He trailed off, his hands knotting before him, his eyes shifting away. “I’ve gambled as much as I dare to with this business. I don’t know if there’s a demon out there or not. I don’t know if the Void is setting a trap for me. I don’t know what’s going on. But whatever it is, I don’t want you involved. At least not any further than you already are. I want you to get on a plane right now and get out of here. Get far away, so far away you can’t possibly be a part of whatever happens next.”

She nodded slowly. “And what happens to you?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know yet. I have to figure that out. But I can tell you one thing. I’m not so sure anymore I’m not in danger.”

She finished the last of her sandwich and wiped her mouth carefully, wincing as she brushed one of the deeper cuts on her chin. “Good for you,” she said. There was neither approval nor condemnation in her voice. Her gaze was steady. “But you don’t know the half of it. Let me tell you the rest.”

She was shaken by the revelations of his dream and more than a little frightened and angered by the idea that she might be his target once again, but she kept it all hidden. She could not afford to let her feelings interfere with her purpose in coming to him in the first place. She could stew about the ramifications of his having had such a dream later, but for now she must concentrate on convincing him he needed to do something to protect himself.

“I watched three forest creatures die last night,” she began. “One of them was Ariel, one was a sylvan named Boot, and the third was an owl named Audrey. A demon killed them, a demon that is attempting to claim your soul, John. Ariel, Audrey, and Boot died trying to stop that from happening. So please pay close attention to what I have to say.”

She told him everything that had happened. She started with Ariel’s appearance in the market, summoning her to West Seattle and Lincoln Park, where Boot and Audrey lived. Boot had seen the demon and had a story to tell. She called to let him know what she was doing, perhaps to persuade him to come, as well. But she couldn’t reach him, so she left a message with Stef that she believed only he would understand. She took a taxi to the park and went in. At the rim of the cliffs overlooking Puget Sound and the park embankment, the sylvan and the owl appeared.

She related Boot’s tale, repeating the conversation that had taken place between the two demons as accurately as she could remember it, then telling of how the first demon had killed the second to protect its claim on Ross. Boot was about to tell her more, she finished, when the attack occurred that snuffed out Boot’s and Audrey’s lives and led to the chase along the heights that ended up costing Ariel her life, as well.