Page 47 of The Incubus and the Bodyguard

Bryony drummed her fingers on her arm rest, her expression focused. “Since we can’t get in touch with her, we’ll have to find another solution.”

Vlad blinked. “Are you sure you want to get involved in this?”

Bryony scowled. “Of course we do. You are one of our people.”

Warmth filled Vlad’s chest at the witch’s words. He’d always assumed the only people he could count on were Yuliy and theBlack Devils. Now he had Mae, Nikolai, Cortes, and a whole other bunch of witches and sorcerers he could rely upon.

And a super soldier or two.Vlad’s gaze flicked to Delphine.

“Abraham, see if any of our contacts can shed some light on that curse,” Bryony said briskly. She studied Vlad with a frown. “In the meantime, I might know a thing or two that can help you track down the sorcerer who did this to you.”

Vlad’s pulse accelerated. Delphine straightened in her seat.

“The kind of voodoo magic Mrs. Son-Ha described requires three things: the sorcerer’s blood, dolls of the targets of the curse, and proximity.”

Delphine narrowed her eyes. “Proximity?”

Bryony dipped her head. “For this particular curse to work, the dolls have to be near the victim. And the caster needs to be close by when he invokes the curse.”

“How close?” Delphine asked in a deadly voice.

Bryony’s mouth flattened to a thin line. “From the accounts I recall, within thirty to forty feet.”

Vlad clenched his jaw. He looked at Cortes. “So he was either in the room with us or?—”

“Somewhere in the building,” Cortes finished with a dark look. “There’s something we haven’t talked about. The Kingston connections Wei Chen mentioned. Voodoo is popular in that part of the world.”

Vlad’s fists tightened on his lap.He’s right.

“We should go take a look at the restaurant,” Delphine told Vlad curtly. “And I’ll need a copy of that leaked video footage and any other security recordings you have of the building in the past month. They’ve been planning this for some time.”

CHAPTERSIXTEEN

Jared calledVlad on the drive to the restaurant.

“Special Affairs and NYPD have completed their forensic examination of theOro Divino.”

Vlad’s shoulders knotted. “You guys find anything I should know about?”

“If you mean clues about the magic that incapacitated you, no.” The Immortal hesitated. “You know I can’t reveal details about the ongoing investigation. How about you and Cortes? You come up with anything on your end?”

“Yeah. We found out I was cursed.”

Jared inhaled sharply. “What?!”

“We went to see Mrs. Son-Ha,” Vlad said bitterly. “Tarang and I are under the effect of a voodoo curse. And we have less than two days to reverse it before it becomes permanent.”

The Immortal was silent for a moment.

“This is not directly related to the investigation about theOro Divinoincident, so I guess there’s no harm in telling you,” he said in a guarded voice. “A friend of mine just turned up in town. He’s with the DEA. There are some people of interest to them in the city right now.”

Vlad straightened in the back seat of the Range Rover, conscious of Delphine’s frowning glance in the rearview mirror. “Any of them from Kingston by any chance?”

“I see you already know about them.”

“Not the details. Giovanni mentioned he wasn’t happy about Wei Chen’s new Kingston contacts during the peace talk. It caught my and Cortes’s attention.” Vlad frowned. “We know some of the bigger Caribbean gangs have been desperate to establish a trading route on the East Coast.”

“You think Wei Chen is trying to facilitate that here?” Jared said stiffly.

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