Page 21 of Wicked Deeds

Someone both Damon and I had once trusted. He’d been close to Nat before she died. He’d been on Damon’s security team, for fuck’s sake. And then he’d betrayed us both by somehow getting involved with a lesserkind.

He’d hidden his new allegiance well until he kidnapped Damon and me, to try to force me to agree to being bonded to a demon again.

His gamble hadn’t paid off. He’d died for his stupidity and the Cestis hadn’t figured out how he’d ever found a lesserkind. They’d reinforced Riley Art’s security processes after the issues with my demon. So either he’d managed to slip under the radar or the lesserkind had found him after he’d already moved from the testing team to security.

I thought I’d heard the last of him. But sadly, not.

“This is what we’re going to do,” Lizzie said in a tightly controlled voice. “Maggie, put the badge down. I want you and Callum to go back downstairs. In fact, go back to the car. Callum,call Cerridwen. Maggie, call Cassandra, tell her what you found, tell her the address. When you get outside, take those gloves off, leave them on the back porch. There’s salt in the back of the car and purified water. Wash your hands, both of you. Callum, check her for any demon taint. Check yourself, too.”

Demon taint?Fuck.

I put the badge down as gingerly as though it were a live grenade, swallowing against the urge to puke. If Lizzie could be calm, I could be calm. Panicking never helped anything.

Easier said than done, but I tried to shove the fear away. “What are you going to do?”

“Start looking for traps.”

Hell, no. “If it’s not safe for me and Callum, it’s not safe for you. You should come with us. Wait for the others.”

“Maggie, I know you’re freaked out right now, but this is my job, remember. I’ll be careful.” Her expression was all business, no hint of fear in her brown eyes.

I knew she was right, but I hated the thought of leaving her on her own in this house. “I could help.”

“No, I need you out of this house. You were one of Ajax’s targets. If something is triggered, we don’t want you within reach if something comes through.”

“You think there’s something like a summoning set up to trigger?” I swallowed. Part of me wanted to bolt for the door and not stop until I was far, far away. But I couldn’t leave Lizzie.

“I don’t know, but I’m not willing to take the risk if there is. If one of the other rooms has any kind of ritual work set up, I don’t want you anywhere near it.”

There was only one room we hadn’t checked. Most likely a bathroom. Surely no one summoned demons from their bathtub?

“There is a door missing,” Callum said suddenly.

“What do you mean missing?” I asked.

He jerked his head toward the bedroom door. “The rooms on this floor, they do not take up the right amount of space. Unless the bathroom is a peculiar shape, there’s a space on the other side of the wall.”

Lizzie twisted to face him. “Are you sure?”

He shrugged. “Not certain. But something feels…strange.”

“Warded?” she asked.

“Perhaps. I can’t feel one.”

“Line a room with the right things before you ward it and it’s possible we wouldn’t,” Lizzie said, sounding grim.

Callum’s expression matched her voice. “I will look deeper.”

Lizzie shook her head. “I want you both outside. Make those calls. Callum, you stay with Maggie. If something happens, you’re the next line of defense.”

He shook his head, looking stubborn. “We should do it the other way around. I am much harder to kill than you.”

“No. This is my job and you’re Fae, not human. The Cestis has to take point on this.”

Callum shot a glance at me. “Take point?”

“Be in charge,” I translated.

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