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As I sat there, something in the back of my mind shifted.

I felt uneasy, and the more we discussed how to approach Brim Fire, the more irritated I was.

I had the feeling we might not get the answers we were looking for, and that made me want to drag Terrance back here and shake him until we got the answers we needed.

“I have a radical thought,” Sophia said. “We go to the police. We talk to Destiny and let them help us.”

“I already did, remember? They took a report but that was the last I heard from them. No, they’re not going to do anything,” I said.

“Destiny might try to help, but you know the police have large pockets and they don’t care who fills them.

I wouldn’t trust them to get my cat out of a tree, let alone find Penn for us. ”

It was unfortunately true that the police were as corrupt as a lot of the criminals. If you didn’t have much money, yeah, you went to jail. If you were wealthy, well…chances were you’d be offered a way to buy your way out.

Sophia sighed. “I hadn’t thought of that. I don’t suppose Destiny could help us on her own?”

“I don’t want to ask her to risk her job, but I suppose it couldn’t hurt to get her feelings on the subject. Let’s see what Terrance has to say, and then decide.” I glanced at the clock. “I also want to talk to Seton. I need a little guidance.”

Seton Anthoy was a demon specialist. I had no idea whether he was a shifter, a witch, human, or something else, but he was a doctor who specialized in demon anatomy and rare Supes.

He ran a program to help half-demons learn to control their powers, and he worked in conjunction with Devon, my trainer, who was also half-demon.

Mostly, for me, Seton acted as my therapist. I visited him twice a month to talk over some of the emerging powers I was experiencing. My half-demon side was coming out, and I needed to get a handle on her before she overwhelmed my human side.

Twice in my life, she’d come to the forefront, and both times ended badly.

The first time, Dante saved me from the police when I’d killed a would-be rapist in the park, savaging him with the claws that emerged from my rage.

The second time, Penn had been the one to prevent me from going full-demon on my mother’s serial killer.

She’d been the one to step in and take him out, so I wouldn’t lose total control.

I put in a call to Seton. “Hey, can you see me either tonight or tomorrow? It’s kind of an emergency. I’ll probably be free tonight after…I don’t know…”

“What’s going on?” The worry in his voice was comforting. I knew that my friends had my back, but Seton understood what it meant for my inner demon to be waking up.

I told him about Penn. “I’m afraid that, at some point, my inner demon’s going to break out and go whoop-ass on whoever’s at fault, and I won’t be able to control myself. Especially if they hurt her.”

“Call me if you have time this evening. Otherwise, I can see you at eight tomorrow morning.” Seton paused, then added, “I hope you find her.”

“We’d better, or life is going to get awfully dark for whoever kidnapped her.”

* * *

At five, we were waiting in the parking garage for Terrance.

From what Carson had been able to find, Terrance’s shift ended then.

We had his car’s make, model, and license plate, and we stationed ourselves nearby, ready to fence him in before he could take off.

I didn’t like ambushing people, but given he was part of Brim Fire, I didn’t feel guilty.

Carson had provided us with pictures of Terrance, so we wouldn’t mistakenly stop the wrong man.

Sure enough, around ten minutes after five, Terrance came out of the elevator and strode toward his car.

He was looking at his phone and I waited for him to pass me by, then stepped out behind him.

Simultaneously, Orik stepped out from behind a car to block his way forward.

Duran and Dante appeared from the sides.

I’d left Carson back at the office. We needed to preserve Carson’s anonymity on the Brim Fire forums, and so I opted to remove any chances of Terrance figuring out the connection.

Terrance froze the moment Orik appeared, and when Dante and Duran appeared, he went into a fight or flight stance, prepared to battle us if we attacked him.

“We aren’t planning to hurt you,” I said. “Not if you answer some questions.”

He glowered, but seemed to realize he was overpowered. If he had any powerful magic we didn’t know about, given he was a member of the Brim Fire, he didn’t seem to be preparing to shoot a spell our way.

“Who are you?” he asked.

“I’m Penelope Fircrest’s roommate,” I said, watching his face carefully.

He kept his expression set, but I saw the barest of eyebrow lifts, enough to tell me he knew the name. “And…what does that have to do with me?”

“I think you know,” I said. “She’d better be alive, and safe, or you’re going to find yourself in a world of hurt. I’m half-demon. I’m prepared to let that side of myself out and you’ll discover why your organization’s goals are stupid beyond measure.”

Brim Fire was dedicated to opening the gates so that Demonkin had an easy entrance into the world. They had no clue what kind of fire they were playing with.

That seemed to get a response. He blinked. “You’re half-demon? Then you should be grateful for the work we’re doing.”

“You didn’t mean to say that, did you, Terrance?”

“I don’t make a secret that I belong to Brim Fire,” he said. “Contrary to what most people think. I’m proud of my affiliation. The world’s on fire, we might as well burn it to the ground so that we can start over again.”

“You’re on the side of Mordor, my friend, and we’ve all seen the movies. We all know how that turned out.” I leaned in. “Where’s Penn? What have you done with her? We know why you want her,” I added.

“You don’t have a clue . You think you do, but you don’t.” He turned to stare me down.

Weirdly, a part of me believed him. There was something in his voice that said he was telling the truth. And if he was, what did that mean?

“You have a chance to work with us instead of against us. You have the opportunity to keep your skin intact.” I folded my arms, feeling the inner flames start to rise.

“Your friend is safe, for now. She hasn’t been hurt. But as to where she is, I have no idea. She’s not my problem anymore.” He stepped back as I took a step forward. “You really are a demoness, aren’t you?”

“Half,” I said. “And uncontrolled. You really don’t want to piss me off.”

My frustration was growing. He knew he wasn’t getting away from us scot-free, so it boggled my mind that he was being so blustery. Of course, we had ambushed him, but we weren’t the ones who had kidnapped an innocent woman.

He hesitated and, for the first time, I saw fear in his eyes. I decided to capitalize on that fear. If he was already showing some anxiety, then I’d up the ante.

“ You know what an uncontrolled demon can do. And a half-demon, who’s coming into her powers, who has an axe to grind?

Just as dangerous as a full-blood demon.

Tell me, do you really want to position yourself against me?

” I shot a glance at Orik, who took another step in, and Dante and Duran followed suit.

“If I refuse to cooperate, are you going to kill me?” Sweat began to trickle down his face.

“There are things far worse than death,” I said. I reached out and grabbed him by the front of his shirt, pulling him toward me. “Where’s Penn?”

He hesitated for another second and I tightened my grip.

“All right, all right, you can loosen your grip,” he said.

“I don’t know where she is. I organized the kidnapping, but I’m not the one who devised the plans in the first place.

I don’t even know the full extent of why my contacts wanted her.

I wasn’t given the information of where to take her beyond a transfer point. ” His eyes weren’t lying.

I slowly loosened my grip on his shirt. “We’re going to get in the van and you’re going to tell us everything.”

Orik had brought the van. We all climbed in and sat down, Terrance in the center.

“Tell us what you know.”

“Why should I? If you let me go, you’ll know that I’ll run right to them and warn them,” he said. “You wouldn’t believe me if I said I’d keep quiet. You’re going to kill me. I know it.”

“No, we’re not,” I said.

“Listen to me,” Dante interjected. “We know you’re going to keep your mouth shut out of self-preservation.

If you warn them about what’s happened, they’ll blame you for spilling the tea, and they’re not going to forgive you, are they?

They’ll rough you up pretty bad, if they don’t kill you.

Maybe even make sure you don’t snitch again by cutting out your tongue? ”

Apparently Dante knew enough about scare tactics that he hit on a secret fear, because the color drained from Terrance’s face and he froze in his seat.

“And if you don’t talk to us,” Dante continued, “we’ll make sure you remember us forever. You know I’m telling you the truth, right?”

Terrance slumped and he rolled his eyes. “I’m not stupid. What do you want to know?” He looked defeated.

“Do you know where she is?” I asked.

He shrugged. “No, I don’t.”

“Who ordered her kidnapping?” Dante asked.

After a long sigh, Terrance said, “Jiles Smithson. He’s the local head haunch for Brim Fire.”

I caught my breath, and glanced at my fingers. Something was shifting, and my nails were morphing, growing longer into talons.

“Kyann,” Dante said with a warning tone in his voice. “You’re changing.”

“I can feel it,” I said, trying to keep my cool.

My temper was rising, though, and I could feel my features shifting.

I’d never seen myself when I changed, but my forehead felt different, and I was having a harder time keeping control of myself.

I turned to Terrance. “What aren’t you telling us? ” The words came out in a growl.

He flinched, his eyes widening. He held his hands out in front of him. “Okay, okay, don’t hurt me. Jiles Smithson is part of the Crystal Court. He’s there as an undercover agent for Brim Fire. We managed to bring him over to our side.”

I stared at him. Brim Fire had infiltrated the Crystal Court? What the hell was going on?

“Why would you do that?”

“I just do what my superiors tell me,” he said.

“So Jiles Smithson put you up to kidnapping Penelope. Did he tell you why? Who did you assign to do the work?”

“No, he did not, and no one that matters. They were merely intermediaries. They delivered her to an agreed on transfer point, where Jiles’s crew took over. As I said, I don’t know where she is, and my part in the operation is over.” Terrance was sounding more and more truthful, and that scared me.

I forced myself to take a deep breath. A moment later, my nails began to recede to normal. “Where does Smithson live?”

“I don’t know his exact address, but he lives somewhere in north Seattle,” Terrance said.

I turned to the others. “We need to find him. And what do we do about Terrance, here?” Part of me wanted to eliminate him, but that didn’t fully set right.

“Don’t play with me. I know you’re going to kill me—” he started to say.

Dante cut him off. “No, we’re not. At least, not now. However, we can’t chance you telling Smithson that you snitched, even though he’d probably wipe the floor with you.”

I turned to Dante. “What do we do now?”

I’d expected that Terrance would know more than he did, and that after some minor roughing up, he would spit out her location. I hadn’t expected him to be as low on the ladder as he seemed to be. And I certainly wasn’t expecting to here that Brim Fire had infiltrated the Crystal Court.

“I can help out,” Orik said. “I have a friend who has a friend…who has a convenient safe room. We hold him there until we get Penn back.”

Terrance was sweating, now. “If I disappear?—”

“People disappear every day,” I said. “We can’t trust the police would keep you behind bars.

So, it’s up to us, until we get her back, and then we’ll figure out what to do.

Remember, if you snitch on us to the cops, you implicate yourself in a kidnapping.

If you tell your buddies, we spread the word that you’re a snitch.

You know what happens to snitches, don’t you? ”

He paled, then let out a breath. “Yeah, I know. I’m fucked, aren’t I?”

“Hey, you’re alive and, if you don’t screw it up, you’ll stay alive. If you make waves, if you cause problems afterward, I’ll let my demon out to play with your bones. Got it?” I glowered at him.

Terrance finally nodded. “All right. I don’t know where Jiles lives, but he shouldn’t be too hard for you to find.”

I suddenly remembered Murdoch’s glimpse of Penn. “Does he own a restaurant by any chance?”

Terrance looked confused, but nodded. “He does. An Italian restaurant over on the east side. I don’t remember what the name is, though. I’ve never eaten there.”

“Okay, Orik. Terrance, give me your keys—don’t worry, we won’t hurt your car. We need to stash it somewhere.” I paused, then added, “Are you married? Do you live with anybody? And, don’t lie. You know we can find out if you’re telling the truth.”

He paled again. “No, but I have a dog. Please, she’ll starve if I’m not home?—”

“We’ll make sure she’s well taken care of,” Dante said. He opened Terrance’s wallet. “Is this your current address?” he asked, looking at Terrance’s license.

Terrance nodded. “My dog’s name is Coco. She likes kibble.” He looked like he was going to cry. “Please, be good to her.”

I thought how even the bad guys could have feelings. It made justice hard, at times. “She’ll be fine and I give you my word, she’ll be treated with love and care,” I said. “We’ll try to get her back to you after this is all over.”

I paused, then added, “You can bet that most of my demon kin wouldn’t go this far for an enemy.

You might want to think over your allegiances.

If you decide to change your mind about your loyalties, we can help you get away.

You still have time to make the right choice, Terrance.

Brim Fire has brainwashed you. You have no clue the danger you’re playing with.

The demons don’t give a crap about your lives and they won’t reward you for helping them. ”

He said nothing, but I had the feeling he was thinking it over.