“No, they’ll be gone. But I have to check anyway.”
He pulled out his phone and I felt mine vibrate in my pocket. “You’ve got it. You need some help?”
“I’ll pull in Kyla. She’ll be pissed if I move without her. And I need you guys to focus on these assholes.”
The back of my neck tingled and I glanced at Samael as he approached us. “You need a healer,” he said. “Don’t argue with me, I can smell your blood.”
It would take Kyla a while to get here from Duke Forest.
“Fine.”
He reached out and pulled me to him, ignoring all of the eyes on us.
“I’m sorry this happened,” he murmured. “I wish I had been here.”
Pure vengeance dripped from his voice and I smiled against his chest. “We did okay.”
“You certainly did.”
I took a moment to breathe him in. Beneath the cedar and citrus, I could scent burning wood in winter. That was his ‘recently pissed off’ smell.
“Right,” I said as I wiggled out of his arms. “I’ve got places to go and people to harass. Don’t wait up.”
13
Danica
By the time Eldan, Samael’s seelie healer, had taken care of the shallow knife wound on my shoulder, along with the various other cuts and scrapes, Kyla was parking on the street outside my apartment. Roberts and Nelson had arranged for the parking lot to be sealed off with crime scene tape.
Evie was on her way back to Samael’s tower and the demon had merely given me a dark look and told me he expected me to return to him without any further damage.
Kyla prowled toward me, carrying two takeout cups. “One of my friends recently opened a small cafe in our territory.” She handed me a cup and I gulped at the coffee.
“Bless you.”
She smiled. “You wanna tell me what happened?”
“Holy crap this is good coffee. I’ll tell you on the way. You mind driving?” I was still achy, and my body was insisting it was time for a nap after Eldan’s healing.
“Nope. Let’s go.”
Kyla glanced at me as we walked toward her Nissan. “I know we figured Brooke wasn’t the target, but last night I spent a few more hours looking into her, just in case. I couldn’t find any nefarious characters in her life, or any motive for killing her and taking down the rest of the coven.”
“You kept working last night? You looking for a raise?”
She slid me a grin as we got into her car. “Always.”
I wracked my brain, attempting to figure out how the hell I could afford it. Kyla’s blue eyes laughed at me over her coffee.
“I’m only kidding. I plan to prove I’m indispensable first. I don’t want you to be out of pocket for doing a favor to Nathaniel.”
She’d already proven pretty damn indispensable. There’s no way I would’ve been able to juggle both of these investigations without her.
“Address?”
I rattled it off and she put it into her phone and started the car. “They’re not going to be there,” she said.
“It’s unlikely. They might’ve realized they left the lighter behind. Even if they haven’t, they’ll know people are investigating. But we might find something that can help Riona.”
