Devilish Game (Shadow Guild: The Rebel 4)

“Sure.” Mary waved a hand. As if he’d been hovering nearby with the supplies at the ready, Jeeves appeared.

He handed me parchment and an old pen, and I leaned down and sketched out the design on the paper. My hand shook as I remembered the flashing red that had flared in my mind. It had been the exact shade of blood, and the sounds had been those of war.

I’d seen the same thing in the alley where Beth had been abducted. It had to do with the kidnappings—somehow linking me to them—but I had no idea how.

I forced my mind back on the symbol I’d seen. It came easily from memory, the lines flowing from my mind to my hand. Soon, the scrolled image was sketched out, the snakes twisting around each other in a complicated knot.

I held it up and showed the witches. “Does anyone recognize this?”

Everyone shook their head, and I frowned, looking between Mac, Eve, and Grey. None of them said anything, and I turned back to Mary.

“You should go to Seraphia’s library. She might have something for you,” she said. “In the meantime, we’re going to work on tracking charms. No way in hell we’re letting that bastard keep Beth and Coraline.”

“We’ll get them back,” I promised.

“Keep us updated,” Mary said. “We’ll work on this from our end, and you go at it from yours. Any leads and we let each other know.”

I nodded and stood. My friends joined me, and we left the witches’ creepy room, dodging the women crowding the floor. Half of them glared at us, as if we’d been the ones to abduct Beth and Coraline. I ignored them. It wasn’t that different than Police College, honestly.

The night was cool and dark as we stepped out onto the rickety stairs that led to the ground. Moonlight illuminated the weedy yard and the well where Coraline had been dancing.

“It all happened so fast,” I murmured.

“Anton has powerful employees,” Grey said. “Though that was unusual. Whoever is hiring him is paying a pretty penny to get that kind of service.”

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Eve said as she typed into her phone. She caught sight of my questioning glance.

“Calling Seraphia and seeing if she can let us into the library right now.”

The phone rang, the tinny sound echoing across the night as we descended the rickety stairs. It went straight to voice mail—the pre-recorded option, not a personalized one by Seraphia.

Eve tried four more times on the way home, but the librarian never picked up.

“That’s strange,” Eve said. “Seraphia and I have been hanging out quite a bit lately, and she always picks up.”

“Even at this hour?” I asked, noticing that the Devil was walking alongside us, his phone pressed to his ear.

Eve nodded. “I called once about this infomercial I thought she’d like. It was hilarious. She picked up at 2am.”

“Do you think she’s okay?” Worry echoed in Mac’s voice. “She hasn’t been abducted, has she?”

I nodded. “Doubtful. Anton would have told us if there was a job out for her.”

“Unless it was just hired,” Eve said.

“It’s only been thirty minutes since we saw him last. He couldn’t coordinate that quickly, not when his contact in Guild City needs to find him a suitable target,” the Devil said.

“We’ll try tomorrow morning. We need sleep anyway. Just a bit.” Surprise flickered through me when I realized that we had already reached my street. I looked at Grey. “Your place is that way.”

He nodded. “Just wanted to make sure there was no trouble on the way back.”

“Thanks.” I studiously kept my gaze on my green door instead of on him. The savory scent of kebabs wafted from the shop next door, and my stomach grumbled.

As if he’d read my mind, Berat stepped out of the shop, a pile of takeout containers in his hands. He raised them and smiled at us.

I stopped in front of him. “What’s all this? We didn’t place an order.”

Berat nodded at Grey. “The Devil did.”