with this, Roth chimed in. “And while Bael’s presence might impress the...impressionable—” he said, and two pink splotches appeared in the center of Faye’s cheeks “—he ain’t me.”
“Who were you really working with?” I asked, becoming aware of the silence surrounding us. “Who could make you and your coven stupid enough to cross us?”
“We only spoke to the senator, like I said—”
“And you said you didn’t know why he wanted the enchantment that turned innocent humans into cannon fodder,” I interrupted, heart pounding. “But I don’t believe you. Did you know Misha?”
Her upper lip curled. “I have no idea who that is, and you might want to think before speaking to me like that again, human. I could curse your entire bloodline with a few words.”
I almost laughed. Almost. “Misha was a Warden who was working with Aym and Bael.”
“Okay? So?” She lifted a shoulder and focused on Roth. “We don’t deal with Wardens. Ever.”
I wasn’t sure I believed her, but Roth inclined his head and said, “Witches don’t trust Wardens. The whole indiscriminately killing anything with demonic blood thing. But, I got to say, I’m going to be super offended if you really thought it was better to risk angering me over Aym or Bael.”
Faye inhaled, and several seconds passed. “We spoke only with the senator at first. That isn’t a lie.”
“But?” Roth goaded.
Her shoulders tensed. “But it wasn’t the senator who came after you all arrived. It was Bael. And you’re right. We wouldn’t risk offending you over him.”
“But?” Roth said one more time.
She reached for a glass of water but stopped and placed her hand on the table. “I told you that the coven is leaving this city—Hell, we’re leaving the entire coast. For the last couple of months, our Crone has sensed something growing. Something we want no part in. I told you that already.” She toyed with the edge of a napkin. “We thought we had time. We were wrong, though. It’s already here. The Harbinger.”
15
The Harbinger.
Faye had confirmed what I’d suspected. The coven knew about the Harbinger and had possibly knowingly aided the creature, whether directly or indirectly.
“Have you met it? Seen it?” I asked, because if she could give me any description, it would help.
Faye shook her head. “No. We don’t even know what it is, but when Bael arrived after you left, I knew someone had been watching us. They knew you’d been here.”
Roth shrugged. “But they didn’t know what you told us. You told them, and you could’ve lied. This is starting to bore me, Faye.”
“Bael knew we were planning to leave. He...knew we had sensed this—this great unrest. An unbalance that none of us have seen before.” She lowered her gaze as her fingers stilled on the napkin. “When Bael came, he told us that we hadn’t made a deal with only the senator, but with it, this thing he called the Harbinger. We didn’t know until then that the Harbinger was what we’d been sensing.”
“You betrayed us because he told you the name of something you knew nothing about?” Roth coughed out a dry laugh. “Bad choice there, witch.”
“We knew enough.” Leaning forward, she kept her voice low. “He showed us what the Harbinger is capable of. One of our coven members who’d been at home had been killed. Bael had pictures.” Her skin puckered around her lips, blanching white. “Paul. Paul was murdered.”
I had no idea who Paul was.
Apparently Roth did and didn’t care. “So?”
Faye drew back, her shoulders leveling. It took a moment for her to speak. “I’d never... I’d never seen anything like that. His eyes were open in the picture, burned out. Empty sockets. He had no tongue, and his ears... It looked like someone had shoved ice picks into him, but he was...he was smiling. The look on his face was peaceful, as if he was happy. How could that be possible? His death was brutal. How could he be smiling?”
Well, that sounded gruesome to be sure.
“Why do you think that’s not something Bael is capable of? I imagine burning out eyeballs isn’t exactly hard, and neither would be convincing someone the whole process felt good while it was being done.” Roth drew his arm off the back of the couch. “Demons may not be able to persuade large groups of humans into doing or feeling things, but one? Easy peasy.”
“We are protected against demon persuasion,” she insisted. “No demon can break that spell.”
Roth looked like he wanted to try, but the method of