I circled the lot and parked. Within a few minutes, a human guy appeared. I watched as he strode toward me. The slight bulge on his hip told me he was carrying at least one gun. I gritted my teeth. My Colt 1911 was tucked into a thigh holster under Evie’s sundress. Pulling up the dress would slow me down.

I hopped out of the car and leaned against it, ensuring no one could come up behind me. The rowan seller nodded at me, his sunglasses covering his eyes.

I let my gaze scan him. I’d put him in his sixties, although he looked healthy and fit. He was a white guy, but the tan line that poked out from beneath his t-shirt and the freckles on his forearms told me he spent a lot of time out in the sun.

“You’re not what I expected,” he said.

I raised one eyebrow. “It’s the dress, isn’t it?”

A smile danced around his mouth. “I don’t have long. Ask your questions.”

“Name?”

His mouth firmed and he gave me a dark frown. Okay then.

“Cara filled you in about my arrows?”

“Yes.”

“Is there anything you can tell me about whoever has bought rowan from you recently? Maybe someone who would be happy to target a demon?”

He shrugged. “The thing you gotta know about rowan, is it’s about the most illegal thing you can sell in this realm. Once the high demons arrived through those portals, one of the first things they did in this realm was eradicate the tree in almost every country around the world. They burned them to the ground with demon fire, so they would never grow again.”

Knowing Samael as well as I now did, none of this surprised me. He’d never tolerate a potential threat to his people. “So how did you happen to get your hands on it?”

“It grows in the dark fae realm. It’s a guaranteed prison term if you bring it through the portal, but lesser unseelie have to make a living somehow.”

“Uh-huh. So, someone brings it through to you and you sell it off?”

He shook his head. “No. My contact brings it across, and my supplier sells it on. Deals are done via email and payments are encrypted.”

“How do the buyers get the rowan?”

“It’s left in a different pickup spot every time.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. Then I turned and opened my car door, pulling out the arrow. “So there’s nothing you can tell me about who might’ve made this?”

He frowned. “They’d have to be wealthy. That doesn’t look like a lot of rowan, but it’s probably worth half a million dollars.”

I gaped at him. He nodded. “Anyone caught selling or buying rowan will have to deal with either the high unseelie or the high demons. The price has to be worth it.”