“And why the fuck would witches get in the middle of this mess?” he asks.
“I can be very persuasive,” I counter.
“We can look for a psychic, but I’ve got other contacts in the city. We need to do both,” Toth says. I’m surprised he’s going along with my plan, but I suppose he wants off of this assignment as quickly as possible, even though he put himself in this position.
He holds out his hand, but Judd makes no move to take it and goes as far as to slightly turn away, making his denial obvious. Elvor huffs, grabbing Judd’s hand and slapping it into Toth’s still outstretched palm. I want to roll my eyes at the dramatics of it, but I can’t help but find his cold shoulder towards Toth slightly endearing.
Toth portals us downtown, and I have to hide a smile. I can feel the tangible otherness in the city. Finding a psychic will be easier than I expected.
Toth gives me a look that expresses that he doesn’t trust me. Mentally, I give him the middle finger, but I smile to his face.
“Let’s head to the market,” Toth suggests, and we all agree.
The market vendors range from selling any type of food you can imagine to handcrafted goods, and wouldn’t you know, there’s a neon sign that glitters the wordlelki.
“I’m going to check this out. We can meet back at the front,” I tell Toth.
“Heavens, no. We’re sticking together,” Toth rejects, like my suggestion is absolutely unhinged.
Judd looks between us and intervenes. “I’ll go with you, and Elvor can stay with Mara. The sooner we get information, the better.”
Toth doesn’t look impressed, looking between the three of us. “I’m not leaving here without Judd,” I say to Toth. It pisses him off for whatever reason, but thankfully he just huffs his agreement and walks off with Judd in tow.
Elvor leans down to whisper, “What do you have planned, little princess?”
“Don’t worry, we’ll ditch the narc soon enough. This is for our little side mission.” I grab Elvor’s hand and walk through the beaded doorway.
“Oh, Hell no,” the witch shouts, standing from her seat and attempting to shoo us away.
“I’ll make it worth your while,” I try to entice her, but she shakes her head.
“No, I don’t help evil.”
I take a deep breath and count to three in my head.I can’t kill her. I need her.Instead, I grab her arm and look deep into her eyes.
“You’re going to sit down and give us all the information you have on what we need to know.”
She blinks. I can tell she’s trying to fight off the compulsion, but it wins out, and she takes her seat back at the table. I take the seat next to her, and Elvor stands, protecting my back.
“I won’t interfere between Heaven and Hell,” she declares.
“I’m wondering if you’re a dud, considering that’s not what I’m here for,” I deflect. She furrows her brows and shuffles the deck of cards in her hand. “I need more than the cards. I need a locator spell.”
“Fine,” she seethes, yanking open a cabinet and pulling out a crystal basin before placing it on the table in front of us.Ah, not a dud. She does know what I really want?Not that I don’t want to take down Michael or other angels–I do–but I need to do this first. I can’t fight a war for a realm when I don’t truly know my place there. If Lucifer knows about my additional gifts, maybe he’ll no longer want me to be his successor; I’ll be a threat.
Shit.
I scratch the back of my neck and wonder how apparent my blatant paranoia is. I shake it off and look back at the witch.
“Can I trust the Devil?” I ask, waiting for an answer.
“You don’t need a locator spell for that,” she deadpans.
“No,” I sneer. “I just figured I would ask while I was here,” I counter with sass.
She sighs heavily, closing her eyes, while silence descends on us for a few moments. She opens her eyes and answers my question with, “The spirits say to trust your instincts and rely on your family.” It comes out terse, making her annoyance at the additional question known as another round of silence spans between us.
“Now, for the spell… what do you have of the person you are trying to locate?” she interrupts my thoughts.
