I glanced at the front window. Pale sunlight streaked through the drapes, marking a new day—and bringing me that much closer to my deadline with Eterran.

Ezra. Kai. Zak. Too many dudes in distress and not enough time—or enough power—to save them. They needed a superwoman, and it was becoming all too clear I wasn’t up for the task.

Chapter Fifteen

Perched on my spare stool behind the bar, I stared at my laptop, the MPD’s hideous white website filling the screen, open to a list of cold Demonica bounties. My thoughts churned nonstop and anxiety bubbled in my stomach.

No word from Zak.

No word from Kai.

Only three more nights until the full moon, at which point I would be having words with Eterran, whether I wanted them or not.

My conversation with Ezra spun through my head—a heartbreaking tale of two teenage demon mages. He’d learned control. She hadn’t, and they’d killed her. It was the most messed-up thing I’d ever heard. As much as I wanted to know what sick bastards would turn fourteen-year-olds into demon mages, it was Ezra’s other comments I couldn’t shake.

It feels like I’m drowning, like I’m disappearing.

All that’s left is the fear and the rage.

Eterran might survive it, but I won’t.

Only once had I seen Ezra really lose control of his emotions. It had been at Aaron’s house, during Zak’s first visit. I’d been hysterical and screaming, and Ezra had shattered the doorframe.

That was why Aaron and Kai were so protective of Ezra. That was why his fear and anger were so dangerous. It wasn’t just an opportunity for Eterran to slip into the driver’s seat. It was so much worse than that. Eterran seemed logical, even reasonable, but the emotional feedback loop Ezra had described, that breakdown of all control that could ensnare both demon and mage …

“Hellooo? Tori?”

I jolted, my gaze snapping up.

Sin stood at the bar across from me, her eyebrows pinched with concern. “You okay?”

I smiled wanly as I shook off my apprehension. Her new hair color was still a shock—a silvery purple-gray that set off her fair complexion, the dramatic look accentuated by smoky makeup.

She looked enigmatic and gorgeous, but the timing of her makeover worried me. I hadn’t seen any of her bright tops or swirly skirts lately either. Her sweater today was long and very black, paired with warm black leggings and knee-high boots I’d never seen before.

She slid onto a stool. “What’s going on?”

I almost said “nothing” but changed my mind. “I can’t get into it.”

“Hmm.” She propped her chin on her hand. “Got anything to do with this crowd tonight?”

I glanced around. The pub was hopping. Not unusual for a Friday evening, but last night’s attack on the Pandora Knights had brought over half the guild out. Everyone was chatting, but the gossip was underlaid with unease. Rogues combining forces to attack a guild was unheard of.

Adding to the crowd was the Odin’s Eye team who’d been working with our guys to solve the mystery of the crime lull. Izzah and Aaron sat at the head of a cluster of tables, collecting notes on what everyone had learned since the Pandora Knights assault.

It looked all wrong without Kai there, cool and competent and smart.

Sin leaned sideways, putting her face in my line of sight. “You’re spacing out again.”

“Sorry.”

“Sorry? What, no sassy comeback? Are you feeling under the weather? Do you need a vitality potion?”

Not unless Zak made it for me. Every other vitality potion I’d tried had tasted like ass.

“I’m just tired. It’s been a long couple of days.” I’d fallen asleep again after breakfast, but even sleeping until three hadn’t cured my fatigue. Shaking off my self-absorbed lethargy, I focused on her. “What about you? Are you okay?”

“Of course. I’m fine.”

I frowned helplessly. Should I outright ask if she’d changed her appearance in response to the events over Christmas? Leaning across the bar, I lowered my voice. “I mean, how are you, really? Sleeping all right and stuff?”

Her gaze dropped. She tugged on a lock of silvery hair. “For the most part, yeah. I’ve been okay. Aaron’s been checking up on me too.”

He had? As far as I could tell, her crush on him had gone nowhere since our return from the academy—though, as Aaron’s ex-girlfriend, I wasn’t in a position to ask either of them about it.

“If you want to talk, I’m here.” I smiled encouragingly. “Anytime, just say the word.”

“Thanks, Tori. And I’m here for you too, you know. You can tell me what happened with Ezra.”

My mouth fell open. “What? Who said anything happened?”

She nodded as though I’d confirmed her suspicions. “Did you tell him how you feel?” She pursed her lips, painted a deep red to go with her new look. “You kissed him, didn’t you?”

My eyes bugged out.

Another nod as she fought back a grin. “When did it happen?”

I considered lying until my tongue turned black, then muttered, “That stupid pixie mistletoe got us at the Christmas party.”

“Oh my god! I had no clue. What …” The excited light in her eyes died as she looked around the Ezra-less pub. He was upstairs, staying out of sight while the Odin’s Eye mythics were in the guild. “You two aren’t dating, are you?”

“No.” I drew in a deep breath. “He wants to be friends. I think.”

“You think?”

“That’s what he said. He might … but however he feels, he doesn’t want to be more than friends.” Aside from, you know, that super-hot make-out session this morning.

“I’m sorry,” Sin said softly.

I drooped. “Yeah.”

“Well, at least—”

Huffing angrily, Sabrina stormed up to the bar, yanked out a stool, and dropped into it. “Do you mind if I join you?”

“Uh …” I began.

She slammed her purse down on the counter. “I am so sick of Rose!”

Sin and I looked past her. At the other end of the pub, the elderly diviner was leaning over a table where Lyndon, Bryce, Taye, and Gwen were drinking. She thrust a pale crystal ball under Lyndon’s nose, speaking emphatically.

“She just won’t shut up,” Sabrina growled, raking her fingers through her neatly styled blond bob. “Apparently, she did an amazing séance for Robin Page a few weeks ago, and she keeps going on and on about how she’s a true mouthpiece of the fates, unlike some young and inexperienced diviners.”

I composed my expression into one of sympathy. “That’s just rude.”

“She’s way out of line,” Sin agreed supportively.

“Thank you.” Sabrina’s indignation melted and her features softened into her usual good-natured cheer. “I’m so sorry for butting in. What did I interrupt?”

Damn, was this girl ever in a bad mood for more than five minutes? I should take notes.

“Nothing,” I answered at the same time Sin said, “Boy troubles.”

“Whose boy troubles?”

“Sin’s,” I said, while Sin replied, “Tori’s.”

Sabrina’s forehead wrinkled in confusion. “Both of you? … Same boy?”

“No,” we answered simultaneously.

“Oh,” Sabrina breathed. “That’s good. It’d be awful if you were in love with Ezra too, Sin.”

My jaw dropped for the second time. “Are you in love with Ezra?”

“Of course not,” she said serenely. “You are.”

I didn’t know what to say. I had nothing. Brain. Buzzing. Blankly.

Sabrina’s small smile faded as she studied my face. “Doesn’t she know?” she asked Sin.

“I think she’s surprised that you know,” Sin replied dryly.

“Oh.” Sabrina dipped her hand into her bag and pulled out a bundle of silk. Unraveling it, she revealed the black and gold tarot deck. “Don’t you remember, Tori? Your last reading? The most unexpected card …”

Pressing her fingers to the top card, she slid it off and flipped it over.

My stomach dropped. The Devil. A horned beast, holding a man and a woman in chains, and I could see Ezra and me so clearly in that illustration. I even had a name for the demon now.

“Temptation,” Sabrina declared. “Infatuation. Addiction. You’re in love with Ezra.”

“I—I’m not … not in …” I tried to compose myself. “I’m just … He’s …” I shrank on my stool, my shoulders curling inward. “I don’t know.”

“Tori …” Sabrina touched the deck again, then flipped the card. A naked couple was passionately entwined across its face, the name at the bottom declaring The Lovers. “Falling in love is always a little scary, but you have to make yourself vulnerable. Otherwise, how can you open your heart to him?”

“But …”

“Do you remember your very first reading? The Six of Cups? The reversed Hermit? The Eight of Swords? And—” She flipped the next card on her deck. “The Knight of Swords. Your past and your fears are still holding you back.”

I stared at the illustration of an armored knight on the card. “How do you remember all that?”

“I’m a diviner,” she answered simply. “Tori, have you told him how you feel?”

“No.”

She touched the deck one more time, and my heart dropped. Somehow, I knew what the next card would be. It had appeared in my first reading and stalked me ever since, warning me again and again of what was coming.

She flipped the card, revealing the grim reaper and his bloody scythe. Death. The card of transformation … of irreversible endings.

“I think you need to tell him soon,” she whispered.