Page 98 of Cold Curses

“I’ll ask Aunt Mallory,” I said. “Can you get me information about the boat, the crew, that kind of thing?”

“Of course. You really going to tussle with him?”

“I’m hoping there will be zero tussling. But he will be cornered, and that will be dangerous.”

“All the better he’s offshore, then.”

I left her to work and contacted my mom.

“I need demon repellent,” I said, “and soon.”

It was a truth universally acknowledged that a mother was going to have Some Thoughts about her kid putting herself in harm’s way (again).

“How soon?” she asked.

“Half an hour? Dante’s cornered,” I said, “but we don’t have much time to take advantage of it.”

“I’ll talk to Mallory and call you back in five,” Mom said, and the screen went blank. She wouldn’t mess around with my safety, which I appreciated.

“Thanks,” I said to no one, then looked at Theo. “If we get him, we’re going to need the Feds to take him. I don’t think our cubes are strong enough.”

“On it,” he said, and pulled out his screen.

Petra sent boat schematics, and I studied them while everyone else made calls. The ship was huge—nearly two hundred feet long, with two stories above the water and one below. Dante would probably be on the top deck, lapping up the luxury and eating or drinking or otherwise doing what demons like to do. Other than making Chicago generally unlivable for humans.

“Feds will have transport here in under an hour,” Theo said, sliding his screen into his pocket as he returned.

Handy but disconcerting. I didn’t want magic-siphoning tech that close to me.

Gwen came back. “It’s a four-hour cruise. They left about half an hour ago.”

“Pretty good window,” Theo said.

“Yeah, although our ride out to the ship will take some of that time. Fortunately, the coast guard has a boat. And one of the security personnel on the cruise ship is former CPD, so they’re coordinating.”

“That’s lucky,” Theo said, then told her about the Feds.

My screen rang. “Discuss our entry and exit points,” I told him. “I’m going to discuss magic.”

“We can do a saltwater spritz,” Aunt Mallory began. She’d turned on video, and the circles under her eyes looked darker and deeper than they had the day before.

“Which means?”

“We hose you and your team down with salt water laced with a few other ingredients. I’m thinking rosemary and lemon.”

“And then you’ll roast us with nice potatoes?”

She smiled, which was what I’d been going for. “Maybe afterbattling the demon. But it’s not one hundred percent. It will give you a thin layer of protection and lessen the effect of big magic.”

I’d have to get the team’s okay for a pre-op shower, but that was probably workable. “Anything stronger?”

The screen shifted to show my mom. “She’s working on some amulets to help deflect the magic,” Mom said. “But she’ll be able to manage only a couple of those in the time we’ve got and with the stuff she has on hand.”

“A couple is better than none. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. We’ll talk to Gwen about the delivery.”

I saw in her face that she wanted to go with me in order to protect me.