The gate itself was a massive stone structure with two tunnels passing through it, a larger one for cargo and a smaller one for people. We headed into the smaller one and through a door at the very end, stepping right into the ether, an ephemeral substance that connected everything on earth. The ether whisked us through space and spat us out in the back hallway of a quiet old pub. My head spun as I recovered. The sound of chatting and the clinking of glasses welcomed us.

I turned and followed Mac out into the main part of the pub. It was a cheery space with a low wooden ceiling and a roaring fire on one side. A ghostly dog slept by the hearth and had done so for as long as I could remember. Small, round tables crowded the pub, but only a few were occupied.

Mac and I turned toward the bar, a long, gleaming wooden surface that separated us from Quinn, our leopard shifter friend. My only shifter friend, in fact. He was a broad, handsome man with auburn hair and a ready smile. Thankfully, I’d never known him as a kid.

Sitting at the bar in front of him were Carrow and Seraphia, two of my closest friends.

To whom I also lie.

The ugly little thought popped into my mind, but I shoved it back and approached. Carrow’s golden hair waved down her back, while Seraphia’s dark tresses were tied up with dark green vines that she must have grown herself. Though we knew her as Seraphia, she was technically Persephone, of the goddess fame.

Quinn grinned widely at us as we approached. “What can I get you ladies? Beer? Tea?”

“Tea. Thanks, Quinn.” I smiled at him, so grateful to be seeing my friends after my too-long stint in the shifters’ jail.

Carrow and Seraphia spun around on their bar stools, their wide grins fading as they took in the collar around my neck. Any hope that they might think it was jewelry fled on the wind.

“What the hell is that?” Carrow asked.

“So…not great news.” I drew in a breath and laid out the whole story just as I’d told Mac.

My friends turned whiter as I spoke, and the whole situation made me want to crawl under the bar and hide. I’d really got myself into a mess this time.

When I finished speaking, Carrow held out her hand. “Give it here, then.”

“Thanks.” I pulled the glass shard from my pocket and handed it over.

She closed her eyes and wrapped a hand loosely around the glass. A few moments passed, and I waited, strung so tense that I felt like I could break.

This had to work, because if it didn’t, I was out of leads.

6

Eve

 

A few moments later, Carrow opened her eyes. “No luck so far, even though I’ve become better at finding specific information from objects. Did you say you had some possible names? That might help me narrow it down.”

“Yeah. I’ve got them.” I pulled out my mobile and read off the list of names that Liora had given me. One of them was just called “the apothecary.” Seraphia made an interested noise when I read that one, and I looked at her.

“It’s nothing,” she said. “I knew someone called the apothecary, but there have to be loads of people in your business with that title.”

“Maybe,” I said. But a lead was a lead, and Seraphia might be able to help.

“Let me see if I can narrow it down,” Carrow said.

Quinn delivered the tea, and I nodded gratefully at him, unable to drink anything until I heard if Carrow was going to be successful. Minutes passed, and I desperately wanted a damned chocolate bar. A third—fourth?—would make me sick, though, so I held off. Barely.

Finally, Carrow opened her eyes. “I saw a woman with a starburst tattoo on the outer corner of her eye. She was really pretty. Straight dark hair pulled up in a ponytail.”

“Starburst tattoo.” Seraphia grinned. “And dark hair. That is the apothecary I know. She’s called Alia.”

Excitement burst within me. “Do you know where she lives?”

“No. She used to live in the Underworld, but she left.” She pulled her mobile out and began to tap away. “Let me see if I can find her.”

“Are you texting Hades?” Mac asked, her brows raised.

“No.” Seraphia laughed and waved a hand. “He would never own a mobile. Wouldn’t even know what to do with one. Probably just throw it at a demon. I’m texting Lucifer.”

“Lucifer?” I asked. “As in, the?” And why the heck would Satan have a mobile if Hades wouldn’t?

“The one and only. He used to have a major thing for Alia when she lived in the Underworld. If anyone would know where she is, it’s him.”

“Thank you.” Gratitude welled within me. Having friends like these made all the difference.

A few moments later, her mobile buzzed. She picked it up and looked down. “Apparently, she now works for Damian Malek in Magic Side, Chicago.”

“Damian Malek?” Carrow frowned. “The fallen angel? He’s basically a mob moss over there.”

“Do you know him?” I asked.

“Not really. Met him once at a casino in Monte Carlo, when he was using an alias. He knows Grey.”

Grey, aka the Devil of Darkvale, was Carrow’s partner. He was the most powerful vampire in Guild City, and something of a mob boss himself.

“If the Devil knows Damian, then can he get us in to see Alia?”

“Yeah, should be able to.” Carrow pulled out her mobile. “Let me check.”

“Thank you so much.” I looked at the clock over the bar and realized that it was already five p.m. “Where the hell did the day go?”

“It’s not even dinnertime,” Carrow said.

I touched my collar. “Yeah, but I’m supposed to go back to the Shifters’ Guild tower to check in.”

She frowned. “This is unacceptable. He can’t do that to you.”

“The thing is, he can.” As much as I hated to admit it, Lachlan did have that power. Carrow was still relatively new to magical life, and though she knew loads, little things like that could still escape her. “No one would dare go up against him.”

“Grey would,” Carrow said.

She was right. If she asked him, he would. The Devil of Darkvale was the most powerful man in Guild City besides Lachlan. But the fight that would result from that…

I couldn’t bear to think of it.

“You know it would be a disaster,” I said. “Let me see if I can get myself out of this.”

“Fine. For now. But we’re going to make sure nothing happens to you,” Carrow said. “Don’t worry. I’ll get Grey to hook us up with a meeting.”

“Thank you, you’re the best.”

“I know. But so are you.”

“We can’t both be.”

“Break up the love fest, you two,” Mac said. “You’re both great, we’re all great, but we need to get to work.”

I shot her a grateful look, then glanced toward the hallway that led to Guild City. “I need to get back. I’ll call you when I know my next steps.”

“Be careful,” Carrow said.

“Of course.”

The thing was, I didn’t know how far careful was going to get me when the shifters were out for my head.