Page 33 of Spit

A man lay in the middle of the bed, sleeping on his stomach. His hair sprawled out on the pillow in all directions, a few shades darker than the comforter—a beautiful shiny straight chestnut.

Trey, if I had to guess.

Legion walked to the end of the bed and grabbed the man’s foot without pause, flipping him onto his back. Trey’s eyes flew open as he waved his hands like he was fending off an attacker.

When the man spotted Legion and me, he rolled his eyes and slumped back onto the bed as if he couldn’t be bothered to deal with us.

I knew how he felt. I wished I’d stayed in bed too.

“Trey,” Legion growled.

Trey’s voice was muffled, but it sounded like he had said some colorful curse words.

Legion reached for the covers.

“Begone, heathen. Leave me to my slumber.” Trey griped. “Blood Curse IIIcame out last night, and I’ve only just got into bed.”

Legion shot me a look.

“It’s a video game.” I shrugged, looking down at the man in the bed. “Do demons even need to sleep?”

“Sloth.” Legion said in a‘what can you do’way. “Nice party trick, by the way, Trey. Did you pull that illusion straight from the fields of the Third Circle?”

Trey sat up, his eyes narrowing. “I set up the illusion ward so people wouldn’t bother me while sleeping.”

Legion crossed his arms over his chest. “I need to talk to you about Mars and Quinn.”

Trey waved away his question. “Last time I saw them was at the auction house two nights ago. They got into a bidding war for a scepter. It was a good copy of the original Lord’s scepter, but inert. They didn’t get it, but we went to the bar afterward to commiserate.” Trey glanced at me, lowering his voice as of he was telling me a secret. “Greed and Envy don’t like to lose, and they needed to nurse their wounds, cranky asses.”

“Trey,” Legion snapped his fingers. “What happened after the bar?”

“Mars went home with a woman. I didn’t recognize her. Human. Don’t remember what Sin brand she wore. Quinn was in the bathroom when I left. I got tired.” Trey’s eyes darted between us. “Why? Did they do something stupid? Quinn said he wanted to break into the auction house, but I didn’t think he’d actually do it.”

“Have you tried toSpeakto them since that night?” Legion asked delicately.

I got the impression that Legion didn’t mean a phone call.

“I’ve been busy.” Trey hedged.

Legion’s glare could cut glass. “Mars and Quinn didn’t return home. They have been AWOL for forty-eight hours. I cannot reach their minds. It's as if they’ve disappeared.”

Or died. The last two words were unsaid but loud enough to echo.

Trey flinched. “I didn’t know.”

“We tracked them to Magicktec but couldn’t get past the wards,” Legion explained.

“Is this one of your pet witches?” Trey cocked his head to the side, studying me in a new light.

“I’m a contractor,” I said.

“So, not a pet.” Trey’s gaze lingered on my lips. “There’s something hungry about you, something I can’t quite put my finger on.”

Legion cleared his throat. “I need you back at Hemlock Hall.” He told Trey. “I’m gathering the others. We need to be united.”

“Not united in the biblical sense?” Trey waggled his eyebrows.

Legion didn’t smile. “That’s to be decided.”

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