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“That’s the Queen Anne Greenbelt, and it’s beautiful.

But isn’t it raining? I don’t want you getting drenched.

” I noticed one of her nails was broken.

“Let me give you a treat. My nail lady is downstairs. I can see if she can take you in and fix that, or even if you want a new set? Then, you can be ready when Carson finishes here.”

Maya perked up. “Really? That would be lovely,” she said. “I don’t get my nails done often—I work with my hands so much, so it’s usually ridiculous for me to do much to them. But I thought for the trip I would, and then I hit my hand on the door this morning and chipped it.”

“Let me call Ami.” I turned to Hecate. “Do you mind?”

Hecate gave me a gracious smile and nodded for me to go ahead.

I pulled out my phone and called downstairs. “Ami, do you have time to take in a friend? My treat.”

Ami laughed. “Sure. I have half an hour. I can do something for her in that time. Send her down.”

“Will do. Her name is Maya.” I hung up and turned. “Maya, go down to the first floor. Ami’s salon is there. Give her your name and she’ll take you right in. We’ll see you back here in about half an hour.”

Maya waved and Carson showed her out, then returned. “Okay,” he said, when he returned. “I’m sorry for the interruption.”

“Not a problem,” I said. “But Hecate has something to ask you.”

“Will you promise to do something for me, if I help you rescue my priestess?”

Carson stiffened. “Of course.”

I had the feeling that if Hecate said shave your heads and give me a blood offering Carson would have instantly agreed. But whatever the reasons, it was his choice to make.

Hecate fastened her gaze on us. “You give of yourselves freely for Penelope.”

“We love her,” I said. “She’s my best friend—well, Penn and Dante here. She means so much to me.”

“Penn is one of us. We’re ride or die with her,” Dante said.

“Then you have made your choice. I will help you. In return, you will become aligned with me, as well as a small group of gods. We have groups strategically placed around the world, in different countries, keeping watch.”

“Watch over…what?” Orik asked.

“You know about the portals. There are more that are controlled by the Crystal Court. And those are at risk.”

“Are you talking about the Fae portals?” I asked.

“No, these were created thousands of years ago, some by the gods, others by Demonkin, still others forged by creatures from other realms. In time, they’ve faded, forgotten by most. But Brim Fire remembers.”

“I got the impression they’re a modern day group. How did—” I stared to ask, but Hecate was a step ahead.

“Brim Fire is merely a modern name for an ancient group of demonic magicians looking to bring down the world. They’re a shadow of what they once were, but they’re strengthening again, and we’ve been watching them.

We don’t fully know their end goal, but in the meantime, they’re looking to push open the gates to the Demonkin realms. We believe they want to harness the demon’s power for themselves.

” Hecate leaned forward. “And that …is something none of us wants. Because Demonkin won’t stand for it, and it’s just going to bring about chaos and havoc. ”

“So…what do you want us to do?” I asked.

“Be ready to investigate when we call on you. Drop everything if a crisis goes down. We may have other tasks for you, if the need arises. Otherwise, continue your lives as normal.” Hecate scanned our faces. “Agreed?”

We all nodded. “We agree. Now what?”

“Now, I help you retrieve Penelope.” She glanced over at the counter. “May I have a cup of coffee and one of your pastries?”

Sophia scrambled out of her chair to bring Hecate the coffee and doughnut. Once again, the bizarre nature of the scene made me want to laugh, out of sheer nervous energy.

“Do you know where Penelope is being held? I’ve tried to reach her, but I get conflicting information. Her energy is extremely foggy right now.” Hecate sounded worried. The look on her face remained neutral, but I sensed concern in her voice.

“We need to figure that out.” I turned to Carson. “Can you do a search to find out what restaurant Jiles Smithson owns?”

He nodded. “Let me get my laptop.”

Carson returned a moment later, computer in hand. He opened it, then logged in, Hecate watched him and as he tapped away, she walked around behind him, peering over his shoulder.

“I’d like to learn to use one of these machines,” she said.

Carson glanced up at her. “It’s not that hard. I can teach you, if you like.” He seemed as calm as if he was talking to some twelve year old.

“I may take you up on that. What are you doing now?” Hecate watched as he brought up a browser and typed in Jiles’s name. The next moment, a list of search results came up, and Hecate tilted her head, reminding me of an owl.

“I’m looking up information on someone.”

“Are those all facts about him?” Hecate asked.

“Yes, though they may be talking about some other Jiles Smithson, or they might be outdated. The top results are generally the most accurate, other than the AI crap the search engines are pushing on us.” At her puzzled look, he continued.

“Artificial intelligence. But it’s only as reliable as the information fed into it.

And anybody can decide what they want to present as a fact. ”

He clicked on a link and then scanned the article. “Okay, here it is. Jiles Smithson owns the Bellissimo Piatto . That’s beautiful plate in Italian. He’s in the…hmm…”

“What?” I asked.

“He’s in the Green Lake District, on Second Avenue, right off of Woodlawn Avenue.

They’re open from one PM til midnight, Tuesday night through Sunday night.

” Carson searched on the restaurant name itself, and came up with some nice interior shots from a review done by a critic from the Seattle Restaurant Scene website.

“It’s a three story building. See, this is the main floor, and there’s a staircase going up over there in the corner, and it looks like a door which…

here’s a picture of wine racks in the basement. So they have a basement.”

“Murdoch showed me a flash of where she was. That looks like the place, from what I could see through her eyes.” I looked at the others. “So, if he hasn’t moved her, she’s still there. What the hell do they want?”

“Sophia can commune with her,” Hecate said. “While I’m here, I can provide a link, since Penelope is my priestess.”

Sophia set down her coffee cup. “I’d be happy to, with your assistance. It helps to have something Penelope owns, but somehow I think the link you have to her would be stronger than anything I could use for psychometry.”

“What can we do to help?” I asked.

“Scoot yourselves back from the oracle,” Hecate said. She sat down next to Sophia as the rest of us moved away. “Take my hand.” She held out her hand and Sophia cautiously grasped it.

Taking a deep breath, Sophia leaned back in her chair and, with an instant change in energy, dropped into trance.

I felt like a chasm was being bridged, as though Hecate was giving Sophia a walkway directly to Penn’s soul.

It was an energy that was hard to explain, or even understand, but I knew what was happening.

A moment later Sophia shuddered. The voice that came out of her mouth wasn’t hers, but Penn’s. “What’s happening? Where am I?”

“Penn, can you hear me?” I leaned forward.

“Kyann? Is that you? Where are you? I can’t see anything. Everything just went black.”

“Sophia’s made a connection to you. Are you all right?”

There was a pause, then she said, “Mostly. But I don’t think I’ll be safe much longer.”

“Are you in the basement of Bellissimo Piatto?” I asked.

“I’m not sure where I’m at, but it’s a restaurant, and I smell all sorts of garlic and tomatoes and fresh seafood.” Her voice wavered. “I’m scared, Kyann. I can’t use my magic. I’m in some sort of anti-magic zone.”

“I know. We’re coming to get you.”

“Someone’s coming!” Sophia shuddered, and her eyes flew open. She fell back in the chair. “Oh man, I’ve never done that before,” she said, staring at Hecate. “I’ve been a medium for spirits now and then but…”

“You have the power to do this without me. It’s just a little harder.

” Hecate let out a long breath. “There are rules the gods must follow—but I can give you a little more help.” She reached up and plucked a hair from her head.

The long hair shimmered as she began wrapping it around her finger and then, cupping it in her hands, she murmured a soft breath over it and then held out what looked like a short length of indigo rope, sparkling like a dark thread.

“With this, you will be able to keep even the strongest man bound. Make a small loop, slip it over the wrists or around the ankles, and it will tighten on its own. To remove it, tell it to let go, and it will slide off. It cannot be burnt, cut, or destroyed, except by dragon fire, or by another god. It will negate magic if the captive has the ability, while they are held by it. And it can work in non-magical zones. I feel you’ll need it before this is over. ”

I took the rope. It was thin as a box chain necklace, but it felt alive in my hands. “Thank you,” I said. “I wish you could come with us.”

“I cannot, but Penelope can summon my strength once she has use of her powers again. Now, go rescue her, and we will speak later.” She stood, then turned to Carson. “I will contact you so you can show me how to use the machine.”

He blinked. “You’re serious?”

“You weren’t?” she countered.

“Of course I was. I’d be happy to help. I just…”

She laughed as he stumbled over his words.

“Even the gods have much to learn, and in this modern era, we must learn new ways, if we’re to remain relevant.

More of the gods have been talking about this…

and most of us agree.” Then, she walked over to the door and said, “Close your eyes or you’ll have a splitting headache for days. ”

We obeyed, though part of me wanted to find out what she meant, but then—even with my eyes closed—came a flash so bright it punched me in the face. When I opened my eyes again, she was gone.

I turned to the others. “We know where Penn is. Let’s gear up and go get her before they decided to move her on out.”

“Onward,” Orik said.

“I’m coming,” Carson said.

“What about your sister?” I asked.

“I’ll go down and tell her this is an emergency. I’ll give her the keys to my car so she can go exploring on her own for awhile. She’ll be fine,” he said, heading toward the foyer.

Dante and Orik were debating what we should take, as I made sure the rope Hecate had given me was tucked inside my jacket. Every time I touched it, it felt like the energy of the goddess. I was holding a priceless gift.

Carson returned, and as we went about arming ourselves, we spoke softly, all of us deep in our own thoughts about the meeting with Hecate.