Caze had crouched beside the dead body. With a gentleness I didn't know the big man had, he turned the body over to face upwards. Erlan drew a knife and pried at one of the stars on the demon's chest. Caze cut off a slice of his undershirt and brought it to his nose.

   "This undershirt isn't new. This demon has been wearing it for about three months. It's been a lot of places." His eyebrow creased. "I can smell this city, some mud, blood, and about a hundred different people. The most bizarre thing is that I don't scent Dani, but this man has been in unpolluted water."

   Tate made an impressed sound. "I can only smell where's he's been in the past week or so, and I'm a shapeshifter. That's impressive."

   Caze nodded. "Bears have the best nose in the world. But I can't think of where this demon would have to be to find a water body with no pollution."

   "That's the Ghost Realm," I sighed. "He was there. And that fae over there, too."

   "You scent a hundred people?" Erlan stopped trying to pry the star off. "A hundred people he's had close enough contact to to rub off on him?"

   Caze nodded. "One is that fae, one is Roxie. A male scent that's similar enough to be her family, the other woman in here, and dozens of others. He's been around them consistently."

   Karen was worried. "They can't all be working for Dani, right?"

   "There's no telling." 

   Erlan finally got the star torn off of the demon's chestplate. He straightened and studied it. "This has the sign of magic on it. It's not just an insignia. Any idea what kind?" He offered it to Caze. The shifter took one whiff and hacked.

   "That's got to be the most potent seer scent I've ever gotten when there isn't a seer present."

   Now Jennifer was confused. Simone looked between all of us, trying to keep up, as Jennifer said, "Seers don't have transferrable magic. They are the magic."

   "I don't get it either, but that's been spelled by a seer," said Caze. He offered it to Karen. "You should be able to confirm it's not a mage's spell."

  She accepted the bit of metal and grabbed her staff with her other hand. Her eyes fluttered closed. Lilac swirls materialized around the star as she examined it. "I . . . I actually can't tell." Her eyebrows creased. With a grunt, she tossed it to me unceremoniously. Taken by surprise, I caught it in both hands. I had not been expecting Karen to want my help.

   My magic engulfed it as I focused on its mental presence. Karen was right -- it was hard to tell. The magic had no color. I couldn't exactly see it, but the magic that surrounded the star didn't come from the barrier. My eyes opened and I gritted my teeth. "I don't know what kind of magic it is specifically, but it's dark magic. They've tried to cover it up."

   "I've scented dark magic before. That can't be it."

   "Trust me," I muttered, tossing it back to Caze. "I've come across dark magic enough to know. The source doesn't come from the barrier, a living force, or an inanimate object. The only other source of magic is dark magic."

   Erlan looked bewildered. "Dark seer magic? Is that possible?"

   "Uh, quick question," Simone interrupted. "But what are you going to do with the two idiots in my house? And the dead body? And the crater in my floor and hole in the wall?"

   Something in the back of my head shifted. I looked at Tate, confused, but he was watching the rest talk. The hairs on the back of my neck raised. Rattled and bewildered, I examined the room.

    "Well, about that." Jennifer frowned at the two unconscious bodies. "If Dani has around a hundred people working for her, then she won't care about the safety of two of them. I find it hard to believe she has a hundred helpers, but we can't be sure. So, Dani won't care about these two. We'll just have to hope we can get some information from them."

    "You better not do that here--!"

   Tate focused on Erlan. "Were you able to triangulate Dani's hideout, like you were trying to?"

   Erlan looked at Karen. She nodded and pulled out her phone. She handed it to Tate. "She should be within seventy miles of that area."

   Tate looked surprised. "Philadelphia?"

   "Really?" I blinked, suddenly distracted. "Not exactly a low-key hiding spot. I was expecting some abandoned town or something."

   "Well, Philadelphia isn't the only city in the area--"

    Karen and I felt the shift in the magic at the same time. She clapped the release on her shoulder and snagged her staff, jumping backwards. I lit my hands and caught my own staff in preparation. The others looked at us, alarmed, but there was a flash of black. The phone in Tate's hand exploded into pieces. He had no time to recoil because another spell collidied directly with his chest. He was thrown through  the living room window and out of the house.

   Karen reached forward and fisted in midair. Wrenching her arm back, there was a shower of dark purple sparks. The figure was revealed as the magic tore away. In the instant that the concealment spell disappeared, burning ice raced across the mark on my arm. Simultaneous fear and hatred hit me the moment I locked eyes with Dani.

   She leaped upwards in a graceful arch. I realized her landing site and found myself frozen. No. No! It was like one of the nightmares where the dreamer was in slow motion while the rest of the world wasn't. Dani was moving at regular speed. She'd landed by the time I had lifted my arm and pointed my staff at her heart. Crimson magic spiraled off of the wood in a sharp spiral, the edges of the swirls serrated and sharp enough to cut a human to shreds.

   My heart was going too fast but I wasn't going to be able to reach her in time. Dani drew the blade before she hit the ground and it buried into Simone's back. Simone's eyes widened. In the same slow motion, she stumbled forward. I lifted my foot to step forward, my blood racing into my chilling muscles. Simone turned around and her arm lifted the shotgun.

   Dani grabbed the barrel and dark magic speared into it. The gun was crumbled and Simone seemed to follow it. Her knees gave out. The human woman collapsed.

   I saw scarlet.

   My world returned to normal speed. Crimson exploded from every pore in my skin. Karen was the only person the room that was able to protect herself. A lilac shield covered her body. Everyone else hit the wall. Breaths shook my chest deeply as I screamed, lashing out violently. Dani lifted her forearm and her own purple shield condensed. The scarlet spiral slashed directly through her protection. A chain caught her ankle and I wrenched her to the side, lunching for her throat. Magic spiked off of my arm to form a blade two feet long. It aimed directly for her neck.

   Dani's body disappeared. Her presence vanished into the nex tunnel. She wasn't getting away this time. I was going to kill her, damn the consequences. I grabbed the nex tunnel and my feet left the floor. The house vanished from my sight. I tore after her in the nex line, leaving a sharp magic trail in my wake.

   Her presence disappeared from the tunnel. There was a coil of smoke from where she'd jumped out. I rocketed out of the nex tunnel and into reality, hearing something shatter. Something boomed. The moment the atoms in my body materialized completely, ice slammed into my stomach.

   All oxygen forced its way out of my lungs. I dry-heaved and doubled over, unable to breathe. Small gasps and chokes were all I could manage. My hand pulled at my shirt in agony, exposing a sliver of my stomach, where I could see the skin was becoming overcome by a dark decay.

   Dread seemed to make the freezing cold triple. The burning ice spread rapidly across my skin from my stomach. The staff clattered from my hand as it lost feeling. I looked up, horrified, as the spell's color seeped down my arms and legs. Dani cocked her head, watching with fascination. The same spell that had taken Alexie away continued to spread until I was so cold that I couldn't move. It closed over my head and reality disappeared.