“Yes,” Zayne answered. “We’re thinking it—”

“—was a setup?” Dez cut in, and the unease resurfaced with a vengeance. “You didn’t see the demon?”

“We didn’t.” I stepped forward. “Why do you think it was a setup? Because we were starting to think the same thing.”

When Dez spoke, his voice was as tired as any battle-weary solider. “Because about ten minutes ago, Greene was found dead. Eviscerated and hanging inside the damn Eastern Market.”

“Where?” Zayne asked as my stomach dropped.

“Eastern Market Metro platform,” Dez confirmed. “Only a few blocks from here.”

Based on the way Dez was eyeing me as I climbed into the passenger seat of the SUV, I figured he wanted to crack open a fire hydrant and hose me down but was resisting.

As Dez jogged around the front of the vehicle, I stared out the window. All I saw were the vague shapes of trees, but I knew Zayne was still in the building and within minutes, other Wardens would be arriving to help clean up the mess and scour the rest of the building to make sure there were no zombies left.

I hated to leave Zayne there by himself after learning that one of his clan had been murdered, and right where we’d just been.

The demon leading us to this abandoned building couldn’t have been a coincidence. Had the Harbinger been out there, stalking Greene, and we’d had no idea? Or had Greene been in another area of the city and was brought there as a twisted message to let us know that we’d been seen?

That we’d been played.

The SUV rocked as Dez folded his long body into the driver’s seat. I looked at him, able to make out his profile in the streetlamp. Dez was young, only a handful of years older than Zayne, and he was already mated, with two adorable twins who were just learning to shift.

A lot of Wardens grew up parentless, having lost either their mother during childbirth or to demon raids and their father to the never-ending war. The statistics weren’t in the twins’ favor, but I hoped Izzy and Drake didn’t meet that same fate as so many others.

“I’m sorry about what happened to the Warden,” I said as Dez hit the ignition button.

He glanced at me, expression hidden in the shadowy interior as he pulled away from the curb. “Thank you.”

I wanted to ask if Zayne had known him well, but that seemed insensitive. “Had he been with the clan long?”

“Yeah, he’s been here for several years,” he answered, and my heart squeezed. “He wasn’t mated, and I guess that’s a blessing.”

How sad that had to be tacked on, as if the reminder that it could’ve been worse needed to be spoken. “But he’ll still be missed.”