Sin & Salvation (Demigod of San Francisco #3)(72)

“We won’t be fighting shifters, and you don’t have to worry about keeping the enemy alive,” Jack said. He made a claw with his hand and clutched the air. “You’re good on ripping out souls, right?” He pulled his hand away. “This morning helped?”

He’d been in charge of making sure none of the blood-crazed shifters made it to me. He’d pulled up a chair and taken out a book. That had given me more confidence than anything.

“Yes. I can get at the souls just fine. I know how to alter the density of a spirit box in order to seep in and—”

Jack held up his hand. “I don’t need the how or why, I just need a green light.”

“She’s ready, I said,” Boman pushed. “What’s the word?”

“She’s only ready if she has the confidence to be ready,” Jack replied. “And I don’t know. Henry was keyed up. Something is happening. He wanted to talk to Demigod Kieran directly, so I got my ass out here as fast as possible.”

“You think it’s going to kick off?” Boman whispered.

Jack didn’t answer as Thane lay back on his back and looked at the sky. “Ow. I hate when Kieran ends the fight.”

Kieran pocketed his phone and turned back toward us, his eyes resolute. His gaze fell on me, and my stomach flipped. “Henry thinks they know.”

A loud breath left Jack.

Kieran started off toward the house, leaving all of us to scramble after him.

“Amber tracked my father down for an in-person meeting in his house,” Kieran said as he walked. “That’s not usual. She has something she doesn’t want spread around. Then she reassigned her whole team to hit the computers. Henry’s contact thinks they’re cyber-searching.” He pushed a branch out of the way, paused until I’d passed by, and let it go. Jack barely caught it before getting thwacked in the face. “They’re on my trail. Everything I did is hidden in layers of false leads and dead-ends, but the clues are there. With a lead, she’s good enough to find it.”

“Was it what we did yesterday?” I asked as we cut toward my house.

“Without question. Green didn’t make that move without clearing it with my father first. Even if my father’s people didn’t find out about the mark, the way I rushed out of the office would’ve been enough to tip them off. My father got lucky with timing.” I could tell Kieran was gritting his teeth in frustration.

Zorn met us as we emerged from the trees at the side gate to my yard.

“Their Necromancer has been summoned to the north end of Ocean Beach at sunrise tomorrow morning, where your mother’s spirit was hidden,” Zorn said without preamble. “He was heard complaining about it. Valens must have thought the spirit trap would hold beyond his crew dying. He wants to check it out.”

“Their Necromancer probably knows what collection of smokes and whatever to use to verify the magic is gone,” I said, thinking it through. “He’ll know the magic has worn off, but will he be able to tell what happened to it?”

“The box is gone.” Kieran pushed past Zorn. “I buried it deep in a cave in the ocean. He’ll never find it. She’s at rest. All of her is at rest, and that includes the fucked up shrine he made for her skin. He can go to hell.”

“So Valens won’t find anything there tomorrow?” I asked, following Kieran out of the side yard and to the grass.

“He will. But not what he’s expecting,” Kieran answered, slowing as he rounded the corner of the house.

My mouth dropped opened as I saw what was happening in my backyard.

Bria and Donovan each worked beside a pile of dirt, digging down through my manicured lawn. Judging by the two dead bodies they’d already unearthed, I had a pretty good idea what they were looking for.

“You stored bodies in my backyard?” I whined, putting out my hands. “How long have you had this house? Because the grass was perfect…”

“I had them get working, sir,” Zorn told Kieran. “I figure we can always put the bodies back.”

“We won’t be putting them back. The time has come, ready or not.” Kieran stopped near the others. “What’s the time frame?”

“I have about fifty to go, but with your guys, it’ll be quick,” Bria said, eyeing the rest of my beautiful grass.

“Fifty?” I asked, unable to focus on the real problem at hand. I’d never had a lovely manicured backyard with lush green grass before, and come to find out it had been a crypt the whole time. “Why couldn’t you leave them in the cemetery where you got them?” I paused. “You did get them out of a cemetery, right? You didn’t murder them yourself?”

Bria glanced my way. “Of course I got them in a cemetery—we didn’t need cops breathing down our necks. And they’re here because your boyfriend wanted them close at hand. The grass is sod. It hasn’t been down long.” She straightened and put her fist to her hip. “You really know very little about home gardening, don’t you?”

“I’ll get the spirits assembled,” Kieran said, ignoring our exchange. “You’ll have your pick of everyone we could collect. I have personal artifacts of a few extremely powerful spirits beyond the Line. Lexi will need to control those.”

My attention snapped to him. “You want me to fight and control spirits?”