Page 342 of Castings & Curses

Now it looked like it had succeeded.

“Have things been…” Devi paused, thinking. “More active in town than normal?”

“What are you driving at, detective?” Cappelli asked.

“I’m saying this thing reeks of demon magic and I don’t even have to touch it.”

Cappelli’s brow furrowed. “What?”

Devi sighed. Goddess, but she hated explaining herself. And she really, really didn’t want to.

It was James’ secret.

Not hers.

“Graves has some unique talents that have come in handy over the years.” Avery said. “I knew something was off, but…”

She didn’t want to touch the damned thing, but until she did, they were going to be in the dark. She’d kill him, but he was already dead.

Damn it.

Sadness for her friend and the detective he’d been swirled in her gut. He’d found the box at an antique market. It had looked like a good find, but when he’d gotten the chance to open it, the reality was a whole other thing.

The residue was there, but she wasn’t sure if the demon was still lurking inside or if it had flown to the four winds.

“Stand back.”

Goddess, but she didn’t want to do this.

Devi took a step forward and let her finger trail along the top of the lid. Visions crowded in the way they always did and she almost cried out.

Clutching the table, she broke her connection to the box and staggered toward a booth and threw herself down.

Visions of her helping James bury the box beneath his house circled in her mind.

The holy water.

The demon vowing vengeance.

He had kept it the crawl space with the promise that he’d never open it again after she helped him seal it.

He hadn’t listened.

Nightmares plagued him. He couldn’t sleep. And then one night he found himself standing just outside the crawl space, dirt all over his pajamas.

The demon had worn him down until he went a step further and dug the box up. It belonged to the demon that had taken his life and ripped it all to hell. No one, not even Avery or Cappelli had known about it. At least, nothing he hadn’t wanted them to know.

But when the demon’s face was revealed, she almost threw up. Some mistakes never left you and this was one.

Instead of having him bury the thing, she should have burned the box and sent the bitch back to Hell where she belonged.

Devi’s nails curled into her palms and she struggled to keep her ocelot reined in. Her beast wanted to run, to escape the sulfurous death that coated the place like a bad paint explosion.

James had been lying. Not just to his partner, but Avery as well.

Not something she wanted to reveal.

Yet.

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