Page 47

A gull hung above the guardrail as we passed, suspended against the gray sky without so much as a twitch of its wings. For some reason, I watched it until it disappeared behind us, envying its ability to live its entire life clueless about witches, angels, demons and everything else in between.

"How long do you think we have before somebody notices we're in the city?"

River was silent for exactly as long as it takes to decide not to lie to somebody.

"They already know we are here."

I turned my head.

He was still watching the road.

"Well," I said. "That simplifies my math."

Ohio City on a Wednesday morning looked like someone had taken every version of Cleveland that had ever existed and layered them on top of one another. Century-old houses divided into apartments they'd never been built to hold stood beside renovated townhomes worth more than anyone had a right to charge for them. A coffee shop had dragged a chalkboard onto the sidewalk to advertise something involving oat milk and six-dollar pastries. Half a block down, somebody's grandmother was sweeping a stretch of pavement that probably hadn't belonged to her since 1988 and clearly had no intention of surrendering it now.

There was something comforting about that.

Then I saw 2214.

The house sat halfway down the block, a two-family with a wide porch stretching across the front and a kid's bike chained to the railing. Exactly where Davon said it would be. Someone had painted the place green once upon a time, probably with the sincere intention of doing it again someday, then apparently spent the next decade reconsidering.

River pulled in, and I climbed out.

That was as far as I got.

I stood on the sidewalk with the keys from Erie Property Group pressed into my palm and stared up at the second-floor windows.

Nothing moved behind the glass.

Neither did I.

The ridiculous part was that I'd already done the dangerous part. I'd come back to Cleveland. Whatever had noticed me crossing into the city already knew I was here. Four miles away, my grandmother was sitting in the coven with my book, and Thursday was still coming whether I walked into this house or stood on the sidewalk until Bryce came looking for his damn keys.

None of that made taking the next step any easier.

"Firefly."

I didn't look at River. "Give me a second."

"Take as long as you need."

The car door shut behind me, and a moment later he came to stand at my side, close enough that I could feel his presence without having to turn my head. He slid his hands into his pockets and studied the house with me.

"Nobody's timing you except Bryce."

A laugh slipped out before I could stop it.

"If that man shows up here, I'm letting you kill him."

"Good."

I finally looked at River.

He wasn't smiling.

"River."

"What?" He lifted one shoulder. "I heard about the rash too." His full lips tilted up in one corner but never committed to a smile.