Hunter and Cord looked like they might jump the woman at the door if she so much as breathed wrong, but Sophie let out a sigh of relief.

“It’s okay,” she said in a shaky voice. “I know her. Come in, Dani.”

Dani didn’t move, her eyes on the weapons Hunter and Cord held. Good thing she couldn’t see everything they had hidden, or she’d have bolted already.

“Come in,” Sophie said, gesturing impatiently for Hunter and Cord to put their weapons away. They did no such thing. Cord slipped outside and started searching the grounds, looking for any sign of anyone else. Hunter stayed at the door, keeping an eye on the windows. He seemed to accept Sophie’s assurance that Dani wasn’t a danger, but that didn’t mean he’d let his guard down in case there were others about.

“What’s happening?” Dani squeaked as Sophie took her hand and pulled her inside.

“I’m sorry about all this. We’ve just been having some trouble recently. Magic stuff; it’s complicated. Anyway, these men are here to protect us. I’m sorry if they scared you.”

Dani still looked like she might decide to run for the hills at any moment as Sophie coaxed her into a chair.

Hunter took Sophie aside as Cord came back with a nod and closed the door. Apparently, there weren’t assailants hiding in the bushes.

“Get her out of here as quickly as you can,” Hunter murmured.

“All right, but would you and Cord please put your weapons away? You’re scaring her witless.”

Reluctantly, Hunter and Cord nodded and backed off some. Meanwhile, Layla was forcing herself to take deep, steadying breaths. Everything was okay. It was just some woman Sophie knew.

“You scared me to death,” Layla hissed at Hunter. “I thought we were about to be stormed by an army.”

Hunter took in her pale face and wide eyes and pulled her into a hug. “Sorry. We were just being thorough. In our line of business, you learn to treat every situation as a potential deadly threat until you receive evidence to the contrary. It’s an attitude that’s saved my life more than once.”

Layla wasn’t sure how she’d get used to him acting like war was about to break out every time someone knocked on the door, but it was reassuring to know that nothing would get past him, no matter how insignificant.

“Let me make you some tea,” Sophie said, patting Dani’s hands. Hunter gave her a disapproving look and jerked his head toward the door, but Sophie ignored him. Clearly enough, Hunter didn’t want anyone else around, just in case something happened, and they had to fight for their lives.

“Dani is an old client of mine,” she explained softly. “She’s been coming to me for spells for years. She’s terrified now! Go somewhere where she can’t see you.”

To Layla’s surprise, Hunter and Cord obeyed—still staying close, but moving out of Dani’s line of sight from the dining room. Layla stayed near the visitor, introducing herself while Sophie made tea.

“What can I do for you?” Sophie asked once steaming mugs of tea sat between her and Dani.

“I’m sorry to come by so late, but I didn’t know what else to do. It’s my daughter. She went clubbing with some friends and was supposed to be back by now. I’m worried about her. Can you cast a locator spell?”

“Of course. You brought something of hers with you?”

Dani held out a pink scarf. Layla watched eagerly, wanting to see more magic. Unfortunately, this seemed like one of the more standard spells that didn’t require a lot of external preparation. Sophie closed her eyes and concentrated, holding the scarf close to her chest.

Soon, Sophie opened her eyes with a gasp and reached out. Seeming to know what she wanted, Dani pushed a notepad and pen into her hands. Sophie scribbled out one line and handed it to Dani.

“Thank you.”

Layla watched from the side as Dani helped Sophie to the couch and left some money on the table. Layla’s eyes widened when she saw how much it was. Maybe college wasn’t as far away as she’d thought, once she learned enough magic to sell it to clients.

“I hope your daughter is all right!” Layla called after her, but Hunter and Cord were already hustling Dani out, locking the door behind her.

“She will be,” Sophie said faintly from the couch. She sounded exhausted, but that didn’t quite hide the note of exasperation in her voice. “Dani’s here at least once a week looking for a locator for her daughter. She’s sixteen and just has a habit of sneaking out to go party or meet boys.

“I’ve told Dani that it’s completely normal, but she freaks out if Christy doesn’t answer her phone. The poor girl’s social life must be in tatters at this point, what with her mother constantly showing up to collect her.”

“Was that what you wrote down for her? A location?”

“GPS coordinates. Honestly, I don’t know how Dani explains to Christy how she keeps finding her. Last I checked, Christy had started leaving her phone at home, convinced her mother was tracking it. She’s a resourceful girl. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s had her room and clothes swept for tracking devices at this point.”

“That’s awful! Why do you keep doing it? The woman’s daughter deserves to get out sometimes. Why don’t you tell Dani no?”

“Believe me, I’ve thought about it. The problem is that if I don’t help her, she’ll just go to someone else, so it’s not like I’d be preventing it, not now that she knows it’s possible. Besides, as annoying as it might be for Christy, her mom is right. A sixteen-year-old girl going partying at this time of night? She doesn’t know the dangers involved.

“Maybe, most of the time, I’m dragging her away from her fun and friends, but if even just once my locator spell saved her from some danger she didn’t see, it would be worth it. She’ll just have to talk to Dani about compromising on places and times when she can go out, like every other 16-year-old does.”

Layla felt a wave of sadness, seeing the truth in what Sophie was saying. She’d never had a conversation like that with her mom. Not once. She hadn’t cared about Layla enough to notice when she left the house, much less cause a fuss about it or care when she came home. Not that Layla didn’t pity Christy, who would surely be pulled away from her party at any moment, but she also felt oddly jealous, wondering what it would feel like to have someone care so much about her that they went to such lengths just to make sure she was okay.

“Why don’t you help the police?” Layla asked, trying to shift her thoughts to less wistful things.

“We do. There’s a detective who works on missing persons who comes to me every now and then for a locator spell. He has to be careful, because there are only so many times he can get away with ‘I had a gut instinct’ as an explanation to his superiors as to where to find a victim, but if he’s really stuck and thinks someone’s in danger and didn’t just want to disappear, then he’ll pay me a visit.”

That makes sense. Layla couldn’t wait to start learning this stuff herself. Maybe she could also help the police.

“Are you okay?” Hunter asked her softly so that Sophie didn’t hear.

Layla nodded, trying to clear her expression. Hunter didn’t need to hear any more about her terrible mother. She’d bored him enough on that subject already; she just had to be careful to stop wearing so many emotions on her face.

Hunter looked like he was going to say more, but he suddenly turned to the door again.

“It’s the others. They’re here.”

Layla sighed in relief and helped Sophie off the couch. Hunter and Cord were still watchful, but their casual postures told Layla that there was nothing to fear this time.

Rose and Lizeth looked exhausted; she’d thought they were all going home to their house, but guessed they must have wanted to give an update in person. Layla supposed they must all look exhausted anyway, given the scant sleep they’d gotten. Phoenix and Fisher looked exactly as they had when they’d left, though—that is, as though they could take out an army of assassins without breaking a sweat. Maybe demons were more resilient than other immortals.

“How did everything go?” Sophie asked, her eyes roaming over the two returned coven members, scanning them for any sign of injury.

“Fine,” Rose said simply.

“That’s good! We were worried; you took a while.”

Lizeth shook her head. “No, that’s not what we mean. Not ‘nothing’ as in some fairy or succubus tripping up the wards. ‘Nothing’ as in we couldn’t find anything or anyone. It’s as though a ghost tripped the wards. There was no sign. That’s why we came here to tell you, rather than heading to bed like we planned.”

Sophie ran her hands through her hair, shooting a troubled look at Phoenix and Fisher.

“We didn’t smell anything,” Fisher answered her silent question. “As far as we could tell, no one had been in the area except a couple of humans, but those wouldn’t trip your wards, right?”

“Right. Do you have any idea who it could be?”

Phoenix and Hunter exchanged a look. “Likely whoever has been killing witches,” Hunter answered simply.

“Don’t worry,” Phoenix added. “We’re more than equipped to deal with whoever it is. We won’t let our guard down.”

“We should probably keep patrolling the area,” Sophie said reluctantly, hauling herself off the couch.

“No.” Hunter’s voice was firm and commanding, and Layla couldn’t help finding it arousing. “No patrols tonight. It’s too dangerous. We’ll take turns staying up on watch. Nothing will get you.”

“They might escape—this may be our chance to catch them!”

“No,” Hunter repeated. Sophie’s face started turning red, even as tired as she had to be. As high priestess, Layla guessed she wasn’t told no that often. “It’s our job to find them now and keep you safe. We can’t do our jobs properly if you’re running around in dangerous situations when there’s no need for it.”

Seeing Lizeth and Rose exchange glances like they were also about to start arguing, Layla found herself wishing Damaris were awake; she always seemed so levelheaded.

“I’ll have you know that I’ve been facing dangerous situations for hundreds of years,” Rose bit out as she stepped toward Hunter, “and I—”

“Hired us,” Hunter cut in. “Now, let us do our jobs.”

“He’s right,” Sophie said wearily. “If we could catch them by ourselves, we would have done it by now. We should let them do their thing.”

Lizeth and Rose didn’t look happy, but Sophie’s words were enough to end the debate.

“We should call it a night and get going,” Fisher said, eyeing Lizeth, who looked like she could collapse at any time.

The others all agreed. There were only a few hours until dawn, but they might as well try to salvage some sleep. Hunter sent Layla a heated glance, but she knew he wouldn’t follow her to her room. That would have been pretty obvious, and Sophie was already wary.

Hunter and the other demons had a brief discussion about whether Lizeth and Rose should stay at the house for the night, but eventually decided that it was safe enough for Phoenix and Fisher to escort them home. Layla watched quietly as Hunter and Cord worked out watch schedules. The four of them seemed like a good team, and she wondered how long they’d been working together.

After saying good night to everyone, she went upstairs and lay back on her bed. She felt like the last few days had lasted a month. Everything was so complicated in this new world she’d embraced.

But as always lately, when Layla closed her eyes, she could see Hunter’s. Maybe tomorrow they could start their training. For now, she had to sleep, though she felt wide-awake. In the hall, she heard doors opening and closing and recognized Damaris’ voice, talking quietly to Sophie in the hallway.

“Everything all right?”

“For now. Everyone’s safe, and Lizeth and Rose are going back to their place with the demons. We’re not quite sure what happened with the wards yet, but Hunter insisted he and his men would investigate. We’ll know more tomorrow.”

“You seem worried.”

A pause lasted too long then, and Layla knew she probably shouldn’t be listening to what was obviously a private conversation, but she couldn’t quite bring herself to actively block them out.

“I’m worried about Layla. She doesn’t realize what the demons are, how they can’t be trusted. I’ve told her, of course, but she and Hunter seem close.”

Layla hoped that Damaris would dismiss the concern, or even say that it wasn’t a bad thing. Instead, she just responded in a low, worried voice.

“We’ll have to watch it carefully. Having her led astray before she even learns to use her magic could seriously impact her future.”

The two of them were silent for a minute, and then Sophie added something, but it was too soft for Layla to hear. Then they went to bed, leaving Layla’s head spinning.

She’d been correct about Sophie—more than correct. Clearly, any relationship between her and Hunter wasn’t going to be tolerated. Layla flopped back against the pillows, frustrated and upset. She’d only just joined this coven. She wanted things to work with them.

On the other hand, she wanted things to work with Hunter, as well, and it seemed more and more likely that she’d have to choose between him and her new sisters; she already felt torn. Maybe she and Hunter could keep hiding from Sophie and the others, but how long could they possibly keep that up? The truth always came out eventually.

She tried to tell herself she could be worrying about nothing. She didn’t know what would happen with her and Hunter. For all she knew, once he got to know her a bit better, he’d decide he wasn’t interested after all, or maybe this killer would be caught, and he’d disappear out of her life. The thought sent a pang through her, so she quickly tried to think of something else.

And of course, that something else was Hunter’s eyes and how much she looked forward to seeing him tomorrow. She thought of the feeling of his lips on hers and blushed in the dark. She was definitely looking forward to more of that, too.

When a knock sounded on her door, Layla jumped to her feet, sure it was Hunter coming to see her. Instead, Cord stuck his head in.

“Here, take this.” He held out a bracelet similar to the one Hunter had used to summon him. “It’s an alert beacon,” he explained. “If you need us, just press this button, and one of us will come. You can wear it as a bracelet, but just make sure it’s covered by clothes so no one can see it.”

“Why?”

Cord rolled his eyes. “It’s infused with demon power. Witches won’t normally touch this kind of stuff. Hell, we could get fired for offering one to any of you, but Hunter insisted you wouldn’t tell anyone. Was he right?”

A feeling of warmth spread through Layla’s chest. “Of course, I won’t let anyone see. Thank you. Does it call any one of you specifically?”

“It alerts all of us, but it will also let us know who’s closest to you. Only use it if it’s important, Layla. This is kind of like an emergency warning signal.”

“Thank you,” she said again, nodding. She wondered why Hunter hadn’t come to give this to her himself, though. Maybe he hadn’t wanted to chance Sophie or Damaris seeing him.

Cord nodded and disappeared off to his own room. Layla slipped the bracelet over her wrist, fingering the simple woven strand that held a brown button. It wasn’t like a manufactured button; it looked almost organic. She’d ask Hunter more about it tomorrow. Maybe, at some point, she could even cast an invisibility spell over it.

For now, she tugged a long top out of her backpack and put it on over her pajamas. It was cool enough that it shouldn’t raise eyebrows if she had any more visitors.