I glanced at Kyla’s confused face and sighed, holding up my hand. The gold gleamed in the sunlight. “It’s part of dealing with Samael. Plus, he’s helping me find out who’s targeting the coven. I can’t miss this one. Crap. Okay, new plan.” I took the next right and headed back toward the Mage Council.
“I’ll drop you at your car. If you get a chance, call Siobhan and ask for the contact information for any of Riona’s friends. Look for anyone who might’ve seen her on the day she went missing. And check out any addresses where she was house sitting recently.”
“You think whoever took her was related to her work in some way?”
I sighed. “It’s all we have so far. We need to check every avenue.” I reached behind me to the backseat where I’d stashed Riona’s laptop and handed it to her, along with the information Mella had printed off about Riona.
“You’ll have more time to go through this tonight since I have the stupid dinner. I printed off her schedule and I’ll take a look at it, but it would be a massive help if you could check any other apps, her email, anything you can think of.”
Kyla nodded. “Sounds good.” She grinned at me as I pulled up next to her Nissan. “In spite of all the ‘blah blah,’ it was good working with you today, boss.”
I couldn’t help but grin back. “Ditto.”
* * *
Danica
I made my way up to my apartment. Vas was sitting on the sofa next to Evie, Lia curled up on his lap.
He’d gotten a beer from somewhere, and he looked almost like a human guy watching sports after a long day of work.
Evie was lying in the same spot, her gaze fixed on a reality show about a coven of witches. I winced.
Vas made a tapping motion on his wrist. We both had to be at Monday dinner in half an hour, and I really didn’t want to leave Evie alone.
“We made a list of everyone who died and anyone they’d had a problem with recently,” Evie said, her gaze still on the TV.
Vas held it up and I plucked it from his hand. “This is helpful. Thanks.”
“How is the investigation going?” Vas asked.
“I interviewed a few people today. One of them was a kid with a crush on Maribel. He saw the people who went into the coven’s house.”
Evie slowly sat up. “Who was it?”
“Three men. Dressed in black. Tennessee plates.”
“How can I help?” Evie asked. I opened my mouth and snapped it shut.
“I’m tired of lying around,” she pushed her hand through her hair and it got tangled in a huge knot. We both winced.
“I should probably shower,” she muttered.
Vas’s lips twitched and she elbowed him.
“I didn’t say anything,” he said.
“Vas and I need to be at Samael’s tower tonight,” I said.
Evie’s eyes met mine. “Because he’s helping you. He’s making you see him more often.”
“Hey, the guy’s chef makes all of my favorite foods. You can come if you want. Or I can bring you back something to eat?”
She shook her head. “I’ll go shower. You don’t need to worry about leaving me, Danica. I’m okay.”
We all pretended we couldn’t see the way Misty glowed on my hip. Evie got to her feet and stalked into the bathroom. I let out a shuddering breath and glanced at Vas.
“She may not be okay now, but she will one day,” he said. “She’s stronger than you give her credit for.”
