Page 37 (1/2)

As expected, after a few hed and shook her head "I cannot detect anything untoward," she said, "but that does notis here If there is a concealed portal, I would need to be nearly atop it in order to sense its resonance"

I gave a thoughtful nod "Which is likely why our bad guy is using people to pinpoint it"

I already knew about the portal underneath the Beaulac PD parking lot, so I didn’t bother wastingthere The only other site within reasonable driving distance was east, near the parish line, which was also in the middle of the swamp We went ahead and drove out there, but soon realized that without a boat there’d be no way to get within a mile of where Rhyzkahl had indicated

I stood on the side of the road and huggedout at the swamp "Bodies are found out here all the time," I said, as much to Eilahn as to myself "I mean, not all the time," I corrected, "but it’s not unusual at all for people to die out here Hunters or hikers who get lost or have accidents And the occasional ets dumped as well, of course"

Eilahn hiked herself up to sit on the hood of s tailor-style beneath her "Tell rasses by the edge of the road, bringing with it a ae and mud "I’m aware of these last three victims, mostly because I was on call But what if there’ve been others?"

"But would not those have beenuess so If they were connected to hed, rubbed o see my aunt Maybe she has some ideas"

The demon hopped nimbly off the car "And I think you should contact the others and have them meet you there At this point you need as much input as possible, as well as people around you in whohtly at this reminder that I did have people around who I could trust--which was ood Let’s rock"

She paused with her hand on the passenger door, gaveme?"

"A little," I said

She chuckled "Noe unleash mayhem"

I wasn’t terribly surprised to see two Crown Vics and a Beaulac PD Crime Scene van parked in front of s and expressions of thanks--which earned responses that were variations of, "Don’t be stupid You need help Of course we’d coed up the steps of the house I gave a desultory knock, waited for the answering yell, then pushed in, with the others following behind

Tessa was in the front room in practically the sah today she was dressed in a bright red caftan and the book in her hand was Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Huht of us, eyes finally resting on the carrier in Eilahn’s hand "You’re bringingmy head, I flopped into a chair and pulled the cuff off "It’s my cat Well, technically it’s Eilahn’s since the cat hates me" The others took seats as Tessa moved to crouch by the carrier It was small consolation to my mood that the cat snarled and tried to claw her

"Lovely creature," she said with an arched eyebrow as she resumed her seat

I stood up from the chair and shifted to sit on the floor on the other side of the room "She seems to hate people who have arcane ability," I told her "I thought that thebad summoner since he seelared at the cat

"Kara," Ryan said, frowning, "why did you just get up and move?"

I opened my mouth to answer, then closed it "I’m not sure," I replied, abruptly unsettled There were seats available on the other side of the room Jill and Zack had taken up the loveseat on that side, while Ryan, Tessa, and Eilahn occupied the available seats on the side that faced away fro the other way that stood eht to face this way," I said

"And you sat in the chair you don’t like at your house," he pointed out

"Moreover, you changed seats after you removed the cuff," Eilahn added

Tessa set her book down and tilted her head "Perhaps this suot to my feet "I need a map!"

"I have one in the kitchen," Tessa said, and scurried off

Closingto feel which direction felt thefor it, there’s definitely a…pull, so to speak"

Jill stood and handed me her smartphone "Coo You can’t actually go look for whatever it is, but we can triangulate Right?"

"Jill, you’re a fucking genius" I took the phone fro "My house, the PD, and here are all places where I either tried to rearrange the furniture or I changed ood news, they’re all warded"