GO ALONE.
The address was this very bar. Eudoxia crossed her arms, her red lips pursed in her perpetual frown. “Care to explain?” she asked, giving me a what have you done now? face.
“Um. It’s complicated,” I answered, hedging. The fact Enid had known yesterday that we would be at this exact place at this time was unsettling enough. But it was a clear indication that she wanted us to arrive in Italy. “The supernatural world is in an uproar, if you haven’t noticed. Things are happening around the world as we speak, and people we love are in danger. We’re on our way to Italy as soon as possible.” I left out who exactly was in danger, because Eudoxia wouldn’t give a rat’s ass about helping Danny or Naomi. She considered her former vamp a traitor anyway, since Naomi was now bound to me, instead of her, by blood. Naming them wouldn’t compel her to join us, but clearly Enid wanted her to go with us, or she wouldn’t have sent for her.
“It doesn’t matter if things are unsettled here or in Europe,” Eudoxia huffed. “That doesn’t mean we need to get involved.”
“How can you say that?” I said, stunned. “That’s exactly what it means. We are the next Coalition. Our job is to intervene. All the time. In fact, I think that’s pretty much all we’ll be doing from now on—getting involved.” We’d discovered we both had a place on the Coalition not that long ago.
The Coalition was made up of five of the biggest supernatural Sects—werewolf, vampire, fae, demon, and witch.
The Power of Five.
My job was Enforcer. I had no idea what would be asked of me, only that I was taking my team with me.
“We are not the Coalition yet,” she countered, her eyes narrowing. “Until we take our vows, what happens is of little interest to me.” So very Eudoxia. If it didn’t concern her, it was inconsequential.
I pointed to the note. “Enid certainly thinks it’s of interest to you, or she wouldn’t have dragged you all the way here.”
“Enid?” Eudoxia’s delicate eyebrows drew inward. “The Hag?”
“One and the same.”
“That can’t be right.” Eudoxia snatched up the note and held it to her nose. “There is no signature residue, no hint of magic.” She waved the offending piece of paper in the air like not having a scent solved everything.
I moved around the table to face her. “Why would you come all this way if you thought that was a random note left by no one of consequence?”
The Vamp Queen shifted, looking mildly uncomfortable. She raised a hand to twirl an errant curl that had dropped near her face. “Because of its location.”
“You’re going to have to be a little more specific than that.”
She abruptly turned and waltzed away. “I found this note in an area that only I can reach. No one else has access to it.” I immediately pictured a dirty cell filled with death and despair. “Also,” she added, “Alana advised me, ‘When you get a special note, you must do as it says.’” She turned and glared. “But no one told me you’d be at the end of this missive.” She glanced around the dive bar with disgust. “Nor that I would be leaving the country.” Alana was a seer and Eudoxia’s fae aunt. I’d encountered her during extenuating circumstances not too terribly long ago. I would be happy never encountering the likes of Alana again.
“Well, you’re here now,” I pointed out. “And this place isn’t that bad.” The bar was called Bad Decisions, which sounded a bit ironic at the moment.
Eudoxia snorted. “This note said to meet here”—she gestured around the room—“it said nothing about going anywhere with you. I have a Coterie to run with vampires who eagerly await my return.”
“Enid wouldn’t send you all the way to Baltimore for no reason,” I countered. “She must want you to accompany us to Italy. And the note says if you don’t show, you die. Are you willing to risk death by being stubborn?”
Eudoxia crossed her arms, her lips curling into a sneer. How was I going to deal with this woman for an eternity? It was a puzzle I wasn’t anxious to solve. “There is nothing in that note that states I must accompany you anywhere. It only states that I come to this address.”
There was a noise, something between a throat-clearing and a cough.
We all turned toward the bar.
The bartender held something in his hand.
My head snapped to Rourke. I thought Marcy was going to spell them?
He shrugged. She did.
Before I could question why the bartender was interacting with us, the man said, “This was left for the lady in the orange dress. I was supposed to give it to her at exactly this time.” He glanced down at his watch. I could see from where I stood that his eyes were glazed over. Apparently, Marcy’s spell did not trump one from Enid.
I met Eudoxia’s gaze. “Are you going to get that, or shall I?”
Without answering, the Vamp Queen paced forward, her shoes clacking angrily as she stalked to the bar, her dress billowing out behind her. She walked straight up to the bartender and plucked the note out of his hand. The guy didn’t move, or seem to register the interaction.
“Marcy,” I murmured. “Is this bartender going to be a problem?”