Page 15 of Paws & Order

He closes the door behind him and fixes both of us with a look that would freeze pond water.

"What happened?"

His gaze slides from me to Zadok and back, then falls on the envelope.

I start talking, my voice shaking a little at first, then faster, tumbling out every detail, every bouquet, every weird midnight coin.

Halfway through, Cassian's hands clench and flex, the only tell through his stone-quiet calm.

By the time I get to the phone calls, his jaw is so tight it looks painful.

"You should have called me sooner."

I glare at the window, cheeks burning.

"It's embarrassing. I thought it was nothing?—"

"It is not nothing," Cassian interrupts.

"I'm sending a detail to your house tonight, and tomorrow we're outfitting your apartment with security charms and a proper lock. Zadok, can you get one of your demon minions to ward the perimeter?"

Zadok nods, already texting with one hand and firing off another call with the other.

"Consider it done. I'll get one of the Arcana sisters to construct a rune-etched cat door by five p.m."

"I'm not helpless, you know," I manage.

Cassian steps as close as he dares, then sets his big hand—gentle, absurdly careful—on my upper arm.

"I know," he says, his voice soft but adamant. "But you're not alone, Liza. And whoever this is has crossed a line."

His words make something in my chest ache.

I want to say I can take care of myself, to brush it all off.

But the relief of finally having the cavalry arrive is more than I'll admit out loud.

Zadok rises, sweeping the letter into an evidence bag.

"We'll run this through our local hex-breaker," he says. "You're off the clock. Morales, go home. Double-lock the doors and keep your phone on. Cassian and his crew will handle it until we get to the bottom of this."

So I do.

Walking home feels less like a commute and more like a reconnaissance mission.

I watch every shadow, every parked car.

I count the steps from corner to corner.

When I reach my apartment, Cassian is already there, talking quietly with a vampire from the night patrol and a witch in a safety vest.

He nods to me, sober-faced, and gestures toward the door.

"Don't worry," he says. "Go inside. We're keeping watch."

CHAPTER 5

CASSIAN