He tried to lift them but couldn’t.

Shit.

I tried my own feet. Also stuck. A faint mist began to drift down from the ceiling, acrid and dark. I coughed, my lungs burning.

“A trap,” he said.

Heart pounding, I crouched down to get out of the cloud of smoke and inspect the slick liquid that glued our feet to the floor. It coated the entire walkway, so taking off our shoes wouldn’t do it.

In front of me, Lachlan crouched low as well. We were too close, bumping into each other, but we managed to stay out of the worst of the smoke.

“Do you know what it is?” he asked.

“Maybe.” I knelt as low as I could and sniffed the shiny liquid on the floor. Almonds and evergreen—stomach-turningly strange, but also the signature scent of Kerinius sap, a rare ingredient that could be tempered to become the stickiest substance on earth.

Hope flared, and I dug around in the potion bag that I hadn’t yet returned to the ether. “I think I can neutralize it.”

“What about the smoke?” He coughed quietly, clearly trying to hide the fact that we were out there.

“Hold your breath,” I said, “because there’s nothing I can do about that.”

Finally, my hand closed over a narrow cylinder of truth potion. The potion was rare and expensive, and a weird choice for a magically sticky floor, but its main ingredient, Arcanium Root, was going to come in very handy in combatting the Kerinius sap. Quickly, I sprinkled the potion around our feet. It made the sap glow briefly, then melt away into a sloshy liquid, which spread quickly and neutralized the entire floor.

Lungs burning from holding my breath, I grabbed Lachlan’s hand and dragged him forward. The floor was still a little sticky, but not unbearably so.

As we reached the door, it swung open, revealing a pretty, dark-haired woman with a star tattooed by her eye. She wore a silk floral bathrobe and had her dark hair piled on top of her head. Seeing us, she leaned against the door frame. “Well, well, well. You’ve impressed me. Eve?”

I nodded and gasped, “Please let us in. We have only questions.”

She frowned, looking between the two of us. “You killed my demons.”

“I’ll pay for replacements,” Lachlan said. It was a good offer. It was expensive to pay sorcerers to get them out of the Underworld. “Or I can ask around if any shifter security forces want to relocate to Magic Side.”

That was an even better offer. Shifters were the most coveted security forces out there, far better than demons. Way more loyal.

She raised her brows, clearly recognizing the value of the offer. “Well, then. Come on in.”

She waved us forward, and we hurried inside. I gasped, trying to catch my breath, as she strolled around to stand in front of us and eyed me up and down.

“Was it the smell that allowed you to identify the sap?” she asked.

I nodded.

“Impressive.” She turned and walked into the high-ceilinged loft. It was a massive space, decorated with modern furniture and thousands of books and plants. Faerie lights glittered among the rafters, and I wondered how she’d got hold of them. Huge glass windows provided a view of Chicago, and it had to be spectacular at night.

She turned back to us, her robe swishing. “What do you need? Surely not a potion, considering your skills, Eve.”

“You know me?” I asked.

“Fae, with crazy-colored hair and an unusual skill for potions? I guessed. Also, I know your friend Seraphia.”

“Nice to meet you—”

Lachlan cut right to the point. “We’re here about a potion you sold. An Ageratina potion.”

Her gaze turned dark, and she looked away, her face twisting slightly. “That one. Yes.”

“It’s a killing potion,” I said. “You knew that when you sold it.”

“Sold isn’t quite the word I would use.” She looked back, anger flashing in her eyes. “Did you not wonder why there were so many guards?”

“That’s not normal?”

“That many? No. Usually, I have a couple. But ever since that miserable shifter came to my door and threatened me, I’ve been wary.”

“A shifter?” Lachlan asked.

“Yes. And he didn’t pay fair price.”

I frowned at her, thinking how horrible it would be to have someone compel me to make something so dangerous. “What happened?”

“Nothing terribly surprising. He broke in and forced me to make the potion. I didn’t see much of him, given the hood.”

“What did you see?” Lachlan asked.

She watched him for a long second, chewing on her lip. “I want something in return.”

“We’re trying to catch a murderer,” I said. “Surely you can help us.”

She flinched slightly. “Who was murdered?”

“He was a right bastard,” Lachlan said. “But he was part of my pack.”

She heaved a sigh. “I’m not helping you without payment, though. Rent isn’t cheap here, nor are my supplies.”

I looked toward the corner, where she had several tables piled high with tiny bottles of ingredients and bundles of dried herbs. “What do you want?”

She looked right at me. “The recipe to your most valuable potion.”

I frowned at her. “Which one is that?”

“You tell me. But it had better be good. Real good.”

Shit. Shit. Shit.

I knew which one my most valuable potion was. Could I fake it and give her another?

“I’ll make you take a truth serum,” she said, “so I know it’s the best one.”

“You’re ruthless,” I replied, though I respected her for it.

She shrugged. “What can I say? Bitches get shit done.”

Truer words.

I looked between her and Lachlan, debating, but the contest didn’t take long. We needed this. I hiked a thumb at Lachlan. “Go out on the balcony. You can’t hear this.”

“Of course I can.”

“These are proprietary recipes,” I said. “I’ve never told another living soul this one, and I’m not telling you, too.”

He frowned, then nodded and strode toward the huge glass windows that led to the front balcony. Once he was safely outside, I turned to Alia. “Can you set up a sound barrier? And you’re going to need to make a blood oath not to share this with anyone.”

She nodded, then went to her table and picked up a bundle of herbs that had been tied together with various colors of ribbon. I recognized the little bundle—I’d made several myself. It would make it so no one could hear what we said.

She picked up a lighter, a few vials of potion, and a pen and paper, then went to a tiny sitting area and gestured for me to follow. My heart thundered as she set us up around the little table, laying out a contract for a blood oath—no surprise a woman like her kept them on hand—and the vial of truth potion.

She lit the bundle of herbs on fire and made a circle around us. I felt it when the magic fell into place. Lachlan wouldn’t hear.

“This had better be good,” she said, pricking her thumb with a blade and letting a brilliant red drop of blood fall onto the contract.

“It is.”

She handed the contract to me, and I scanned it, seeing that she would die a slow, agonizing death if she told my secret to anyone. “Glad to see you don’t pull your punches.”