Page 7 of Shadow Scorching

“Then we’re set.” Dante perked up. “I hope my aunt will talk toyou. You have directions, right?”

I pulled out my phone to make certain I still had Tilly’s address. “Yeah, I still have her info in my contacts.” Then, I remembered a question I meant to ask. “Say, did Sophia ever check out the spirit in Angela’s house? Remember Angela, from the Letty Hargrove case?” Angela’s sister, Letty, had been murdered, though we couldn’t bring the killer to justice because of the nature of the crime. But we’d discovered the truth, which only led to more questions.

“She said she’s going over to Angela’s next week. I asked Carson to go with her.” Dante shrugged. “Angela and Sophia seem to hit it off.”

That didn’t surprise me. Sophia connected easily with people. She could tune into their nature and some of our clients had started seeing her in their off hours, paying her for life coaching or card reading.

“Good. Angela needs a friend, especially now that Letty’s gone. Over the times we’ve talked I’ve come to realize that she’s actually quite lonely.” I glanced at the clock. “Everybody should be here by now. Let’s gather for the staff meeting.”

As Dante stood, I added, “Should I bring anything tonight?”

“You know my aunt. Bring yourself and she’ll be happy.” He winked at me, then headed out of my office.

By noon,I had caught up with all my paperwork, and handed Sophia a pile of papers to file.

Sophia stared at them. “Oh goody! Filing!”

“Eh, hush up, woman,” I said, laughing.

During this time of year, we usually didn’t have more than a handful of cases. Everybody was too busy with the holidays, and they usually put off unpleasant tasks until January. Come January, we’d be flooded with requests. But for now, the week was relatively clear.

When we had free time like this, we used it to sharpen and repair weapons, to finish the backlog of paperwork, to upgrade our tech, and work on our private library of information.

We were compiling records on all the creatures we fought, and I had recently added a section for the Arosien Clan under Demonkin, given that was my background. I’d asked Seton to help me learn, but he stuck to his own pace, and warned me not to dive in too deep, too quickly.

“The only way you’ll be able to process what your father’s heritage brings to your life, is to go slowly. Rush your emerging powers too quickly, and they can eat you alive. Try to learn too quickly and you may stifle them through fear. Andthatwill destroy you. If you want me to help you, I require that you abide by my rules.”

Given Seton Anthony was the most knowledgeable person on the subject of demonology that I knew, I agreed. I was itching to learn more about the kind of demon I was, but I managed to restrain my impatience. I’d spent forty years without knowing anything about my father—and that part of myself—so what were a few more months?

I tidied up my desk and then headed out to the front. Sophia was filing all the finished paperwork we’d dumped on her desk.

“Take a break,” I said. “Dante said you were heading over to Angela’s next week to check out the spirit in her house?”

“I am,” she said, setting down the file folder she was holding. She motioned to the breakroom. “Mind if I get some coffee?”

“I could use more, myself.”

Sophia put up the sign asking people to ring the bell if they came in, then followed me to the breakroom. Orik was there, reading on his tablet, and Carson was making a fresh pot of coffee. I’d also installed an espresso machine, given my addiction to lattes. I started to fire it up, but he stopped me.

“You want me to make you a latte? I haven’t used it yet, and I’d like to learn how.” Carson was a gorgeous young man, with dark skin and box-braids that reached his waist. His ears were adorned with lapis lazuli gauges. At twenty-nine, he was a computer genius. Carson was our main tech guy, and I suspected he was on the spectrum, given his difficulty with social situations. But his qualities often offered us insight from a different perspective.

“Be my guest. Triple shot vanilla latte, please.”

He laughed. “How many of these have you had today?”

“Two,” I said, grinning. “I usually clock four before I’m done.”

“Your liver?—”

“My liver is fine,” I said. “Here, you turn it on here, and then pack the portafilter—use the calibrated tamper, it does a good job.” I showed him what to do and left him to it. As I joined Sophia, she was opening a box of muffins. We ate a lot of pastries at work.

I accepted a blueberry muffin and settled down beside her. Carson made my latte, and by that time the coffee was ready. He poured a cup for Sophia, then one for Orik and for himself.

Dante wandered in. “Impromptu meeting?”

“I guess,” I said. “Given it’s our slack season, we might as well. I was asking Sophia about her trip over to Angela’s next week.”

“Angela and I had lunch last Sunday. She called me to ask about me checking out her house. She’s lonely, I can tell. She’s missing her sister.” Sophia sliced open a muffin and spreadbutter on it. She bit into it, shrugging. “I know you said there’s a spirit in the house, but I’m wondering if it’s attached to Angela, herself. I sense some sort of attachment.”

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