Page 47 of Mortal Heart

“You’re welcome.” She opened her front door. “Now scat and let a tired witch get her sleep, before I turn you both into a newt.”

“Don’t you mean newts, plural?” Arkady asked.

Carly pointed to her porch. “No, I do not.”

“We should go.” Ronan put his hand on Arkady’s lower back and ushered her outside. With a chuckle, Carly shut the door and locked it behind them.

13

RONAN

Katy had managedfour very strange drawings before passing out.

“Gimme those.” Arkady shoved the wooden box containing the dead demon into Ronan’s hand and took the sketches before he had a chance to reply. She studied them under Carly’s porch light from various directions and angles, presumably searching, as he had, for something they could use.

The first sketch showed the silhouette of a figure with long hair and unmistakably feminine curves. That by itself seemed straightforward enough, but Katy had drawn four slashes across the figure that reminded him of fingernail or claw marks. The next sketch was a jagged line in the lower portion of a dark shape shaded in with pencil. The third drawing was a simplistic sketch of a bed with a stick figure on it. A shadow hovered above the stick figure.

The fourth seemed their best bet for the demon’s location, if only they could figure out what it was supposed to mean. On that page, Katy had drawn a wavy line between two opposing diagonal lines. Above the strange lines was a tall rectangle, unmistakably a building, with an arrow pointing at the top floor.

“Well, she’s no great artist,” Arkady said with a sigh. “But she tried her best to sketch the things she saw while in a trance before passing out from sheer exhaustion. That can’t have been easy. This all means something important.”

“It’s up to us to figure out what.” He stuck the small box into his inside jacket pocket and zipped it closed.

She didn’t reply, her attention on Katy’s sketches. She seemed back to her all-business self—chomping at the bit, as it were, to get back to the chase. He saw no signs of tiredness or even lingering side effects of the demon poison or purging it from her body. She seemed to run just as well on adrenaline and determination as food and sleep. At some point, however, she’d have to stop and rest, and so would he. He surprised himself by picturing them in bed together, not having sex but sleeping comfortably side by side. It was the first time in all his long existence that he’d imagined such a thing.

As she flipped through the pages yet again, he took advantage of her inattention and leaned close enough to brush his nose against her hair and inhale. She smelled of the same soap he’d used and a dozen other scents he liked—including his leather saddlebags, where her clothes had been stored. If she noticed his shifter-like behavior, she didn’t let on.

When she suddenly twitched, he had to jerk back to keep her head from hitting his nose. That was the second time tonight he’d almost gotten a bloody nose from her, he reflected wryly. Unlike her attempted head-butt in the parking lot of the Pelican, however, this time it hadn’t been intentional.

“You have a thought?” he prompted.

“Not sure.” She hummed under her breath. “I don’t want to bias your interpretation. Take a minute to look at this and tell me what you see.” She handed him the fourth drawing, crossed her arms, and waited.

Even on his third and most lengthy study of the wavy and diagonal lines, their meaning continued to escape him. “Not any kind of runes, emblem, or crest I’m familiar with,” he mused. “The wavy line could be a river—that’s a common symbol. But the lines on each side of it don’t seem consistent with it being a waterway, unless it’s a poorly drawn canal.”

Ever impatient, she took the drawing and held it up in front of him. “Forget symbolism. You asked where the car was going, remember? I think this one’s more literal.”

To look at the sketch now, he had to face away from the house and toward Carly’s yard. Arkady moved the sketch up so the bottom of the rectangle lined up with ground level. “Now?” she prodded.

“It’s a building.”

“No shit. Keep staring until it comes to you.”

“A tall, narrow structure.” He traced the wavy line that led to the building’s front. “At the end of a curving road. And the diagonal lines…” He took the drawing again and held it up for himself. “Those could indicate a steep hill.”

“Skyscraper at the top of a steep hill, at the end of a curvy road. Call me crazy, but I think Katy’s telling us this demon bitch lives in a penthouse in the infamous Carmody Tower.”

“I’m not familiar with it.”

“That’s surprising.” She led him down the steps, along the stone path through Carly’s yard, and out through the gate to the Harley. “The most exclusive and expensive condo tower in the Castle Hill neighborhood. In fact, it’son topof Castle Hill.” She took out her phone and pulled up a photo of an enormous glass condo that he recognized by sight rather than its name. “Opened a couple of years ago. Caused a big ruckus because that whole area used to be Castle Hill Park. Some money changed hands, the city sold it to developers, and up went the tower right where folks used to go on picnics and walk their doggies. Everyone was shocked when it happened. I think they all figured the rich people in the condos around the park would be able to stop it. Guess not.”

“If this demon was involved, that might explain how the tower got built against the wishes of what sounds like the whole city.” Ronan swung his leg over the seat and settled in with his boots on the pavement. He’d parked badly, too close to the curb and at an angle. He supposed he should be glad he’d managed to park the Harley at all given his condition when they’d arrived. He barely recalled their journey from Nyx, though it had taken place less than two hours earlier. It was possible Carly had not exaggerated all that much when she’d said he and Arkady had been in imminent danger of dying on her porch.

To his surprise, Arkady climbed onto the Harley in front of him and scooted back until her ass nestled comfortably against his groin. How long they’d remain comfortable seemed a very pressing question, given his body was already responding in predictable ways to her closeness.

He rested one hand on her thigh. “What’s this?”

“Couldn’t resist.” He could hear the smile in her voice, though her attention remained focused on her phone screen as she searched for more information on Carmody Tower. “You looked like you needed me to come sit on your lap.”

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