“It has,” Tanner confirmed as he and Larkin joined them. Keenan was already there, drinking from his flask as he searched the shadowy corners.

Harper moved to the center of the space and did a slow spin, canvasing her surroundings. It wasn’t easy, since the single, bare bulb buzzed and flickered. But she could see that, like the rest of the house, there were damp spots and cracks in the floor and walls. There was nothing down there except for the furnace, water tank, breaker box, utility shelves, and stacks of dusty boxes, yet the space strangely didn’t feel unused.

She flexed her fingers as unease weirdly slithered through her, making her stomach quiver and her scalp prickle. “I don’t like it here. At all.”

“Me neither,” said Larkin.

“Do you feel it?” Levi asked Knox.

Gazing at a particular wall, Knox nodded. “There’s a … wrongness. Like something is out of place. Or as if we simply can’t see the space as it should be.” He stepped forward and laid his hand on the cold wall, “feeling” magickal energy, “reading” it. “Someone cast some sort of concealment spell.”

Harper’s brows shot up. “Concealment spell?”

“Yes,” said Knox, backing up. “We’ll need an incantor to unravel it.”

Harper looked at Levi. “Your friend’s an incantor, right?”

“I’ll call her,” said Levi, digging out his cell phone before heading upstairs to make the call.

Knox turned to Harper. “While we wait for her to arrive, we can interview the human outside.”

It was Khloë who had found someone that recognized Alethea’s picture. Harper had asked her to stay with the human to make sure he didn’t disappear. She’d also asked Khloë not to fully question him as Harper and Knox wanted to do that themselves.

Following Knox out of the house, she saw Khloë across the street, standing beside a dark-skinned kid who was straddling a bike. Spotting Knox, his brown eyes flickered nervously. The kid might not know that Knox was a demon, but he could still sense the danger in him.

Harper exchanged a quick, grateful smile with Khloë and then slid her gaze to the boy. “It’s Isaiah, right?” Khloë had told her a little about him.

He nodded curtly, trying to look tough. “Yeah.”

“I’m Harper. This is my husband, Knox.”

The kid tipped his chin in a “Sup?” gesture. He was cute with his small afro and the shaved lines at the sides of his head, Harper thought. There was also a badass swagger in his manner that most of the kids in that area had.

“Khloë tells us that you recognize the woman in the picture she’s been showing around,” said Knox.

Isaiah shrugged. “I saw her in the doorway of that house a few times. Never saw her leave, though.”

“Did she ever have visitors?” Knox asked.

“Dude, she had a lot of visitors. Only saw one person go there more than once, though. A guy. Most of the time, he’d take someone with him. Weird thing was he always left them behind. I figured he was her pimp or dealer or something.”

Knox narrowed his eyes. “Can you describe him?”

Isaiah’s brow wrinkled. “He only came at night. He was tall. Walked like he could handle himself, but he wasn’t built. Wore a long coat.”

“What color?”

“Dark. Not black, but dark.”

Perhaps navy blue like the cashmere coat that Sherryl had described, Knox thought. “Did you ever hear him speak?”

“The walls of these houses are thin as fuck, but I didn’t hear a damn thing come from inside that place.”

“Hmm.” Knox had to wonder if a spell had also been cast to contain sounds. “Anything about him ever catch your attention?”

“Him? No. I paid more attention to his ride than him.” Isaiah’s mouth curved. “The dude had a sweet ride. Aston Martin.”

Khloë snorted. “I’m surprised no one tried borrowing it.”

Isaiah’s gaze cut to her. “Probably would have done if he hadn’t always had his dog with him. Big fucking brute of a dog. He’d leave it in the yard, and it would lie next to the car. Didn’t move an inch until the dude came back out.”

Knox tilted his head. “Can you describe the dog?”

“Like I said, it was big,” said Isaiah. “It had black shaggy hair. Always looked wet.”

Probably a black shuck, Harper told Knox, referring to shape-shifting demons that were considered death omens by humans.

Sounds like it, agreed Knox. “Did you recognize any of the people that entered the house, Isaiah?”

“Some. A couple of them were meth addicts. That’s why I figured that dude was a dealer or pimp.” He flexed his grip on the bike’s handlebars. “Our local dealer confronted him; didn’t want anyone else selling shit on his turf. The dude said he was no dealer.”

Knox tensed briefly. “Where can we find this dealer?”

“Graveyard. He was shot dead sometime after that.” Isaiah’s gaze sharpened. “You think that guy had something to do with it?”

“It’s unlikely,” lied Knox. The Horseman wouldn’t have wanted there to be someone who could describe him to anyone who came asking questions. “When was the last time you saw him?”

“Months ago. Haven’t seen anything of the woman in a while either. But I don’t watch the place, so I can’t be sure when anyone was last there. Can I go now?”

“Yes. Thank you for talking with us, Isaiah.” He handed the kid some cash, who nodded in thanks and then disappeared on his bike.

Cupping Harper’s elbow, Knox led her across the road to where the four sentinels waited. He quickly brought them up to speed, adding, “We now know our suspect drives an Aston Martin and has a black shuck working for him.”

Tanner’s brow furrowed. “I’m pretty sure one of Dario’s sentinels can shape-shift. He could be a shuck.”

“Look into it. We also need to find out if any of our suspects own an Aston Martin.” Knox looked at Harper’s cousin. “Your help was appreciated, Khloë.”

Doing a long, languid stretch, Khloë yawned loudly. “No problem.”

Harper’s mouth quirked. “Tired?”

Khloë’s shoulders slumped. “Haven’t slept in, like, a week. I was too determined to find someone that could lead me to Alethea. And I did. Am I the shit, or what?”

Deciding not to tell her cousin that she looked like shit, Harper gently squeezed her arm. “Yes, you are indeed the shit. I’m totally in your debt. Now go home. You need sleep.” Although demons could go days without it, it wasn’t good for them.

“You don’t need to tell me twice.”

“Want a ride back? Tanner won’t mind.”

Nose wrinkling, Khloë began to back up. “Nah, I’m good.”

Keenan sighed at the imp. “Should you be out alone?” he snarked.

Khloë blinked up at him, as if she’d only just noticed he was there, but Harper knew that wasn’t the case. Khloë was aware of everything. “Why wouldn’t I be?” she asked.

His mouth tightened. “Because you attract trouble like it’s your job.”

“And you drink Everclear like it’s your job,” Khloë shot back. “Do you hear me commenting on it?”

“You just did.”

“Only to make a point.”

“My point carries more weight.”

“Probably not as much weight as your monster cock.”

“Khloë!” Harper exclaimed.

She turned to Harper, eyes widening in innocence. “It’s not like he doesn’t know. He sees it every day. I’m sure there have been many times when he’s jerked himself—”

“Khloë!” Seriously, Harper was going to kill her one day.

“Fine, fine. I’ll call you tomorrow.” She spun on her heel and walked off, whistling a merry tune.

Keenan turned to Harper. “Are you really going to let her walk home alone?”

“Let?” Harper frowned at him. “Do you not know Khloë at all?” There was no forcing her cousin to do anything she didn’t want to do.

Keenan sighed again. “I’ll be back in ten minutes.” With that, he jogged to his car.

Sidling up to Harper, Larkin leaned into her. “Do you think she’ll agree to let him give her a ride?”