Page 16 of Bent Out of Shade
5
Still on thephone with the woman, I hurried to the exit, dodging a group of excited newcomers ready to hit the jackpot. “Is my friend okay?”
“Of course. But you must answer the summons.”
“Where?”
She gave me an address, ordered me to be there in ten minutes, and disconnected.
Who were these people? I opened a maps app. It made no sense for them to be affiliated with Vincenzo. Could they be behind Sabrina’s disappearance? They might be part of the Consortium, but that didn’t feel right either.
Was “summoned” a euphemism for “blackmailed”? James Learsdon had intended to coerce me into helping him locate the Ascendant, and Zev had done the same. Had someone new shown up to make me find the artifact for them? Well, they were shit out of luck.
The app showed an eight-minute walk to get to the location. That woman had given me ten minutes, but I could get there in seconds using the KH. She probably didn’t know I was Banim Shovavim. That was a plus, but it made this situation even more confusing. Why did they want me so badly?
I raced to the bathrooms, locked myself into a dimly lit stall, and stepped through the shadows. Poor Pyotr barely got a hello, but he nodded sympathetically when I rushed to the sock pile, grabbed a silky thigh-high stocking, and spun for the exit, explaining I had to rescue Emmett.
My destination was Ye Olde Wedding House, a cute yellow bungalow with a sign in fancy script out front.
Remaining cloaked, I circled the house, peering through stained-glass windows into a pink and white foyer. Through the next set of windows, I made out an airy room containing several rows of pews. Emmett sat at the end of the petal-strewn aisle, on the stair leading to a wedding arch covered in flowers.
The Jesus-haired dude I’d encountered sat in profile in the first pew while a young woman with a sweet face and blond hair to her waist burned incense in a pewter stand next to the arch. Like the man who’d first accosted me, she appeared human, but best to assume they had magic.
Had I been targeted by some hippie cult?
I weighed my options. The easiest plan would be to rush in cloaked, grab Emmett, and jet out through the shadows. Except that wouldn’t get me answers, and if I didn’t know who was after me, then I couldn’t formulate the best plan for survival.
The bells over the front door rang jauntily when I entered, but I stepped into the inner sanctum with my hands up, my eyes wide, and my breath coming in shallow pants.
“I’m here,” I said in a quivering voice. My nose twitched at the incense fogging the air. “We’ll do whatever you want if you let us go unharmed.”
Emmett glanced at me sharply, then snorted quietly.
The woman stepped out from behind the pulpit, flicking a lighter on and off. “You won’t be disappointed.”
“Who wants to see me?”
Her smile faltered. “Don’t you know?”
“I really don’t,” I said. “Is this about Sabrina?”
“Who?” She shot an uncertain look at her partner.
He stood up with the amulet outstretched. “It doesn’t matter. You have been summoned and must answer. It is a great honor.”
“Yeah, you’ve said. Over and over again.” Emmett jerked his chin at me. “Next time I’m used as bait, at least let it be by a top-tier supervillain. Someone Vincenzo level, ya know?”
“I’ll do my best,” I said dryly.
“Let us proceed.” The man shook his wrists, and two blades appeared in his hands, the amulet gone. Nice sleight of hand—not actual magic—but hell no.
Shadows swirled over my skin while Emmett roared and rushed the woman, tackling her.
“That’s for lying about seeing the wax museum,” he said.
I rolled my eyes. That’s how they got him to go with them? Did I really need to warn the golem to stay away from promises of puppies and candy?
Her partner had dropped to one knee, carving a swirly pattern into the wood floor with the blades, his eyes darting to the ceiling continuously.
