Verona

Chaos. That was probably the best word to describe the aftermath of that guy—Korthash—showing up. After the whole faerie thing, you'd think the demon pill wouldn't be so hard to swallow. It was, though. All that stuff Mom and Syd were into was a lot closer than I'd ever imagined. Is this what she was chasing after in Seattle? But why?

Devin, who seemed to be slightly more in charge than the others or at least mroe willing to take charge, had everyone else leave. Candace and Haley had already gone home, or at least took the car Haley had driven to the diner in. That left a vehicle Devin showed up in, a vehicle Caroline showed up in, my own car, and Heather's bike. In the end, we just moved to the parking lot while Devin checked the building.

"We'll get this sorted out," Thea said, punching my number in her phone. "I know you don't really know us, but this is our territory to watch over. We don't really have a warlock presence here, though we do have a contact."

"Do we?" Heather asked. "Because as far as I know he left town years ago and we haven't seen him since."

Thea pursed her lips. "Dani's father is still in our circle; we can get in contact through her."

I had no idea who these people were, but the word warlock stood out. "Is that who you call for demons? Can this warlock do something about ditching him for me?"

Thea's lips pressed together even tighter as my phone pinged with her contact info, putting us in touch. "Well, it might be best for him to explain it."

"I wonder if Hannah has another opening tomorrow, I suddenly need something for the tension in my neck," I grumbled to myself as I exchanged info with Heather as well.

"Are you in pain? I can take another look," Thea offered.

"No, no," I sighed. "I think I need it more emotionally than anything else."

Heather laughed. "We have that effect on people."

"Well," Caroline said, unlocking her car, "I'm going home. Not much to do tonight if you're handling getting in touch with Dani. It'll work out, bring a bag of sugar when you go to the bar, though."

Thea pinched the bridge of her nose. "Another vision?"

Caroline waved her fingers. "Yup, toodles!" She opened the door to her black car when she paused. "Oh, Verona, be a dear and wear the ivory one to bed, okay?"

"Excuse me?" Startled was hardly the word for it, but Caroline blew me a kiss and drove off.

"Don't . . . don't mind her," Thea said. "But she's right, you should get some rest. I'll get in touch as soon as we have professional help here."

Sighing through my nose, I looked over and unlocked my own car. "Alright, see you later."

And I headed back to the hotel.

Oscar wasn't going to believe any of this. Which was probably for the best, because then he'd kill me.

#

It was dark, raining, and the kitchen was about to close by the time I made it back to the hotel. I managed to sneak in an order for a burger after asking the staff for whatever order would be the quickest and least disruptive to their closing routine.

Up in my room, I closed all the curtains, spritzed the fragrance around the room that the concierge had very kindly found for me, and took a long, hot, coming-to-terms-with-my-new-reality shower. That took a good thirty minutes to process. Then, I sat down to do my skin routine, barely paying attention to what I was doing when the knock came with my room service.

I managed to eat but I breezed through it without much thought. There were a dozen texts from Oscar that I had to address, mostly so he didn't close for the week and come up here to check my pulse himself. I stared at the list of places to search for my sister, and the many crossed out locations that meant I wasn't any closer to my goal.

Putting the tray outside my room, I looked between the sets of nighties and pjs I'd brought. Landing on the satin ivory nightgown after much debate, made sure my hair was fully dry and settled into bed.

What a night. What a fucking night. What a week. What a year.

Argh.

I flopped over onto my stomach, staring at the thin line of city lights where I hadn't pulled the curtains completely shut in the middle. Syd was out there somewhere. But, so were other things. Scary things. Things that I'd been around my whole life, but in stage makeup and special effects. What else was real? No, that was a useless spiral. Keep focusing on Sydney.

She was doing something up here, and it had to do with her grief for Mom. She was still consumed by it, feeding it, growing it until she couldn't get out from under it. And the house key was a clue, but look where that took me. And the demon—Korthash—he said he wanted to make a contract or something.

I shivered.

My hand crept up through the blankets to touch my lips. All I'd done was said his name and he appeared. Would it happen again? Did I want that?

Tossing again, I struggled for a while longer before sleep finally took me.

#

I woke with a start. This was the hotel room, but something was off. The room was filled with the light scent of smoke. The curtains were open, but outside was a swirl of stars in the dark night sky.

Frowning, I walked to the window to look closer. That wasn't right, there should be buildings and lights and traffic outside, even at night. I drew closer, reaching for the curtains to close them as I'd done before bed.

"Hello, Princess."

Whirling around, I saw him. The demon. He leaned against the wall by the bed, eyeing the room with that same smile on his face. He wasn't in the same clothes he wore before, this time it was more casual. Some kind of black silk shirt that he left open, a line of gray stomach exposed down the middle. His pants were black too, but of a different material that didn't have as much shine to it as the top. He was barefoot, with his hands in his pockets.

"It's you," I said. His orange eyes glowed, flicking from the room he was just exploring to meet my face.

"Come now, Princess, I know you remember my name." He kicked off the wall, walking toward me until we were sharing the warm breath between us. "And I did love the sound of my name on your lips."

Taking a step back, I ran into the curtains. But Korthash had already poofed away in a puff of smoke, showing back up against the wall again.

"And you're two for two in taste. I absolutely love that little number you're wearing." His smile somehow grew wider.

The freakin ivory nightgown. It was cut low at the top and high at the side slits with spaghetti straps. I wore it when I got hot at night, and at this point I was frustrated that I'd listened to Caroline.

Crossing my arms over my chest, I huffed. "What is this? Why are you here? I didn't even say your name this time and I certainly didn't bleed on a summoning circle."

Korthash sighed, waving a hand through the air. "Sadly, you haven't called for me yet. Not exactly. But I'm not really here, either. You're sleeping."

"So this is a dream?" I asked.

"Of sorts." The demon poofed again, this time appearing on the bed in a relaxed stretch. "Mmm. And fantastic taste in accommodations. Truly a bed fit for a princess."

His shirt had fallen more open, and I stared a second too long at the stretch of his skin. Fascination, that's what it was. I wondered if he was hot to the touch.

"I'm still not a pricness, no matter how many times you call me that," I said. "What are you doing here then, if this is a dream. Are you here to haunt me?"

He chuckled. "Hardly. I'm just here to learn a little more about the human I'm about to contract with. Did you know you have the most adorable wrinkle between your eyebrows when you're annoyed?"

The wrinkle in question deepened before I took a breath and smoothed my expression. "If you're not here for anything important, leave me alone so I can get some sleep."

"Now now, who says it isn't important." Korthash poofed off the bed and appeared by my side at the window. "A contract here can benefit the both of us."

I stepped away. "How?"

His eyes rolled down me, and I forced myself not to move this time. "It would seem we are both looking for someone," he said. "And, the longer I can stay in this plane, the better it is for me to find what I'm looking for."

"I'm not doing anything until I talk to a professional," I said. "So you can go now."

"Ah yes, I did hear the word warlock thrown around. It would be for the best that you have guidance in this. You don't even have a familiar." Korthash walked through the room again, this time leaning over to inspect the hotel informational pamphlet. "Essential, really."

"Okay, great, we're in agreement. So, you're going to go now?" I asked.

He poofed again, appearing in front of me once more. His hand shot up, lighting fast, and held my chin lightly. I found myself pulling downward before I knew what I was doing, until we were so close we could have kissed.

"I'll go, Princess, but I want you to remember my name. Thash. Thash will do just fine. And whatever business it is you call me to contract for, I can promise you that I will deliver. Just call out my name, and I'll come every time." His voice was low, almost sultry in his whispered promise and confident words. I felt my heart beating faster, and then he disappeared.

I looked around the room, but he was gone. Jolting, I opened my eyes in the bed. The real bed. Checking the curtains, they were just as closed as I'd left them. The sliver of city lights poked through just as it had before.

"What the hell?" I grumbled, and turned over to pull the blankets over my head.

Fucking demons.