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Having dinner with Daxon and Killian, just the three of us, had been lovely. We didn't get to do stuff like that a lot. It fueled me in more ways than one. So, I returned to the Bangkok house feeling refreshed and found the hunter team there, returned from their collection mission. Many people filled the living room, and a hand-drawn map covered the table.

“Hey.” I walked up beside Karmen and peered at the map.

Karmen yipped. “Damn it, Seren! You scared me.”

“Sorry.” I grinned at him, then slid my gaze to the right. It landed on Star as if I'd been seeking him. I quickly looked back at the map. “Is that a drawing of the warehouse?”

“Yes.” Sullivan turned his laptop for me to see a smaller version on the screen. “We hacked their system. Sloane also did some digging. The CEO of Forever Beauty is a woman named Sarai Morgan. He found several photographs of her online, and we've confirmed that she's our sorceress. Her father is half-Thai. He moved her family here when she was young, but she went to school in New York, where her mother is from.”

“And where her company headquarters are located,” I said.

“Correct. She established her company there and used her connections here to manufacture her products affordably.”

“We've got her now,” Star said. “We have a list of all of her properties and even details on her family. She's not getting away. One way or another, we will catch her.”

“But first, we need to destroy any product she's created and find her spellbook,” Pichai said. “We need to make sure that no other sorcerer can recreate this cream.”

“Or be inspired to make their own version,” Killian added with a look at Dax.

“I've locked down the sale of Fey remains here. I intend to visit the other undergrounds and inspect them for similar corruption. But if one sorceress has figured out that she can do something similar with Witches, another will surely come up with the same idea, whether or not they hear about this one's success. It's simply the way of things.”

“You have a thought, and halfway around the world, someone else thinks of the same thing,” Killian said.

Daxon angled his head toward Kill. “Sort of like that, yes. Coincidence, kismet, cosmic intelligence, universal mind, or simple odds. Whatever you want to call it, it happens.”

“So, we'll need to be more vigilant,” James, the Storm Vex, said with a look at his team.

“Let's just go grab her,” Rue said. “We can talk about this shit after she's in custody.”

“Reel it in, Rue. We have to talk about this.” Trez, the Tider Vex, motioned at the other vexes. “If we warn the Clans, there will be panic, but of the Witch variety.”

“What does that mean?” Sullivan asked.

“It means they'll take preemptive measures.” Killian cursed, shaking his head, then added, “Witches have learned to strike first where humans are concerned.”

Rue grunted in approval.

“What's the alternative?” Star looked from Kill to Trez.

“There is none,” Leo was the one who answered. “We have to tell them. If we don’t tell them, we will be responsible if they become targets.

“If we do, it could launch a Witch-Human war,” Killian said.

Star murmured, “And they will blame the Angels.”

“What? Why?” Karmen asked.

“Because they're the only supernaturals who most humans know about. They're in the limelight which will also put them in the crosshairs.” I looked at Star. “They’ll assume that anyone with magic is an Angel.”

“Or a Demon,” Star said. “There are already many humans spreading tales of Demons.”

“Because if there are Angels, there must be a counterpart.” Sullivan leaned back in his seat. “I can validate that. The Human Council has been monitoring the religious groups that have been rising to power. A lot of them have concluded that Demons must exist to balance the Heavenly Host.”

“So, a war between humans and Witches will be viewed as a war between Heaven and Earth.” I looked at Star once more to add, “Or Hell and Earth.”

“You cannot tell them.” Star narrowed his eyes and shot that silencing stare around the room.

We all gaped at him.

“As the ruler of Hell, I have a right to make this demand. Warning the Witch Clans may or may not save them. But it will definitely put my people in danger.”

“Shit.” Trez looked at the other vexes. “He has a point.”

“This isn't our decision,” Vex Rue declared as he came back from the bathroom. “We have to tell the Coven.”

I frowned at him but not because of what he said. The guy pooped really fast. He'd been in the bathroom less than a minute. He definitely didn't wash his hands.

“Then I need to be a part of that conversation,” Star said.

“All right, everyone. Let's take a breath.” Sullivan held his hands up between the vexes and the Demons. “How about we handle one thing at a time? We check out the warehouse, capture Sarai Morgan, and finish this mission. Then we can talk about warnings and war.”

“Agreed,” Star said.

The vexes nodded.

“Great!” Karmen clapped his hands. “Give me one sec to put on my catsuit!” He ran off.