“I couldn’t figure it out. But Rick remembered the smell. Sulfralite is only found in one place—a place none of us ever want to go. The underworld.”
“My sister was injected with a mineral from hell?”
Grateful nodded. “My Hellmouth—the cemetery behind my house, the place I send supernatural criminals who break the natural law—opens at night. It’s why Rick and I have to police the gate. All manner of supernatural baddies emerge from the underworld after sunset. And they sometimes smell like this.”
“Do you think something escaped? Maybe a demon?”
“Rick and I weren’t aware of any breach from our Hellmouth, but as you know, there are others like me around the country. We followed up with a few witches in our network. No one is aware of any escapes. However, the Hecate from New Orleans passed on some interesting information on the properties of sulfralite, properties that are leveraged by the vast community of voodoo practitioners in her area. When sulfralite enters your blood stream, it has a toxic effect on the nervous system. It makes you tired, disoriented, and extremely vulnerable to suggestion. In high doses…”
“It can put you into a coma.”
“Exactly. I don’t think your sister is unconscious because of the stab wounds. I think it is the sulfralite in her blood stream. And I believe your vampire may have been infected with the same stuff.”
“So who did the infecting? You said this stuff is rare. I assume Alex couldn’t get it on any street corner.”
Grateful shook her head. “The New Orleans witch said there’s only one way to get it. You must conjure a demon from the underworld and ask it to bring the element into our world in hand. As you might imagine, this is risky magic and only delivers a limited amount. Ripping open a portal to the underworld dimension requires a blood sacrifice and the one performing it better be up to the task of controlling what passes into their realm.”
Silas’s stomach twisted.She’s dating a demon, Logan had said. He hadn’t seen Soleil for weeks and suddenly she shows up in his bedroom. She gives him a list of healers possibly helping Alex, but by some miracle, Alex always seems one step ahead of him. What if the demon was the source of the sulfralite? What if Soleil was under his spell?
“Does sulfralite work on all supernaturals?”
“Only the ones who have remnants of human DNA. Vampires, because they were once human. Werewolves and other shifters who were born human. Witches like me.”
“But it wouldn’t work on a fae?”
“Fae, sprites, leprechauns. Anything born or created supernatural is immune according to my source.”
“Humans?”
“Susceptible, although New Orleans said sulfralite is frequently fatal to humans and therefore has limited applicability. Infected humans are often mistaken for zombies until they kick the bucket.”
Silas groaned. Grateful stood and set her hand on his shoulder. “What’s going on Silas? You went green on me. Do I need to get my medical bag?”
“Can you save my sister?” Silas swallowed the lump in his throat. He could think of several reasons Alex might put that shit in Laina’s body, and none of them were good.
“I can. There’s a spell that will extract sulfralite from the body, but it requires a feather from an angel.”
“An actual, heavenly angel? Are they real?”
Grateful shrugged. “I’ve never seen one. Luckily, New Orleans has a feather she’s willing to lend me in exchange for a future favor. I’m heading down there tonight. If everything goes as planned, I should be able to fix your sister by the end of the week.”
He reached across the desk and squeezed her hand. “Thank you, Grateful. I don’t know what I would do without you. You know you can always count on me, don’t you? For anything.”
“Careful. I may take you up on that, and it will almost certainly involve babysitting.”
Silas smiled. “I’ll take care of the little guy. How hard could it be?”
Grateful closed her eyes for a moment, then gave a slight shake of her head. “I’ll be in touch.” She adjusted her yoga pants and smoothed her tunic style T-shirt on the way out the door. He noted she took the vial of sulfralite with her. Good thing. He didn’t want the responsibility of guarding the stuff.
Leaning back in his chair, he thought about what Grateful had said. Sulfralite came from demons. Soleil was dating a demon. Influenced or not, something was up. Tonight he wouldn’t scrutinize the next healer on the list. Tonight he’d follow Soleil.
Meredith refused to be marginalized.After what happened to her family, she had the same right to take revenge on Alex as Silas did. Only, since the incident with the vampire, her partner had been distant and secretive, avoiding her at every opportunity. She hadn’t become a detective by allowing things to go unnoticed. After tailing him all afternoon, her effort paid off when she caught him crossing the parking lot to the unmarked.
“Hey! I thought you were going home for the night. Don’t you think you should take your own car?”
He groaned and tipped his head back, rolling his eyes toward the heavens. “I have something to do, but I don’t need company. Not tonight.” Silas refused to meet her gaze.
She planted her fists on her hips. “Because you didn’t need me last night when that vampire staked himself?”
