The best way to help everyone was to get out of the city before we lost our chance.
“All right,” I whispered. “When do we leave?”
“We’ll wait for morning,” Aaron answered, and I started, surprised to find him leaning against the desk right behind me. “The Grand Grimoire guys saw our car. All the bounty hunters will be watching for a white sedan, so we’ll try to blend in with the morning commuters.”
I nodded, my cheek pressed to Ezra’s chest. Untangling my fist from his shirt, I grasped Aaron’s warm hand and entwined our fingers, connecting the three of us together.
As long as we were together, I could hold back the dark despair.
Curled against Ezra’s side, the floor cold and hard under my butt, I wearily listened to the low rumble of his voice as he and Aaron debated the best route out of the city. The three of us were tucked in a corner of the office, leaning against the wall and waiting for the first tinge of dawn to touch the horizon.
I let their voices wash over me, my eyes closed. I was exhausted, but also wired with anxiety. My thoughts spun and spun, and it was so hard to quiet my mind enough to catch a little sleep. The unpleasantly hard floor didn’t help, but there was nowhere remotely comfortable in this barren office to sleep.
“… wasn’t expecting Sabrina to show up.” Aaron’s voice filtered through my jittery drowsiness. “I never suspected she might not be a diviner.”
I cracked my eyes open, frowning. “What are you talking about? Why wouldn’t she be a diviner? She predicted where we’d be with her tarot cards.”
“Have you ever seen a tarot reading include something as specific as a location?” Aaron asked dryly. “Tarot cards are all about your present state, big decisions, directions your life is taking, that sort of thing.”
My frown deepened. “Her readings haven’t been super specific, but everything she’s predicted for my future has come true.”
“Everything?”
“Yeah.”
He rubbed his stubbly jaw. “I’d say that’s further confirmation that something’s fishy, then. Diviners are usually vague about the direction your future is headed because tarot cards aren’t reliable that way.”
Ezra nodded. “I was surprised when she predicted you’d save my life back in November.”
I massaged my temples. “How can you believe in her predictions but not believe she’s a diviner?”
“I never said I didn’t think she could predict the future. Whatever she can do, knowing where to show up to help us is next-level predictive power. I get why she would hide it.”
My gaze flicked up to Ezra. How many other guild members hid their secrets within the ragtag group of misfits known as the Crow and Hammer?
“You know what’d be nice?” I muttered. “A future prediction about us winning the lottery and spending a month in Hawaii.”
“Aaron doesn’t need to win the lottery,” Ezra pointed out.
Aaron leaned his head back against the wall. “If you’re craving a tropical vacation, I can just tell my parents I’m interested in checking out the IEA’s Polynesian branch. They’ll fly us there for as long as we want.”
I was too tired to remember what IEA stood for. Some huge Elementaria guild. “Yeah, just don’t mention that Ezra is a demon mage.”
Aaron grunted.
“What do your parents think of your promotion?” I asked after a moment. “Did you tell them?”
“Nope.” His smile was surprisingly relaxed. “I don’t need to hear what they think. I’m happy about it.”
I grinned, finding happiness in that even with everything else going on.
Now we just needed to fix this whole mess so he could go back to enjoying his promotion instead of fleeing for his life as a wanted rogue.
I climbed off the floor and stretched again, my muscles painfully stiff from a night sitting on the floor. More out of habit than hope, I called Robin’s number—straight to voicemail—then pocketed the phone and picked up my combat belt, which I’d left on the desk. My fingers brushed the empty pouch at the back. Still no Hoshi.
We gathered up our things. I shouldered the precious backpack with the ritual, demon blood, and cult grimoire, and Aaron strapped Sharpie against his back under his jacket. Ezra donned his steel-reinforced gloves, then pulled his leather coat on over them.
This was as ready as we’d get.
My stomach grumbled miserably as we slipped out of the dark office. We’d eaten—sort of. The HVAC company’s staff room had included a vending machine of drinks and snacks. We’d smashed the glass and dined on chips, chocolate bars, and bags of trail mix, washed down with bottles of water. Not exactly nutritious, but better than nothing.
Once we were out of the city, Aaron could access one of his secret bank accounts. With cash in hand, we could buy real food, but that wouldn’t be happening for hours yet.
We approached the back door, and Aaron cracked it open to peer outside. A line of large work vans with company logos on their sides filled the lot, and our old white sedan was tucked between two of them. I wondered where Sabrina had gotten it. As far as I knew, she didn’t own a car.
Dawn was a mere suggestion of light in the eastern sky, and the still air was fresh and crisp. Seeing nothing moving in the lot, Aaron opened the door all the way.
Ezra clamped his hand on Aaron’s shoulder, halting him. The aeromage stood unmoving for a moment, then slammed the door shut.
“There are people out there.”
Chapter Fourteen
My heart skipped a beat. “There are people out there? As in, like, people who work in this area?”
“They’re grouped in an alley.” He turned to Aaron. “How long will it take to get in the car and drive out of the parking lot?”
Aaron considered it. “Too long. I don’t want to be trapped in a vehicle when they attack.”
“They’re probably watching all the exits. We need to make a new one.”
Aaron nodded. “The buildings to
