. “Just look at us.”
I laughed. “Healthy competition? Is that what you’d call it?”
He smiled. “I’ll have one of my planes readied. We’ll need to take our equipment with us for this little excursion.”
