Ryan whirls around. “She’s coming. They can’t know we spoke.”
I blink. When I open my eyes, Hunter is standing over me, licking my face. I’d fallen backward on the salt circle, missing a candle by a mere few inches.
“Holy shit.” This changes everything.
Chapter Thirty-One
“Anora,” Ethan says, voice hoarse.
I blink my eyes open, and it takes effort to keep them open. Exhaustion hit me as I was cleaning the salt circle, and I barely made it into bed before passing out. The first time I used magic, my energy was drained. Traveling to the spirit world was even more draining.
“You sound terrible,” I grumble and sit up, feeling his forehead. “Shit, you’re burning up.” I get the thermometer from the nightstand and check his temp. Shit is right. He has a hundred-and-three fever, which went up since last night. It might be from being under the covers next to me. I hope.
“Your phone,” he says as he swallows hard. I can tell his throat hurts. Yep. This is definitely the flu. “It was ringing.”
“Oh. I’ll get it in a second. It’s probably my mom, checking on me.” I get out of bed, head still hazy, and refill Ethan’s water glass and return with his antibiotics as well as more Advil. My phone is in my purse in the living room, and the battery is almost dead since I didn’t charge it last night.
I have a missed call and a voicemail from an unknown number, and in my haste to plug my phone in before it dies, I accidentally call back the unknown number. Shit.
“Anora?” A male voice comes through the phone.
“Uh, yes?”
“It’s Marcus. I work with your brother.”
“Oh, uh, right.” Harrison said Marcus wanted my number. It’s only nine-thirty in the morning. Even if I was single, calling me this early would be a deal breaker.
“You’re Harrison’s emergency contact, which is why I’m calling.”
“Did something happen?” My blood goes cold and each rapid heartbeat hammers in my ears.
“That’s what we’re trying to find out,” Marcus says. “He never showed up for work today and no one can get ahold of him.”
My mouth opens but I can’t get any sound out. My brother is missing. Leslie was killed by demons yesterday and now my brother is missing.
“We went to Martini’s last night, but your brother checked out early. I’m guessing he’s passed out with a chick in his bed—sorry if that’s TMI.”
“No,” I say, somehow pulling myself together. “You’re probably right. I’ll go to his place and check things out.”
“Thanks. Keep me posted.”
I nod, not realizing that Marcus can’t see me, and let the phone slip from my fingers.
“What’s going on?” Ethan slowly sits up, looking like he might puke.
“Harrison never went to work this morning.” I pick up my phone again and call him. My breath leaves in ragged huffs and I wait, and the panic hits when I get Harrison’s voicemail. “I’m going to his apartment.”
“I’ll come with you.”
“Ethan, no,” I say and get to my feet. “You look and sound terrible. Har probably had too much to drink last night and is still passed out on his couch. He drinks too much when he’s upset, and I know last night really rattled him. I have a key so I’m going to go.”
“Okay,” Ethan says, which worries me. Relenting so easily isn’t like him. He must really be sick. “Take Hunter.” He lowers himself back onto the bed, coughing. I hate leaving him when he’s sick like this, especially when it came on so suddenly. What if he contracted some sort of demon disease from when the Harvesters scratched him?
“Rest,” I tell him, kissing his lips before I go to leave. Hunter reminds me I stripped out of my pants before crawling into bed last night, and I yank on black leggings, and trade Ethan’s oversized t-shirt for something a bit more form fitting and easier to move around in.
The rain has stopped, but it’s another cold day. Not taking the time to put on a jacket, I race to my car and speed the whole way to Harrison’s apartment. I call him ten more times, and the calls all go to voicemail.
The drive to his apartment almost kills me from anxiety, and by some miracle—or maybe magic—a car pulls away from a spot right in front of his building. I punch in the code to get in and run through the lobby. The elevator doors have just closed, and I stand there, breathing hard with a racing heart for what feels like forever as I wait for it to come back down and then up to Harrison’s floor.
I fish the key out of my purse as I run down the hall, but as soon as I get to his apartment, I know I won’t need it. The door is slightly ajar.