Grace and Glory (The Harbinger #3) - Jennifer L. Armentrout Page 0,44

came into view. “Hey,” he called out. “Hop in.”

Opening the door, I hoisted myself into the passenger seat. I glanced at him, and immediately thought of Zayne and that pool. Feeling my cheeks burn, I was grateful he was focused on pulling into the traffic. I really needed to not think about any of that at the moment.

“So, what’s up with the school?” I asked as I leaned back and pulled a hair tie out of my pocket. I held the tie in my mouth and then gathered up my hair.

My hair smelled like chlorine.

Ugh.

“Other than something not good? Not exactly sure,” he replied. “The police captain got in touch with us an hour or so ago on something she thinks is more up our alley of expertise.”

The relationship between the Wardens and law enforcement was an odd one since ninety-nine percent of the world was oblivious to the truth because of stupid rules. As far as I knew, only those in the highest echelons of departments knew what Wardens really hunted. Most of them found out through some level of demon exposure. Exceptions to the rules had been made, and some were brought into the know after proving they could be trusted with the truth. How anyone could prove that they were that trustworthy was beyond me, but Thierry once told me that officials in every state and within every federal law enforcement agency, from the FBI to the Department of Defense, and every intelligence agency in between, were aware that demons were definitely among us. Matthew had hinted at a super-extra-secret department within one of the agencies that dealt with demon activity. I had no idea if that was true, but if it was, were they tapping out on the whole Gabriel issue?

Couldn’t really blame them if they were.

“Apparently they received several missing-persons calls from families of construction workers who were working at the school on Saturday,” Dez continued. “None of the workers returned home or are answering the phones.”

“Oh, man,” I muttered around the hair tie as I gathered my hair and quickly braided the mess. That school was packed with lost souls. Most of them had been ghosts who hadn’t moved on and had become vengeful, angry wraiths. They posed a threat to anyone in that school, but they weren’t the only ones there. The school was bursting at the seams with Shadow People—the essence left behind by a demon who died—and they were far more dangerous and terrifying than a wraith having a bad day on the Mondayest of Mondays. All of the ghosts, wraiths and Shadow People were basically trapped there, waiting for the portal to open so they could enter Heaven, infecting it like a really bad outbreak of chickenpox. How in the world anyone could actually work in that building was beyond me, but the facade of restoration was in full swing. Even humans who didn’t believe in ghosts had to sense something off about the school.

“Yeah.” Dez nodded as he slowed the SUV down at a crosswalk. “A unit went out to check on it and they lost contact with them after they entered the building.”

Tying the end of the braid, I looked over at Dez. “That’s not good.”

“It’s not.”

“And let me guess, there’s more not good news to be shared.”

“Yep. Another unit went out to check on them. They went into the building and only one came out.”

My brows lifted. “Did the school eat the partner?”

“According to the cop, his partner was sucked into the ceiling by a giant black mass.”

My lips parted. “So, the school did eat their partner. Jesus.” I shook my head. “That school needs to be shut down.”

“Agreed, which is what I told the captain. Since it’s probably going to be a crime scene of sorts, it’ll stop people from going in for a short bit. She’s looking into what she can do to get the construction stopped more long term.” He turned right and we moved about a foot before stopping again.

I frowned as I stared out the window. Why in the world was there so much traffic on a Sunday evening?

Dez had a better question. “Did you happen to see a giant black mass the last time there?”

I snorted. “No, but I saw a crap ton of ghosts and Shadow People. I’m no expert on Shadow People, but that may be something they did—sucking someone through a ceiling.”

“This should be fun,” he commented. “I figured since you could see them and we can’t, it