her computer, then gave me a sympathetic smile. “You can wait right out there. There’s coffee at the far wall if you’d like some.”
I mumbled my thanks and walked over to the coffee station, pouring myself a cup and then walking woodenly back to one of the banks of lima-bean green chairs in the waiting room. There were several people in the waiting room whom I hadn’t even noticed until now.
I paced for a little while, held the coffee between my hands until it was cold, then finally took a seat near the door. I wasn’t sure whether I was sitting there for a quick escape or whether I was keeping an eye out for monsters.
Either way, it took some time for the adrenaline to wear off, and when it did I realized I was really tired.
My thoughts were jagged and random.
Somewhere out there monsters roamed the street.
Zayvion said he Closed Cody.
Where was Nola?
I was late for class.
Tomi was using dark magic.
She might be dead.
Was Davy going to be okay?
Had taking the time to make that phone call killed him?
What did Jingo Jingo have to do with this?
And what the hell was that spell anyway?
Did Tomi have a disk?
I don’t know how much time passed before Detective Stotts came walking in, wearing a trench, a maroon scarf, and a frown. But he brought two cups of coffee with him.
“Allie.” He sat down next to me and offered me one of the cups.
This was the good coffee from the mom-and-pop shop close to the police station, not the overcooked canned coffee the emergency room provided.
I put down my cold Styrofoam cup and held the larger, warmer cup in my palms. Was it strange that I couldn’t feel the heat against my skin?
“How’s Davy?” he asked quietly.
I shook my head. “They haven’t told me.”
He took a drink, and so did I. The coffee was black, hot, and rich. It felt like heaven going down. And it somehow made the world feel real again.
“Did you go to the park?” I asked.
He nodded.
“Tomi?”
“We couldn’t find her.”
I lowered my head and pressed the coffee cup against my forehead.
“What happened?” he asked.
A sick feeling rolled in my stomach and I put the coffee down because the smell, the heat, was suddenly too much. “Was there anyone . . . else?”
“No. The circle was still there.”
“Did you get rid of it?”
“Not yet.”
I stared at him, confused. Then my brain kicked in. Right. Procedure. He’d have someone Hound it, get photos, take samples, all that before they cleaned it up. It could take days.
I stood. I needed to talk to Zayvion. Or Shamus. Or maybe Maeve. Find out if any of them knew anything about Tomi. Find out if she was hurt, dead. Find out if I needed to get her to the hospital too. “I have to go.”
Stotts stood slowly. He put his hand on my elbow.
“Where?”
“Out. Away. Find out if anyone else, if people, if Hounds know anything.” Wow. I was not thinking straight. Really, all I wanted to do was sit down in a quite room for maybe a century. The idea of losing Davy, when I’d promised Pike I’d take care of him, and that Tomi was probably hurt, maybe dead, made me crazy.
So I did what I usually do when I’m afraid, or worried. I got angry.
“I have people to take care of, okay?” I said.
“I understand that. One of them is in there.” He pointed at the double doors that led to the emergency room.
“And the rest are out there.” I pointed at the door, and turned to storm off.
But the door had already slid aside. And through it walked the Hounds Jack and Bea and Sid.
“We heard about Davy,” Bea said, her normally smiling face worried.
“Davy wasn’t working for you, was he, Stotts?” Sid looked like the sort of guy you’d expect to program computers, not Hound. He was dressed in his usual tan slacks, button-down shirt, sensible loafers, and wire-rimmed glasses.
He was smart too. I hadn’t even thought about Stotts using Davy. Stotts was cursed. More Hounds died working for him than for anyone else in the city.
Stotts blinked once. “Yes.”
“What the hell?” I said loud enough that half the emergency room looked over at me. “You asked me to work for you. Not him. Not Davy. Didn’t I answer you fast enough? You had to go out and find someone else to kill?”
“That,” Stotts growled, “is enough. He was already working the job before you and I talked.”
I glared