Feeling pleased with myself, I drained the rest of my wine and followed him toward the front of the now-empty restaurant.
The restaurant was nautically themed and made up of warm mahogany shiplap, industrial Edison bulb light fixtures, and distressed rope accents. Next to the host stand was a sectioned-off staircase that Anna had informed us led to the second floor. This floor was reserved for events, but it was also where Bridget was most commonly sighted.
We easily slipped past the rope blocking off the staircase and ambled up, taking in the antique crown molding and ancient chandelier that hung in the middle of the ceiling.
I slipped my hands into my pockets and watched Shemhazai do what he did best. His hellcats manifested in the shadowy corners of the empty room. Their glowing red eyes warred with the cooler tones of the full moon’s ivory light spilling through the large paneled windows that lined the space.
“Come out, come out, wherever you areeee,” he crooned as his shadowy hellcats roamed through the midnight-soaked room. They poked and searched every nook and cranny until a very irritated yet regal woman manifested before us.
She was dressed how most Puritan women of her time would have been, with a white linen shift and a full petticoat. Though shockingly enough, she was wearing a bright red bodice. My eyebrows rose in surprise at the daring choice of color. As one of Yahweh’s messengers, I’d lived through the late seventeenth century and knew how much of a slap in theface that bodice would have been to the men who governed the town at the time of this woman’s death.
“There she is,” Shem purred, his green eyes flashing in the moonlight. His gaze rolled over the spirit, his lips tilting up at her choice of attire much the same way mine had.
“I knew you were a bad bitch, Bridget, but damn. You’re looking like the world’s first femme dom.” He tilted an imaginary cap like some sort of western gunslinger and winked. “Nice to see you again.”
She narrowed her eyes at Shemhazai and folded her arms over her bust, her sharp gaze cutting right through us.
“I don’t typically covet the praise ofdemons—yet… praise is praise, I suppose,” she drawled.
I snickered at her aloof attitude and glanced at Shem, who seemed to be loving every second of her defiance.
“What brings Chaos to my door? Haven’t you caused enough strife here? Leave us to rest in peace.”
Shem laughed. “There’s never enough strife as far as I’m concerned, sweetheart. The witch trials were just the tip of the iceberg.”
Bridget’s eyes flashed in anger, and Shem’s grin widened.
“You started amassacre!”she snarled, and he lifted an elegant shoulder.
“Not the first, nor will it be my last.”
“Tell me what you want and get out,” she snapped.
Shem chuckled darkly but conceded.
“We’re looking for Hecate. I have reason to believe she has hidden herself here in a mortal body. Any idea where we can find her?”
“You are even more arrogant than I gave you credit for. If the mother has hidden herself from you, what makes you thinkI,of all women, would be the one to betray her?”
Shem’s hellcats advanced, and Bridget’s eyes narrowed further as her posture stiffened.
“I am the harbinger of chaos, Bridget, but I serve the Queen of Death and Decay. As a dead woman, I’m sure you understand what that entails?”
Bridget, to my shock, rolled her eyes.
“I am protected. Even you cannot take me to Hell, demon. Hecate has blessed this earth, and her daughters have been granted free reign over their afterlives.”
Shemhazai hissed in frustration, but Bridget just shrugged, glancing at me with a wry yet amused smile painted on her delicate lips.
“You’ll have your work cut out for you with this one,” she said knowingly, her milky gaze slamming back to meet Shem’s green eyes. “Seems he’s used to getting his way.”
“Tell me where she is!” Shem snapped, but Bridget just laughed before fading into the ether.
“Good luck, demon of chaos. May you have as much success as I did while I was alive.”
“Bitch!” Shem snarled, his hellcats chasing after the whisp of spirit as she melted into nothing.
I chuckled, and Shem glared at me.
