Necromancist (Seven Forbidden Arts 6)

“Who opened the portal?” Cain asked.

“A medium named Melissa May.”

“Let me guess,” Joss said. “Godfrey paid her.”

“Whoever opened the portal must be able to close it,” Maya offered.

“Normally, yes.”

“But?” Cain prompted.

Ivan opened his mouth to explain, but the sound of sirens cut him short.

“Shit,” Maya said, moving to the window. “We’ve got trouble.”

In a second, Joss, Lann, Sean, and Maya all had their weapons pulled. Only Cain and Clelia remained immobile. Alice looked on with big eyes. Two police vehicles pulled up on the curb.

Ivan rushed to the window. Donald was outside the car, his hands raised above his head. One of the officers jumped out, a gun pointed at Donald. The officer said something to which Donald went face down on the tarmac. Another two were already heading toward the house.

“What do we do?” Sean asked.

Cain was as cool as ever. “Nothing. Put away your weapons and go upstairs.”

The group filed through the door until only Ivan, Cain, and Alice were left. A second later, someone banged on the door.

“Police! Open up!”

“They’re going to break down my door,” Alice said.

Cain motioned at the entrance. “Get it.”

Alice had barely opened the door before the men pushed through, their weapons aimed at Ivan.

“Ivan Kray,” the older one of the two said. “You’re under arrest for the murder of Melissa May.”

Alice and Cain’s shocked expressions settled on him.

Ivan gave a wry smile. “I was getting to that part.”

Chapter 11

Alice rushed after the officers who escorted a handcuffed Ivan and Donald to their vehicle. Ivan’s gaze locked with hers as they pushed him into the back. He didn’t break their eye contact, not when they shut the door or when Cain came outside to stand next to her on the pavement. The expression in those eerie eyes was more tormented than ever, but he offered her a smile and held it until the car turned the corner and disappeared from view.

Pulling herself together, she went back inside with Cain on her heels. The rest of Cain’s team was gathered in the entrance. She paid them little attention as she grabbed her coat and handbag.

“Where are you going?” Cain asked.

“To get Kate and a lawyer. We need to bail Ivan out.”

“Spare your energy. I’ll take care of it.”

She didn’t put her handbag down, not yet. “Ivan didn’t kill her.” She knew it with instinctive certainty. “He can’t go to jail.”

“He won’t.” Upon her hesitation, Cain asked, “Do you trust me?”

Whatever their differences, Cain had always been a man of his word. She lowered her bag slowly to the chair. “What now?”

“You can’t stay here. It’s not safe.”

“What do you suggest?”

“Come to our hotel. We can protect you better there.”

“It’s Ivan who’s in danger. No one is after me.”

Anger filtered into Cain’s voice. “By getting involved with you, he put you in danger.”

“Just say what you want to say.”

“Alice.” He looked at her from under his eyebrows.

“Say he’s not good enough for me. That’s what you’re thinking, anyway.”

“There’s no point in wasting my breath if you already know what I think.”

Joss laid a hand on Cain’s shoulder. “We need to move.”

Cain exhaled audibly. “Come with me, Alice.”

She wasn’t ready to go anywhere with him. “I’m not the one on the run. You are.”

Cain turned to the people crowding her entrance. “Maya, you and Sean stay with Alice. Clelia and Lann will go after Daniel. Josselin, find all the intel you can to help Lann and Clelia. Use our Eye in the Sky to monitor the movements around the theater in the last twenty-four hours. Alice, don’t leave Maya and Sean’s sides, and whatever you do, don’t say anything over the phone.”

“What about the medium?” Sean asked.

“Ivan can interrogate her spirit when we get him out. Our first priority is Ivan, then the rest. He’s our only lead to Godfrey.”

Joss moved to the door. “I’ll go check if the coast is clear.”

Ten minutes later, Alice was alone with Maya and Sean. She motioned around the room. “Make yourselves at home.”

“Do you have a spare room where we can work?” Maya asked. “That way we won’t be under your feet.”

It was a tactful way of saying they didn’t want her to overhear confidential information.

“Upstairs. The bathroom is next door. Help yourself to food and drinks.”

After they’d closed themselves in the room upstairs, Alice cleaned the kitchen to keep busy while she waited for news from Cain. She jumped when her phone rang and groaned in disappointment when Johnny’s name appeared on the screen.

“Ivan’s in jail,” he said without a greeting.

“I know.”

“You saw the news?”

It was already on the news? How crazy was this world?

“Kate called,” he continued without waiting for her answer. “Said Ivan called her and something about he doesn’t need a lawyer because your father is dealing with it.”

“My dad will get him out.”

“You didn’t tell me your father was in town.”