Page 56 of Shadow Seeking

“Brim Fire is made up of a group of fanatics determined to open our world to the UnderRealms. They work with powerful demons,” he said, frowning. “But if my higher ups find out I’ve compromised the mission…they have a way of getting rid of troublemakers. Even troublemakers who aren’t out to make trouble.” He shifted in his seat, tugging on his collar. “I have no idea what to do at this point.”

It was then that I noticed that Penn was staring at me.

“Is something wrong?” I asked.

She worried her lip. “The energy that I felt? Kyann, it reminds me ofyou.”

“Me? How so?”

“I think…that whatever demon is behind the hex, comes from the same clan that your father belonged to. But whoever it is, they’re full blooded and they’re nasty.” She swallowed hard, accepting the cheese cubes and cookies that Carson brought her. “Thanks, Carson.”

“Not a problem.” He handed the plate to her, and I noticed that his fingers brushed hers. I glanced at his face, and it pinged that he had a crush on her and he probably didn’t even know it.

I leaned back, frowning. “So…we’re facing some big demonic energy?”

She nodded. “And something else…while I was exploring the energy, I caught sight of Letty—and I saw someone, huge and shadowy, send her flying out the window. A demon killed her, probably after they realized she wasn’t who she was pretending to be. By then, they knew about Lazenti, as well. They’ve probably been watching you on the boards, dude.”

I stared at Lazenti, trying to wrap my head around what was happening. “Is there any way to find out exactly who killed her?”

“No, you’ll never pin it on anyone. Whoever it was, he vanished from the room before anybody made it to her office. And because of Lazenti, they now know that Shadow Blade is on the case. Lazenti’s in danger, and so is everybody else.” She turned to him. “You can’t go home.”

“Crap,” I said. “What the hell should we do?”

“Whatever we decide to do, we’d better prepare now,” Dante said. “Demons work fast and they’re ruthless.” He paused at my stricken look. “Not you, but you’ve got to admit, you can get really ragey when you’re crossed.”

“Yeah, I can,” I said. “All right, we need to think about this.” I glanced at Lazenti. “Do you have a place you can hide out for the meantime?—”

“No,” he said. “I suppose I could go back in my coffin for awhile, but if this creature knows where I am, they might know the location of my secret lair. Why did Ieveragree to talk to you?”

“It might have been worse if you hadn’t,” I said. “Meanwhile…” I glanced at Dante, who rolled his eyes.

“Okay, you can stay at my house but I’m wearing silver around my throat and I’m going to place garlic outside my bedroom door. No offense.”

Lazenti gave him a long look. “No offense taken. All right, I’ll give you my word of honor, and if you know vampire code, that means something. I won’t hurt you or any of your guests or your pets. Thanks. Can the windows be blacked out during the day?”

“Yeah, I have blackout curtains.” Dante let out a long sigh. “We have way too much to figure out, but for now, let’s call it a night.”

“I can stay and do research,” Carson said.

“So can I,” said Sophia.

“Good. But keep your eyes open. I need to read all the information you found for me, especially now that Penn thinks it’s someone from my clan causing the problems.” I looked over at Dante. “Need any help?”

He shook his head. “No, I can handle this. Come on, dude. Let’s go.”

I turned to Lazenti. “I’m rescinding the invitation for you to be here,unlesseither Dante, Orik, or I’m here with you. Do you hear me?”

He nodded. “Loud and clear.”

As we filed out, Carson and Sophia staying to make what sense out of the situation that they could, it occurred to me that we were entering new territory, and I had no idea where it would lead.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Penn returned home with me.We didn’t say much in the car, just stopped for some take out. KFC and Ivars—an odd combo, but I wanted chicken and she wanted clam chowder, so we decided to get both. Finally, at home, we set the food on the table, then dropped into chairs.

I looked at Penn. “You saved our ass today.”

She shook her head. “No, but I gave you a direction in which to look.” She leaned forward, pulling the food bags to her. “I’ll set out the food.” Pausing, she added, “Look, I doubt if the demons will be coming after you guys today…or tomorrow. They’ll know you’re prepared and because they have this massive plan, Brim Fire will probably send out scouts to see what you’re going to do, first.”

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