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CHAPTER ONE
“How do I look?” I turned to face the Greek chorus line. Four faces crowded in the doorway of my tiny powder room: my two resident ghosts, Ray Bauer and Nana Pratt, and my mage assassin friends, Gunther Saxon and Camryn Sable.
“Like you’re going to the bank to ask for a loan,” Ray said.
“Do banks still give those?”
Gun waved a hand. “Don’t get distracted. This meeting is important. You need to focus on fashion.”
I examined myself in the powder room mirror for the umpteenth time. “This fabric is uncomfortable. What is it? Some kind of magical material designed to curse the wearer with itching and sweating?”
Ray gave me a dubious look. “It’s wool.”
Gun tossed me a heather gray suit jacket. “Here. This is made with fifty percent recycled polyester. It’s tailor-made for someone with your refined taste.”
I swapped jackets. “You’re commenting on my sofa again, aren’t you?”
“It isn’t the fact that it’s red leather of questionable origin.” He paused. “Okay, it’s partly that, but it’s also the fact that you hauled it off the curb before the trash truck could get to it.”
“You snooze, you lose.” I took another look at my reflection. “I don’t like it.”
Gunther sighed. “Not everything has to be denim or leather, you know. Give other fabrics a chance.”
“Says the man with purple leather boots.” I wriggled in the skirt. “I can’t wear this. I feel too constricted. What if I have to kick my way out of The Corporation’s headquarters?” I’d have to tear a slit up to my underwear, and nobody wanted to see those saggy bottoms.
“You’re about to attend a business meeting with powerful gods,” Camryn said. “I don’t anticipate any kicking.”
I held up a finger. “But there’d better be donuts if they know what’s good for them.”
Gun eyed my stomach. “But they aren’t good for you.”
“Hey, I deserve a little sugar.”
“That’s what Kane is for,” Camryn said.
Gun craned his neck to look in the foyer. “Speaking of the former prince, where is your little slice of hell?”
“He should be here soon. He was adamant that he act as my escort as far as the entrance.” The fiercely independent part of me had objected when Kane first mentioned it, but the part of me focused on learning to thrive in an interdependent relationship told self-reliant me to suck it up.
“I don’t understand how you’ll get to their headquarters if you don’t know where to go,” Nana Pratt said. Although the elderly ghost had been exposed to the supernatural world since her death, she’d yet to wrap her head around the full extent of magic and myth in the world she inhabited.
“They’re too smart to send GPS coordinates.” The Corporation trusted me as little as I trusted them and with good reason. They’d murdered my parents and would likely do the same to me the moment I let my guard down. If they couldn’t control you, they killed you. Not quite the severance package most employees would choose.
“They have all types of gods on their payroll,” Gun said. “I bet one of them collects you from the rendezvous point and whisks you away on a cloud of tears and bitterness.”
“Not without me, I hope.”
A smile brightened my lips in response to Kane’s soothing timbre, and I pushed my way out of the powder room to greet him. The prince of hell was dressed for success in a custom suit that was perfectly tailored to his chiseled form. Behind him lurked Josephine Banks, his judgmental right hand.
Josie’s gaze raked over me, as sharp as her fangs. “If the look you’re going for is soccer mom attending a PTA meeting, then congrats because you nailed it.”
I shrugged off the jacket and handed it to Gun. “That’s it. I’m getting changed.”
Cam whipped out a tarot card. “Let me use magic. I can conjure something appropriate.”
Camryn and Gunther were members of La Fortuna, an ancient society of mages that specialized in tarot magic. Depending on the card, the process of mastering it could be arduous, and even deadly.
“You nearly died to master that card, yet you want to use it to dress me like a life-sized Barbie doll?”
“No offense, but with your measurements, Barbie is a massively inaccurate comparison,” Gun remarked.
With a backward scowl, I darted upstairs to my bedroom and swapped the business attire for a tunic top, my favorite black leggings, and my ass-kicking boots. I opened my weapons trunk and selected one dagger and one throwing knife. I knew the effort was futile and they’d likely relieve me of any weapons before I entered, but it felt wrong to show up metallically naked .
Nana Pratt gave my legs a disdainful glance as I descended the stairs. “Those pants look like they’ve been painted on your skin.”
I snapped the side. “But they have a pocket for my phone, which is really all that matters.”
“Hurry up or someone might eat your donut before you get there,” Gun said.
That lit a fire under me. I zipped to the door.
“Have fun storming the castle,” Camryn said with a wave.
“She’s leaving the Castle,” Josie shot back.
“And she isn’t storming anything.” Kane gave me a pointed look. “Isn’t that right?”
I held up my hand in a solemn promise. “I declare under oath there will be no storming or attacking of any kind, unless there’s no breakfast.” I was arriving on an empty stomach; they wouldn’t like me when I’m hangry.
“Good luck,” Ray said. “We’ll be here when you get back.”
Nana Pratt cast him a confused look. “Where else would we be?”
The ghosts were bound to Bluebeard’s Castle and the surrounding hilltop property, which included the neighboring cemetery in which both of their bodies were buried. The house itself had been built during the Gilded Age by Joseph Edgar Blue III, a wealthy tycoon. In honor of his name, he’d instructed the builders to use bluestone, which gave the exterior a light blue sheen. He’d added a moat because why not when you’re an eccentric with a flair for the dramatic? Thanks to the cemetery, his parties were often populated by would-be psychics and those who hoped to commune with the dead. I bet Blue never expected an actual goddess of the dead to float around his moat on an inflatable black swan, but I had no doubt he would’ve approved.
As we crossed the bridge over the moat, I glanced over my shoulder to see Josie walking behind us. “I didn’t realize I’d have two escorts.”
“He’s escorting you. I’m escorting him. Director of Security, remember?”
Kane offered a sheepish smile. “She’s worried if they pull a fast one that I’ll do something idiotic to save you. Her words, not mine.”
We walked through the open gate. “And would you?” I asked.
“Naturally.” Kane gestured to the fancy car parked outside the gate. “Your chariot awaits.” He opened the passenger door in a gallant gesture.
I bit my lip to keep from laughing as Josie squeezed into a nonexistent back seat. The vampire’s head poked between our seats. It was like riding with the family dog, except her canine teeth were sharper.
As I made myself comfortable in the passenger seat, I felt movement on my leg and screamed. Gnarled, rotting fingers popped into view.
“Claude, what do you think you’re doing!”
Josie’s laughter reverberated in my ear.
I twisted in my seat to glower at her. “I thought you were here for security.”
She angled her head toward Kane. “His, not yours.”
The revenant climbed onto my lap and curled into a fist.
“You can’t come with me to the meeting, bud. The Corporation made that very clear.” There was no telling what they’d do to Claude. Just because he was already dead didn’t mean they couldn’t torture him. The hand had feelings. Just the other day he was upset because Nana Pratt had inadvertently shut the window and caught the tip of his middle finger.
Kane glanced sideways at the revenant. “He’s welcome to ride with me, but I can’t take him home afterward. ”
Claude signed why not?
I knew the answer. “Because he’ll be waiting for me.” Kane had already made it clear that he wasn’t leaving the crossroads until my safe return. I’d told him to pitch a tent, which he didn’t find amusing.
Good luck , he signed. Claude’s index finger pressed the button for the window. As soon as a large enough gap formed, he crawled to the door handle and boosted himself over the lowered window.
“Keep an eye on the house,” I yelled. “You’re in charge.”
Kane grunted. “Really?”
“No, but it makes him feel important.”
The car sped off toward the adjacent forest. Wild Acres was a vast woodland that housed the Falls, the Arrowhead Pack, and most importantly, the crossroads for which I was the self-appointed liminal deity.
Spring was in the air as we ventured toward the rendezvous point. I felt buoyed by the rise in temperature, as well as Kane’s hand clasped in mine. It was so refreshing to touch someone without fear of triggering any nightmares, not at the moment, anyway. In a high-pressure situation, all bets were off.
I glanced over my shoulder at Josie. “Do you need to shadow us? I feel like we’re on a date with a chaperone.”
“I’ll make myself scarce as soon as you disappear into whatever corporate hell has your disgusting donut.”
“There is nothing disgusting about a Boston cream.”
“Josephine prefers chocolate sprinkles,” Kane said.
“Don’t tell her that,” Josie snapped.
Kane stifled a laugh as we arrived at the crossroads. “How do you feel?” he asked me.
“Hungry.”
He kissed my forehead. “That’s my girl. Plenty of room for a donut. ”
“If I’m going all the way to their headquarters and risking my life, I’m having two.”
“Having two what?” a familiar voice interrupted.
“Not two werewolves, if that’s your concern,” I said.
Bert looked visibly relieved. It seemed that he and Paulie were on guard duty this morning. The pack handled the daily rotation, but if something big and bad came through the crossroads, I was the emergency call.
“Where are you headed?” Paulie asked.
“To a meeting with The Corporation,” I said.
Kane rubbed my back. “I’ll be waiting here with the two of you until she returns in one piece.”
“What about her?” Bert asked with a nod at Josie.
“My security detail,” Kane said.
“Somebody’s paranoid,” Paulie said under his breath.
Bert nudged a nearby ball with his toe. “I hope you like soccer. We can play two on two while you wait.”
“Oh, Josie isn’t staying,” I said.
The vampire shrugged. “I wouldn’t mind a little healthy competition to start my day.” She looked at Kane. “Are you game?”
“Why not?”
I liked that plan; anything to keep Kane preoccupied while I was gone.
“Whatever happens, do not let him charge in after me,” I warned.
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Josie said.
Bert and Paulie exchanged uneasy glances. I recognized the look; they didn’t want to be responsible for holding back a demon prince of hell.
“One more for the road.” Kane slid his arms around my waist and tugged me closer. He slanted his lips over mine, and I savored the taste of him.
Josie made a gagging noise. “I just lost my appetite. ”
“Are you sure you know where you’re going?” Kane murmured against my ear. “It isn’t too late for me to change into a blackbird and join you.”
“I appreciate the offer, but if I expect them to humor me, then I need to humor them by following their rules.” I kissed him one last time for luck before I entered the crossroads.
The only information I’d been given by Posy, the psychotic siren who texted me the details, was to knock three times on a golden door that featured the corporate logo. I had no idea how far I’d have to walk before I…
And there it was.