“No idea.”
“Does Marcus know yet?” Cutter asked.
I shook my head. “I didn’t want to give him news like this over the phone—not when he’s got three new students to shepherd. He needs to be focused, not grieving.” I swallowed hard. “I’ll tell him when he arrives.”
“What happened?” Eddie’s voice was gruff. “How’d he die? Demon attack,
assume. But how?”
I glanced at Eric. “There were no obvious wounds. No signs of a struggle. I only realized his neck was broken when I moved the body. But there was a mark—a symbol burned into his palm.”
“Hispalm?” Allie repeated as Cutter asked, “What kind of symbol?”
“ASignum Fidelis.” Eric pushed off from the wall. “A signature mark. Most demons don’t sign their prey, but this one did. Frankly, I’m wondering why.”
“But that means you know which demon did it, right?” Laura asked.
Eric shook his head. “Not yet. We’ll have to research the symbol. But one thing is clear,” he added with a quick look at me. “Whoever this demon is, he wants us to know who he is and that he’s here.”
“Well, that’s never good,” Eddie said, in the world’s biggest understatement.
“But why?” Allie asked. “I mean, why would any demon want to point his finger at himself?”
My eyes met Eric’s, and I shrugged. “We don’t know. Not yet, anyway.”
“Why was Antonio here early?” Stuart’s voice was hoarse, but steady. More like himself. And I felt a tiny ping of hope that he’d taken another step toward a full recovery. “If he wasn’t supposed to arrive until tomorrow, why was he in the cemetery tonight?”
I shrug. “Whatever the reason, someone made sure he never made it inside. I don’t think it was as simple as a demon thinking we didn’t need two combat instructors.”
“Maybe Antonio was bringing a message,” Laura said. “And someone made sure he never delivered it.”
I nodded. “Could be.”
“An urgent message,” Cutter added. “Why else would he come early?”
“You’re not wrong,” I say. “Except it could be a dozen other reasons, too.”
“I went back and moved the body to the Monroe mausoleum,” Eric said. “And I put in a call to Forza. A team will arrive tomorrow to take his body back to Rome.” He drew a breath, his shoulders carrying the weight of grief. “We may have a lead,” he added, pulling a small USB drive from his pocket. “I found it on Russo. Nothing else. Not even a wallet.”
“What’s on it?” Allie asked.
Eric shook his head. “I tried, but couldn’t hack the password.” He crossed the room and handed it to Laura. “Give it a go?”
“Sure,” she said, her eyes as wide as if she were looking into an oncoming train. “But I’m more research gal than hacking gal.”
Eric’s mouth twitched into a grin. “Get Mindy to help,” he said, referring to Laura’s daughter, who had a knack for computer stuff.
“My kid, a hacking whiz,” Laura said. “Makes a mother proud.” She glanced around the room. “Seriously, though, it might take a while. If we succeed at all.”
Eddie’s scowl deepened, but his voice was quieter than usual as he turned to speak to me. “Russo was coming from the Vatican, right?”
I shook my head. “No. He’d been traveling all over the globe. A vacation before coming here. His plan was to show up tomorrow evening.”
“I just texted Father Corletti,” Eric said. “He’s going to see if he can identify the mark.” I sent him a pic from my phone. He didn’t recognize it offhand, either.”
From his place in the recliner, Stuart made a sound like the air being forced out of his lungs, and it made every hair on my body stand up.
I turned just in time to see his eyes roll back—and to hear the long, low howl that burst out of him like the ominous wail of a warning siren.
