Carson glanced over at me, shaking his head. “I didn’t expect this,” he said. “If she’s that far gone, she wouldn’t think twice about hurting anybody she thought was an enemy.”

  “Unfortunately, I think you’re right.” I pulled out my phone and texted Dante with the information that we gotten so far. I had to truncate it, of course, but I gave him the gist of the conversation. I also told him we were waiting to hear what her former therapist might have to say.

  When Lou returned, he looked like he’d just seen a ghost.

  “All right,” he said. “Dr. Hedges thinks that she is a danger to your friend Dante. And to herself. He’s going to drive up here, and he, along with the police, will escort Rowan to the hospital, where she’ll undergo psychiatric evaluation. Apparently, he recently dealt with a similar case that didn’t end well. In fact, it ended up in a murder-suicide.” Lou looked horrified. “Let me give you the doctor’s number so you can call him. He should be here within two hours, three if traffic is bad.”

  The pain on his face was palpable. He looked like he was about to lose his best friend. I wanted to say something to help, but even if we reassured him this was for the best all around, that wouldn’t take the pain away. I stood, with Carson following suit.

  “You know this is for the best,” I said. “She’s a danger to others and she’s a danger to herself, and she’s already ripped apart your heart.”

  “I know, but it’s hard when you love someone so much that you desperately want to overlook the problems. I’ve never met another woman like her. When she was in love with me, it was like a fairytale. I know women talk about the Cinderella fantasy, but trust me — the Prince wants his Princess as well. Or the pauper, depending on who it is. Finding the woman of your dreams isn’t easy, and I thought I did. I guess sometimes it’s easier to pretend things are okay.”

  Lou walked us to the door, and I could tell he was trying not to cry. Rabbit shifters were emotional, and they valued family over everything else. If he had truly foreseen having a family with Rowan, chances are he’d go through hell and high water to get there. And now that wasn’t going to happen.

  Impulsively, I reached out and gave him a quick hug. Startled, he returned it. I stood back, holding him by the shoulders.

  “Listen to me. You deserve more than this. You deserve a woman is going to want to make a home with you, who isn’t going to look at anyone else. You deserve someone who will value your love and not throw it away. Please, believe me.” I held his gaze, watching as a myriad of emotions flashed through his eyes.

  “Thank you,” he said. “Thank you for that. I’ll ask the doctor to get in touch with you once Rowan is in the hospital. I’m pretty sure that Dante will need to come in and make a formal statement. If you have any evidence, it probably be wise to bring it. That’s what happened in the first case.”

  I nodded, and Carson and I thanked him and took our leave. As we drove away, it occurred to me how many people were living in fantasy worlds they had created, with no basis in reality. And how many people were hurt, thanks to those fantasies? I had a feeling it was far more than we wanted to think.

  CHAPTER TEN

  When we arrived back at the office I called an immediate meeting. I opened up a Meet-Me room and texted Lazenti and Orik, asking them to join our chat. The moment they were online, Carson and I told them what we found out about Rowan.

  “Until we know that she’s locked away, everyone in this office needs to take extra care. I don’t care how safe you think you are, keep an eye out. The psychologist thinks she’s dangerous to others as well as herself. I really feel for her husband, but he needs to get the hell out of that marriage.” I turned to Dante. “And you, my friend, aren’t going anywhere without one of us with you. You can sleep on my sofa, if need be.”

  “I’ll be fine,” he said. “Remember, she’s banned from my building. I’ll just ask security to keep a tight watch.”

  “I’ll come back in tomorrow,” Orik said. “Hilda will be good with it, and her mother’s doing so much that my presence isn’t a necessity most of the time. Hilda will understand. I’d offer you a place to stay, Dante, except with the new twins, I think my mother-in-law would kill me.”

  “Not a problem,” Dante said. “But if Hilda needs you, don’t sweat it⁠—”

  “Trust me, everything’s fine,” Orik said.

  “If Dante needs to stay anywhere, he can stay with Penn and me. Rowan might be a witch, but I don’t think she could tangle effectively with my demon. Now, let’s hear what you found in the file that Philip gave me.” I turned the meeting over to Dante.

  Dante sighed. “It seems that our talented young witch knew more spells than was good for her. In fact, I suspect that she used what is called a death wish spell. Or rather, curse.”

  I suddenly remembered Philip’s request. “By the way, we promised that we’d never discuss the curses on that piece of paper with anybody else outside this office. Otherwise, Philip will have my hide.”

  “I wouldn’t know what to do with them if I even tried,” Dante said. “The Romalies sound like a fun-loving group, and I hope to hell we never meet any of them. The curses printed out on a piece of paper were enough to make me gag.”

  “They weren’t squeamish, I’ll tell you that,” Penn said. “From childhood, they taught the stark realities of life. They’re trained to fight dirty. So, what is the death wish curse?”

  “I’m not entirely sure, but it seems to involve sparking off an energetic tick-like creature. After infusing it with energy, you send it toward your intended target. This is all done on a mental level, there don’t seem to be any components needed. If the girl was that strong at age twelve, I dread to think what she would have become if she had grown up.”

  “Oh?” Carson asked.

  “Maybe a Mother Teresa, only magical. Or a Baba Yaga, if she went the other way.”

  Penn reached for the page of curses. Dante handed it to her and she glanced over at the spells. A few moments later, she looked up, her face pale.

  “I cannot imagine wielding this much power. It’s basically like putting your finger on the button to electrocute somebody, and then making that choice. Absolute power corrupts, and the power to kill on a whim, corrupts even more.”

  “So you agree that’s probably what Riana used?” I asked.

  Penn nodded. “I think Dante’s right. Once the tick—I think it’s called a death wish beetle—is implanted with its target, there’s no stopping it. They’re extremely hard to spot, they can hide just about anywhere, and they can phase in and out. My guess is that she formed it during her last minutes, and sicced it onto Christopher. It wouldn’t take more than a few minutes for the beetle to burrow into his aura and cause major disruption. That’s probably what caused the heart attack. Once the task has been fulfilled, the beetle vanishes and there’s no way to trace it.”

  “All right. So could this curse be affecting the haunting?” Dante asked.

  “No,” Penn said. “The curse is focused on one person alone. My best guess is that Christopher Longworld’s spirit is tied to that house. For one thing, everything he prized was there. The remains of his kills, the memories of his torture, all that made his house sacred ground. And so he stayed. He was mentally disturbed, and a sociopath. That doesn’t end when you die and revert to spirit form. Not always, at least.”

  “All right, where do we go from here?” I asked.

  “I need to make a trip to the magic shop,” Penn said. “I don’t have all the components I need in my own inventory. Then we can set up a cleansing force field that, if we’re lucky, should drain the negative energy, and release the spirits. Think of it like tossing the house into a giant washing machine. The spin cycle spins all the negative energy out of it.”

  “All right, we have our next steps, then. If you could go to the magic store tomorrow and pick up the components needed, I’d appreciate it.” It felt good to have a plan of action.

  Penn nodded. “Of course. By the way, nobody should be in the house when I set off the spell. The spirits will have time enough to realize what’s going on and, at least Longworld’s spirit will fight back. I can fend them off but…I can’t protect you while doing so.”

  Lazenti cleared his throat. “I’ve got a couple texts coming in in. Hold on,” he said turning off his camera and microphone.

  “I’ll contact Konstantine while we’re waiting, and tell him he needs to make arrangements to stay out of the house for a couple more days.” I moved away from the table, feeling conspicuous. By now, everybody knew that he was my uncle, but I hadn’t talked about it. I still needed to process everything, and I needed to talk to Seton. Before I texted Konstantine, I phoned Seton Anthony.

  The demonologist answered immediately. “What’s up Kyann?”

  “I need to make an appointment. Tomorrow morning, if you’ve got an opening.”

  “What’s going on?” Seton asked.

  “What’s going on? Well, in the past couple days I just met my uncle, and I found out about my mother and her past. I need to process this. And there’s another issue I’d like to pick your brains about.”

  Seton paused for a moment, then said, “How about tomorrow morning at 7:30?”

  “I’ll be there. It’s early, but the earlier the better.” I jotted down the time on my planner. “I’ll see you then. And, Seton? Thanks.” I hung up, relieved to at least get that out of the way. Then, I put in a call to Konstantine.

  “Konstantine?” I asked the moment his voice hit the line. “This is Kyann.”

  “Hey, I wondered what was going on. Get my house clear yet?” But he laughed as he said it and I realized he was joking.

  “Oh sure, we had Ghosts-R-Us come in and clean the place.” I sighed, then added, “Tomorrow we’re going to set up for a plan. We’ve been researching and we might have an answer. I just want to make sure that you don’t go home before then, because it could be dangerous. Actually, nix that. It is extremely dangerous and I don’t want you there.”

  “Not even to pick anything up? I think I left a couple books there I’d like to have,” he said.

  “Konstantine, I’m serious. Just buy them new or go to the library. I don’t like to pull rank, but I’m going to now. Stay away from that house. I don’t want to lose my only living relative now that I’ve found you. If we’re lucky, your house may be clear by tomorrow night. If not, then we’ll see where we go from there.”

  Konstantine hesitated, then said, “I’m touched. I haven’t meant anything to anybody since my mother died. Thank you, for caring. All right. I give you my solemn word that I won’t go back home until you give me permission. I thought we might meet for dinner —”

  “That’s right,” I said, remembering his earlier suggestion.

  At that moment, Lazenti came online again. “Kyann? Something’s up. I need to talk to you.” He looked distressed.

  Sighing, I turned back to my phone. “Let me get back to you about dinner. Something’s just come up at the office and I need to deal with it before making any plans. I’ll text or call you soon.” With a quick goodbye, I hung up.

  “What is it?” I turned to Lazenti, leaning forward toward the camera.

  Lazenti frowned. “The demon I told you about is back. He’s at a bar near my office. I have a friend who works there and he called me. Do you want to come down here now? I can take you to see him?”

  I knew that I had to meet this demon.

  “On my way. I’m bringing Dante with me.” I hung up, then closed the laptop and turned to Sophia. “Please, can you contact my uncle Konstantine and tell him that I can’t meet him tonight? Ask him if tomorrow will work for lunch, or dinner if that’s better.” I motioned to Dante. “Come on. We’re headed down to Lazenti’s office.”

  “I wish I was there,” Orik said, his voice booming from Sophia’s laptop.

  “We’ll see you tomorrow, if you really want, but don’t feel like you have to rush things. For one thing, I don’t want Hilda mad at us for dragging you back into work early.” I ducked into my office and grabbed my backpack, tossing my tablet inside.

  As I passed Sophia’s desk, she said, “Konstantine said lunch tomorrow will be fine. He’ll meet you at Garbo’s Steakhouse at noon.”

  “Thanks,” I said. “Put it in my planner on my desk, would you?”

  Dante joined us. He had changed out his white fluffy coat and leather pants for a leather jacket, ripped jeans, and a simple tank top. He’d also taken off most of his bling. He looked infinitely more dangerous, and with the shades he put on, he could easily pass for a gangster.

  “How’s this?” he asked.

  “You look good,” I said.

  I was wearing my black leather pants, a cobalt blue halter top, and my black leather jacket studded with shiny hardware. While my belt was silver colored, it wasn’t the actual metal itself, so it shouldn’t draw too much attention. My ankle boots had three-inch heels, and I had pulled my hair into a high ponytail.

  Together, Dante and I made for an intimidating couple. The less daunting you looked when you were in the Underground, the more trouble you were likely to attract.

  “Come on, let’s get moving,” I said, pocketing my wallet and keys, and making sure my dagger was firmly in its sheath around my thigh. That, as well, would offer some visual reinforcement to our fuck around and find out appearance. I also had clipped a boot knife to my right boot, and I was carrying a canister of pepper spray, made from Carolina reapers, ghost peppers, and a mostly-illegal pepper that had been bred in South America and was used against the drug cartels. It wasn’t lethal, but it did permanent damage to the eyes and lungs, and its use was creeping through the black markets here in the states.

  Dante pocketed his wallet and keys, and he strapped a dagger to his belt. “Ready,” he said, brushing out his hair. The blonde strands looked edgy next to the black leather.

  I texted Lazenti that we were on the way, and we set out, taking one of the company’s spare cars. We had a couple old beaters that were in excellent shape beneath the hood, but they looked like junkers. It didn’t make sense to drive a good looking car into a district populated with thieves and lowlifes. And the district around the Underground was just that.

  The two-door, ocean-blue, 1982 Chevy Impala looked old and weathered, but beneath the hood, the engine purred. I turned the ignition and we headed out, into the afternoon light which was shining a little too brightly for my taste.

  “So, how are you dealing with the whole family-reunion thing?” Dante asked. He stared out the window as the city streets rolled by. Traffic wasn’t great, but the gridlock hadn’t started yet. Everybody was either back from lunch, or taking a break from their shopping.

  “I’m not sure how to answer that,” I said.

  “I’m not going to tell you to be careful⁠—”

  “You know that I will,” I said. “So don’t even go there.” I paused, then added, “It feels like things are lining up for a reason. I can’t explain what I mean, but I don’t think I was meant to meet Konstantine until now. I don’t know why, but it just feels right. The more Devon and Seton help me learn to accept my powers, the more my intuition seems to strengthen.” I eased on the brakes as we approached a yellow light, then stopped to wait for the red to pass.

  A group of students crossed the street in front of us—four boys and two girls, who looked scared out of their mind. They were headed in the direction of the Underground.

  “The teen years are a dangerous age, where mortality seems so far away, and where carelessness feels like exploration. You think they’re headed for the Underground?” I asked.

  “I do,” he said. “I think that they’re out for adventure and I just hope they don’t get in over their heads.” Dante hesitated, then asked, “Do you think we should yell at them to go home?”

  “We’re old in their eyes, remember? Even if they’re shifters and older than they look, they’re young in heart and mind, and they’ll see us as curmudgeons out to ruin their fun,” I said. “It won’t do any good. We just have to hope that they don’t fuck up.”

  The light turned and I shifted gears and started driving again, heading for one of the more popular entrances to the Underground.

  During the 1880s, a fire swept through downtown Seattle, gutting much of it. At the time, Seattle had been built at—or below—sea level, and a lot of the shops had flooded from time to time. But with the fire burning through so much of the business district, the city had chosen to raise the elevation up to where the shops wouldn’t be subject to flooding. So they built over the older parts of the city, but left them intact.

  Around that time, the vampires and Supes took over and created their own city beneath the new streets, until a thriving community formed. But the Underground was darker than Seattle’s usual countenance, and took on a dangerous air. The upper two levels appealed to tourists, but they were carefully cultivated, and if strangers to the Underground veered off into the lower levels, they did so at their own risk.

  The UnderPark was a lot near the First Street entrance, leading into the underground counterpart of Pike Place Market. Supposedly, minors were turned away, but that didn’t always hold true, and even an entrance fee didn’t discourage them.

  I flipped on the alarm before locking the doors. It didn’t guarantee theft prevention, but it was so loud that it would scare away a number of thieves.

  As we hurried toward the entrance—it wasn’t wise to stroll along in this area—I glanced at Dante, who was looking at his phone. “What’s up?”

  “Lazenti just texted me the name of the bar. The demon’s still there, he says. Apparently, he—the demon—appears to be waiting for someone. The bar’s on level three, so we’re heading into dicey territory.”

  There were at least five levels to the Underground. The first was mostly tourist stuff—with a few generic vamp bars so that people could go home, bragging they’d been in an actual blood-bar. They were fairly safe, and made a lot of money. Level two held both shops and residences—the latter mostly for vamps, though some low-life Fae were allowed to live there, like goblins.