Page 61 of The Devil's Waltz

“Okay,” I finally say, giving Harper one last look before hurrying out of the office.

I slip into the lecture hall just before my professor starts her lesson and steal a spot near the back of the room. Scanning the room, I frown when I don’t see Phoebe. It’s not totally unlike her to show up late—even later than me today—but she usually lets me know.

Once it’s clear she isn’t coming, I send her a text.

Still wrecked from the weekend?

When she doesn’t answer, I spend the rest of the lecture trying to be rational and stop myself from overthinking the situation. And when I can’t, I slip out of the room at the first opportunity, calling Phoebe. My stomach sinks when it goes straight to voicemail, and a sick feeling trickles in when I check my text and don’t see the delivery notification.

I try Grayson next, my pulse spiking when his line rings. But then it eventually clicks over to voicemail too. “Hey, Gray, just trying to reach you or Phoebe. I think her phone is dead. Can one of you please call me back?”

I hang up and immediately send another text to Adrianna and Harper.

I can’t reach Phoebe or Grayson. Have you talked to them today?

Adrianna

No, sorry. I haven’t talked to either of them since we left the lake house yesterday.

Harper

I’m calling you in two minutes.

The tendrils of dread in my chest expand, and I chew the inside of my cheek until I taste blood as I pace the length of the barren garden outside the lecture hall. The air is cool, but the panic crackling in my veins is making me sweat so much the phone nearly slips through my fingers when it starts vibrating with an incoming call.

“Harper.” My voice is pitchy. “Have you heard from them?”

“Where are you?”

I frown at her forced-level tone. “Campus. I left class after Phoebe didn’t show, and I’ve been trying to get ahold of her ever since. Either her phone is off or dead, because it went straight to voicemail. Grayson isn’t answering either, and Adrianna also hasn’t heard from them.” I suck in a breath.

“I think you need to come back to HQ,” she says in a low voice.

In the space of a heartbeat, my head goes to the worst case scenario. “What’s going on?”

“Grayson and Phoebe were taken by demons, Cami.”

My hand flies to my chest as I choke on the dryness in my throat when I try to take a breath. “What? No. How is that even—No.” I stumble toward my car, the edges of my vision darkening as my pulse races and my head spins. I shake my head, struggling to get my key into the lock, then drop behind the wheel. “How are you sure?” Starting the car, it takes a few seconds before my phone connects to the bluetooth, and I pull out of the student parking lot.

Harper exhales a heavy breath. “Because,” she says, “the demon who took them is well-known to the organization. He’s one of Lucia’s inner circle, and he was caught on CCTV around the dorm right before they went missing.”

I curse, gritting my teeth and gripping the steering wheel until my knuckles are white and press harder on the gas to make it through a yellow light.

“We’re going to get them back,” she vows, but despite the fierceness of her tone, I can’t bring myself to believe it. This isn’t some low-level demon we’re dealing with. This demon is connected to Lucia, which means he’s part of her plan.

I lock my jaw as bile rises in my throat, and I flick the blinker to turn right, the safety of my car feeling far more suffocating than normal.

“Are you on your way?”

I hesitate. “I’m…saving a step.”

“You’re saving?—Cami,no.”

“He knows where they are, Harper. He has to.”

“I don’t care. You going to him alone is reckless and won’t get the result you’re looking for, so please, don’t do this.”

I swallow past the lump in my throat. “Whatever happened to them is because of me. Because Lucia wants to get to me.”

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