Sin & Spirit (Demigod of San Francisco #4)(18)

Zorn puffed out of sight, into his gas form, and Donovan turned to the right, looking for their attacker. Kieran could feel his confusion through the blood bond. Henry was nowhere to be seen.

Kieran pushed to standing. “What’s going on?”

“Someone threw a knife at you,” Mia said, and her spirit winked out. The next moment, Thane appeared next to Kieran. He thunked down onto to his knees, frozen, and fell face-first onto the ground. He lay there for a moment, stiff as a board. The need to change forms was clearly clawing at him. The fact that he was fighting the urge meant his magic would do them no good.

“He’s the dangerous one when he loses control, right?” Mia asked, bracing herself above Thane, her arms out.

Donovan turned quickly, pushing his way in through one of the glass doors. Henry bleeped back into sight on the outside. He turned slowly and stared into the lobby with a blank expression. He was thinking through a problem.

“Someone is— Look out!” Donovan staggered away to the side. A man, his face half obscured by a black mask, appeared out of thin air with a knife in hand, poised to throw.

Before Kieran could duck, the lights swirled and the air sucked at him. The next moment he landed halfway down the flight of stairs. His feet hit the edges of the step, his balance throwing him forward. He tumbled, butt over noggin, finally skidding to a stop on his face with his legs jackknifing above him.

Out of breath, he popped up in time to see Henry push through the glass and grab the guy in black. Henry stopped moving immediately, but Thane was already running to create a wall between the man and Kieran.

“See?” Mia said, her image flickering, clearly low on power. “Ninja.”

The man in black had disappeared into thin air.

“Stay still,” Henry yelled at Thane. “Stop moving. He can’t use his magic without movement.”

“What is going on? Oh my God, Kieran!” Nancy hurried down the stairs, her staff running behind and then in front of her, realizing something was wrong and wanting to secure her.

It almost looked like the man in black jumped out of Thane. Literally jumped out of his body, going from half translucent, like Mia, to a solid person. He charged at the steps. But before he got to Kieran, ready to end this, he disappeared again.

“Halt,” Nancy yelled, slowing to a stop.

The man popped out of her, pounded up a few stairs, and disappeared as someone reached for him. Next he hopped out of one of Nancy’s guard, trailing at the back of the group. He was sprinting down the upstairs hallway in a matter of seconds.

“Do you want me to follow?” Mia asked Kieran.

“Zorn, can you hunt him down?” Kieran said.

Zorn appeared next to Kieran for a moment, startling everyone, and then was gone. That was a yes. He wasn’t a spirit, but he was equally invisible to those who didn’t know the trick of finding his presence. It wasn’t only Hades magic that allowed a person to hide in plain sight.

“He could tuck into moving bodies and exit…when he wanted, I guess,” Henry said, cataloging the magic. This had been his first time dealing with this type of magic, and it had clearly thrown him for a loop. Kieran was confident that next time there would be no such issue. “You saw him disappear—he could hide himself in others, as long as they were moving.”

“What was his purpose?” Kieran asked. “Me?”

Henry looked at him for a second, and Nancy slowly resumed her descent.

“Yes. Demigod Aaron has one of those,” Nancy said softly, and her gaze pinged around her staff. Kieran understood that look. This had just gotten bigger than her, which meant she wasn’t here because of Demigod Aaron. She belonged to one of the other players. “I forget what the magic is called. The slang is Body Jumper. He’s one of Aaron’s best. You were able to withstand him. I’m impressed. Not many have.”

Thane huffed out a laugh. He probably didn’t realize she was serious.

She put a hand on Kieran’s forearm and leaned in to kiss his cheek. “Be careful. Clearly Demigod Aaron wants you dead. He probably thinks the girl is his. Even if she’s not, he’ll want her for his cabinet. Because of her, you have some serious enemies. You’re in their way. It’d be safer for you if you cut her loose.” She lifted a hand to his cheek. “Think about it.”

He didn’t register her leaving. The strange feeling in his middle turned into a yank. He sucked in his breath and braced a palm against his middle.

“What is it?” Thane asked, his almond-shaped eyes inches from Kieran’s face.

“Back off,” Kieran said, wheezing as the yank became a consistent pull. Alexis’s emotions throbbed with hope and desperation. Although their connection was still fuzzy, those emotions were unmistakable.

“Should I go with Zorn?” Henry asked as Nancy and crew exited the lobby.

“No.” Kieran took up a jog, shadowed by Mia. He didn’t know what was happening, but Alexis clearly wasn’t out of the woods yet. “Stick with me.”

He hazarded a glance to the right of the doors, where the knife would’ve come from. The way was obscured by Nancy and her crew. He had no idea how close of a call it had been. A knife usually wouldn’t keep him down for long, if at all, but a well-placed knife to the throat was a different matter. Mia almost certainly hadn’t saved his life, but she’d tried to. This wasn’t the first time she’d proven her loyalty to one of his squad, but it was a first for him directly, the son of the man who had put her here.