The kid tipped his chin in a “Sup?” gesture. He was cute with his small afro and the shaved lines at the sides of his head, Harper thought. There was also a badass swagger in his manner that most of the kids in that area had.
“Khloë tells us that you recognize the woman in the picture she’s been showing around,” said Knox.
Isaiah shrugged. “I saw her in the doorway of that house a few times. Never saw her leave, though.”
“Did she ever have visitors?” Knox asked.
“Dude, she had a lot of visitors. Only saw one person go there more than once, though. A guy. Most of the time, he’d take someone with him. Weird thing was he always left them behind. I figured he was her pimp or dealer or something.”
Knox narrowed his eyes. “Can you describe him?”
Isaiah’s brow wrinkled. “He only came at night. He was tall. Walked like he could handle himself, but he wasn’t built. Wore a long coat.”
“What color?”
“Dark. Not black, but dark.”
Perhaps navy blue like the cashmere coat that Sherryl had described, Knox thought. “Did you ever hear him speak?”
“The walls of these houses are thin as fuck, but I didn’t hear a damn thing come from inside that place.”
“Hmm.” Knox had to wonder if a spell had also been cast to contain sounds. “Anything about him ever catch your attention?”
“Him? No. I paid more attention to his ride than him.” Isaiah’s mouth curved. “The dude had a sweet ride. Aston Martin.”
Khloë snorted. “I’m surprised no one tried borrowing it.”
Isaiah’s gaze cut to her. “Probably would have done if he hadn’t always had his dog with him. Big fucking brute of a dog. He’d leave it in the yard, and it would lie next to the car. Didn’t move an inch until the dude came back out.”
Knox tilted his head. “Can you describe the dog?”
“Like I said, it was big,” said Isaiah. “It had black shaggy hair. Always looked wet.”
Probably a black shuck, Harper told Knox, referring to shape-shifting demons that were considered death omens by humans.
Sounds like it, agreed Knox. “Did you recognize any of the people that entered the house, Isaiah?”
“Some. A couple of them were meth addicts. That’s why I figured that dude was a dealer or pimp.” He flexed his grip on the bike’s handlebars. “Our local dealer confronted him; didn’t want anyone else selling shit on his turf. The dude said he was no dealer.”
Knox tensed briefly. “Where can we find this dealer?”
“Graveyard. He was shot dead sometime after that.” Isaiah’s gaze sharpened. “You think that guy had something to do with it?”
“It’s unlikely,” lied Knox. The Horseman wouldn’t have wanted there to be someone who could describe him to anyone who came asking questions. “When was the last time you saw him?”
“Months ago. Haven’t seen anything of the woman in a while either. But I don’t watch the place, so I can’t be sure when anyone was last there. Can I go now?”
“Yes. Thank you for talking with us, Isaiah.” He handed the kid some cash, who nodded in thanks and then disappeared on his bike.
Cupping Harper’s elbow, Knox led her across the road to where the four sentinels waited. He quickly brought them up to speed, adding, “We now know our suspect drives an Aston Martin and has a black shuck working for him.”
Tanner’s brow furrowed. “I’m pretty sure one of Dario’s sentinels can shape-shift. He could be a shuck.”
“Look into it. We also need to find out if any of our suspects own an Aston Martin.” Knox looked at Harper’s cousin. “Your help was appreciated, Khloë.”
Doing a long, languid stretch, Khloë yawned loudly. “No problem.”
Harper’s mouth quirked. “Tired?”
Khloë’s shoulders slumped. “Haven’t slept in, like, a week. I was too determined to find someone that could lead me to Alethea. And I did. Am I the shit, or what?”
Deciding not to tell her cousin that she looked like shit, Harper gently squeezed her arm. “Yes, you are indeed the shit. I’m totally in your debt. Now go home. You need sleep.” Although demons could go days without it, it wasn’t good for them.
“You don’t need to tell me twice.”
“Want a ride back? Tanner won’t mind.”
Nose wrinkling, Khloë began to back up. “Nah, I’m good.”
Keenan sighed at the imp. “Should you be out alone?” he snarked.
Khloë blinked up at him, as if she’d only just noticed he was there, but Harper knew that wasn’t the case. Khloë was aware of everything. “Why wouldn’t I be?” she asked.
His mouth tightened. “Because you attract trouble like it’s your job.”
“And you drink Everclear like it’s your job,” Khloë shot back. “Do you hear me commenting on it?”
“You just did.”
“Only to make a point.”
“My point carries more weight.”
“Probably not as much weight as your monster cock.”
“Khloë!” Harper exclaimed.
She turned to Harper, eyes widening in innocence. “It’s not like he doesn’t know. He sees it every day. I’m sure there have been many times when he’s jerked himself—”
“Khloë!” Seriously, Harper was going to kill her one day.
“Fine, fine. I’ll call you tomorrow.” She spun on her heel and walked off, whistling a merry tune.
Keenan turned to Harper. “Are you really going to let her walk home alone?”
“Let?” Harper frowned at him. “Do you not know Khloë at all?” There was no forcing her cousin to do anything she didn’t want to do.
Keenan sighed again. “I’ll be back in ten minutes.” With that, he jogged to his car.
Sidling up to Harper, Larkin leaned into her. “Do you think she’ll agree to let him give her a ride?”
“It’ll give her the chance to torment him some more, so, yeah.” Harper twisted her mouth. “Think he’ll ever ask her out?”
Larkin bit her lip. “That will depend.”
“Yeah? On what?”
“On whether he can get over his little issue.”
Before Harper could ask what that meant, her attention was snagged by the white Toyota Prius that pulled up. Moments later, a willowy, leggy female hopped out. Her rich ruby red hair was tied back in a chic, hobo knot that was dotted with flowers—Harper seriously liked it. Inky blue eyes swept over them, stopping as they found Levi. She made a beeline for him.
Harper gave Knox a sideways glance. “I take it this is the incantor.” He only nodded.
As she came to a stop in front of them, Levi inclined his head. “Thanks for coming, Ella. I’m sure I don’t have to introduce my Primes, though I don’t think you’ve ever officially met them.”
“No, I haven’t,” confirmed Ella. She nodded respectfully at Harper and Knox. “It’s nice to meet you both.”
Harper smiled. “Likewise. This is Larkin, one of our sentinels.” After the two females exchanged nods, Harper added, “I know Levi’s consulted you many times in the past when we’ve had magickal trouble, so I just want to say thank you for all your help.”
“No thanks needed.” Ella looked at the house. “Levi tells me someone cast cleansing spells and possibly even a concealment spell here.”
“We don’t know whether it was an incantor or a dark practitioner,” said Knox. “Will you be able to unravel the spells either way?”
“I won’t be able to unravel a cleansing spell—they sort of bleach the air,” replied Ella. “There’s no way of undoing that. As for the containment spell? It’s possible that I’ll be able to untangle the threads. It won’t matter if it was an incantor or a dark practitioner; it will only depend on the complexity of the spell.”
“Then let’s go see how complex it is.” Knox took Harper’s hand as they all walked back into the house and then down to the basement. He watched as Ella strode straight to the wall where he’d earlier sensed the spell, as if she was drawn there. Her fingers moved along the wall, looking as if they were plucking at strings.