"You really do need to master the art of lying, my dear." Her smile grew more ferocious. "But I’m sure the high council will be pleased that you’ve solved this case so quickly."
And with that, she hung up. I sighed in relief, though I’m not entirely sure why. I may have solved the case—and found Selwin before Hunter—but that didn’t mean the high council would now view me as useful rather than a liability.
Trepidation crawled through me, but I ignored it and did a search for the Brindle’s number, then called them.
"This is the Brindle depository," a pleasant voice said. "How may we help you?"
"I’d like to speak to Kiandra, please."
"I’m sorry, but that is not—"
"This is Risa Jones," I cut in, "and it’s a matter of some urgency."
"I’ll put you straight through," she said almost before I’d finished talking. Meaning Kiandra had been expecting this call.
There was a click, a brief, soft hum of music, then Kiandra’s cool features came onto the screen. "If you’re calling to tell me your reaper is about to deliver a somewhat traumatized Deborah Selwin, you are too late."
She didn’t mention the fact that Selwin was missing some extremities, and I hoped like hell that meant Azriel had been able to undo my mistakes. "I thought you might want to know that Selwin raised several fire demons in the ritual site. You’ll need to do something about them, because the fire that created them doesn’t seem to be burning itself out and the magic in that place is not happy about their presence."
Her eyebrows rose. "You felt that?"
"Yes."
"Interesting."
I frowned. "Why?"
She shrugged. "It implies you are a sensitive, and that is unusual in one who is not a magic user."