Page 38 of Paramour of Sin

“Well, if Prince Ashmedai is correct in his assessment that this is about you, and not her, then that’s exactly what our culprit wanted anyway.”

Zebulon nodded, his midnight gaze studying the scene on the sidewalk and scanning our surroundings.

I let him work, his energy signature pouring out of him as he scoured the area with his demonic senses, searching for something out of place.

I’d just started to kneel beside the body when Zebulon disappeared with a growl. Frowning, I stood, searching for him, only to have him reappear a half-second later with a handful of navy fabric clutched in his grasp.

“It seems Bael sent us a present,” he said, showing me the emblem woven into the material.

I studied the symbol. Silver thread outlined a ceremonial sword that had a blade etched with obsidian flames.Silver sword with black fire. Clearly Bael’s realm.And the blue fabric denoted it as a Royal Guard’s robe, too.

“What need would a Royal Guard from Bael’s realm have to be here?” I wondered out loud.

Lord Zebulon’s face hardened. “A prudent question.”

“Have you recently granted any of his demons approval to play in your territory?” I knew the answer before I even finished speaking. “Or has anyone requested approval?” I rephrased, redirecting the question to try to mitigate some of the furious energy radiating off Lord Zebulon.

“No and no.” He handed the robe to Ragus. “Find a portal demon to take that to Prince Ashmedai. He’ll want to know about this.”

The Ordinatum nodded once, his coal black eyes locking on Lord Zebulon. “Yes, my lord.” He bowed and started down the sidewalk.

After Ragus disappeared with the bundle of fabric, Lord Zebulon refocused on me. “I suspect our culprit is trying to send us on a wild-goose chase to Bael’s Realm, so I’m choosing to ignore that clue for now.”

A wise decision,I thought, nodding my agreement before checking the corpse again for any energy signatures I might recognize. Apart from Guinevere, I didn’t pick up on anything. And yet, the human clearly died from demonic causes.

I crouched, frowning at the brute’s shocked expression. It wasn’t like he’d just wandered out of the club and suffered ill-effects from her feeding after the fact. That was neither possible nor likely, so something else had killed him. However, I saw no other signs of foul play.What in the demons is happening here?

Perhaps he’d been attacked by human means? Mugged in the street for the few measly dollars in his wallet? And then died as a result of weakness following the feeding?

Hmm.

I shifted to scrutinize the back of his head. No blood or obvious contusions. And a cursory search of his pockets turned up his wallet, cell phone, and car keys.

Definitely supernatural means, then.

It had been an empty hope.

I didn’t want Guinevere to be involved in this, not directly or indirectly, either.

Clearly, the culprit meant for this to serve as a message.You’re going to have to do better than a Tracker to find me.

Which only further confirmed that the demon responsible knew we were aware of Guinevere’s innocence.

My heart skipped a beat as a thought soon followed.Would the killer go after Guinevere now that she was no longer useful as the ruse?

Furthermore, if Lord Zebulon reallywasthe target here, then hurting Guinevere would make sense in the grander scheme of things. He’d made no secret of his favor for her.

Shit.

Headlights flashed over the crime scene, jostling me from my dark thoughts. I glanced over my shoulder as the car pulled up along the curb about a block away. Two Dargarians appeared from the shadows to deal with the threat, but when the passenger door opened, I heard a familiar voice cut through the night.

“Call off your hounds, Zeb.”

Eve.

I stood, biting my cheek at the way she continued to blatantly disrespect our lord. However, it never seemed to bother him. It was a game he liked to play. And I knew how he liked his games, so I kept my mouth shut. Besides, Eve’s intentions were in the right place. At least when it came to Guinevere.

Lord Zebulon waved a hand, and the shapeshifting dragon demons melted back into the shadows.