Dakota watched the silhouette of Denver rise up in front of her with an uneasiness in her gut. Not only was this the first mission she had where she couldn’t ask her dad for help, she had a wolf making eyes at her from her passenger seat, and he somehow looked sexier every time she looked at him.

And while she was certain she had bags under her eyes from lack of sleep, he was as fresh-faced as ever.

Goddamn shifters, with their increased stamina and strength and their… biceps!

She couldn’t remember the last time she had been this affected by a guy… Maybe never?

Luckily, Wes had stayed off flattery during their drive to Denver, opting to grill her about demons instead. Thus far, she had managed to cover the basics. For example, it took quite a lot of power to breach the invisible film separating the human and demon realms, so lower-level demons could only show up when summoned by someone on the human side. Stronger demons could pass over by themselves, but couldn’t stay for very long before getting yanked back.

She had regaled him with the same stories her dad had told her – about people who messed with the wrong forces and got burned for it, sometimes literally. Magic always had a price, whether you knew you were paying it or not. Which made incompetent practitioners especially dangerous.

“Loch could show up in Tessa’s dreams because of the amulet,” Wes said, rubbing that chiseled jaw of his. “They can’t do that without the amulet, can they?”

“Not usually,” Dakota replied. “The amulet is the only physical thing that can create such a connection, at least that I know of. There were spells that could do that, a long time ago, but the books that hold dream magic have since been destroyed.”

“How can you be sure of that?”

“Well, I can’t,” Dakota admitted. “But I do know the library they were hidden in burned down over a hundred years ago.”

“You’re like an encyclopedia of weird stuff,” Wes commented, sounding almost in awe.

“That better be an insult,” Dakota joked.

“Of course,” he grinned, making her lips curve upward. “So, what’s our next move?” he asked, turning his gaze to the city in front of them.

“The man I’m after is in town for a business meeting. You might have heard of him. Elias Campbell,” Dakota replied, watching recognition flash over Wes’ face.

“The real estate giant?” he asked, eyes widening. “He won’t give you the time of day.”

“I know,” she shrugged. “I’ve already tried getting a hold of him through his office for weeks, but he hasn’t gotten back to me. So I’m going to have to force his hand.”

“And how exactly are you going to do that?” Wes arched a brow.

“I’ve done my homework,” Dakota replied. “I know the places he likes to go, and the hotels he likes to stay at. Once I get him in my sights, I’m not going to give him another option but to talk to me.”

“He probably has security,” Wes remarked.

“I know,” she said.

“You could get in trouble,” Wes added.

“I know that, too,” she replied.

“Elias must have something pretty important then, if you’re willing to harass one of the richest men in the country,” he tilted his head at her.

Dakota sighed. Dealing with someone like Campbell was complicated, that was for sure. Even if she were as wealthy as him, she knew no amount of money was going to make the man hand over the items he had spent years trying to get his hands on.

“The books he purchased aren’t that dangerous on their own,” she replied, her hands tightening around the steering wheel. “But put all that information together, and we are dealing with some powerful shit.”

“He could just be keeping them in glass cases, never even reading them,” Wes offered.

“I would hope so, but I don’t think that’s very likely,” Dakota shook her head. “The combination of books and how they complement each other tells me he might know things he shouldn’t. And then there are the weather patterns.”

“What about them?” Wes asked.

“Well, magic tends to disturb the boundaries between our realm and the demon realm,” Dakota explained. “Using spells draws on an energy only the other side can offer. And that means consequences.”

“Ah,” Wes nodded. “I remember Tate and Tessa talking about how the weather always took a weird turn when Loch showed up. And there was a huge thunderstorm the night we killed him, that disappeared as soon as he was dead.”

Dakota drove deeper into the city, watching all the cars and people pass her by on the streets. It was an odd transition from jungles, to tiny little Pinedale, to now here, back in the hustle and bustle. Part of her found it familiar, even comforting, yet part of her wanted to run and hide.

So she focused on talking to Wes instead, his deep voice soothing despite his presence being a distraction in more ways than one.

“Yup,” she said. “Someone as powerful as Loch was bound to make a pretty severe impact. Lower level disturbances usually don’t trigger changes in weather. Which is why I got worried when I realized Campbell was all but being followed around by freak storms and unusual cold and warm fronts.”

“So you’ve been keeping an eye on him,” Wes interjected.

“I’ve been keeping an eye on all the people that bought my dad’s stuff, as best as I can. No red flags really jumped out at me with those other people, but Campbell…” she trailed off. “Anyway, since he wasn’t giving me the time of day, I stopped in Pinedale first. Thought an antique store owner would give me less trouble than a billionaire. How wrong was I,” she grinned, throwing a glance Wes’ way.

“Well, I want to help anyway I can,” he resolved. “But are you sure the weather really has anything to do with Campbell?”

“Climate change makes using that particular method of sniffing out demonic activity a little more difficult,” Dakota admitted.

“Yet another reason to recycle,” Wes deadpanned.

“But there are just too many coincidences. When he went to Vegas, it rained there for two days straight. In Vegas,” she emphasized, before making an abrupt turn into the parking lot of a nearby shopping center.

“Hey, you’re the expert,” Wes shrugged. “If you say Campbell is bad news, I’m with you.”

“All right,” she said, reaching back into her purse, stuffed into the pouch in the back of her seat, and pulling out her phone. “First, we find a place to stay. Then, we find out where he is staying.”

“All right, roomie,” Wes replied, cheerful as ever.

Wait, he’s not expecting to share a room with me, is he?

The answer was obvious – of course he was. He wouldn’t even take a separate car, so he sure as hell wasn’t going to let her out of his sight overnight, not after she’d slashed his tires and all.

Let’s just hope he sleeps with his shirt on, Dakota groaned. A woman can only take so much.