I’d noticed the gas stove upon my initial inspection, but I’d noticed no smell until right before it caught on fire. With gas leaks, didn’t a place usually fill up over time? This had been sudden. An out-of-the-blue surge of gas, and BAM! No warning, no anything. I supposed it could have been coincidence. Lucky timing. But in my world, coincidences didn’t happen. They were usually guided by a stronger power. The question was: who or what was responsible? I had too much to worry about now without some unseen arsonist on the scene.

“Why so pensive, Daughter of Lilith?”

I looked up from my half-eaten food. “Carter!”

I was pretty sure I’d never been so happy to see the angel in my life, except for maybe when he’d rescued me from Helena the crazy nephilim last fall. He wore the same clothes he’d had on in Vancouver. They appeared to stay in a perpetually consistent state of dishevelment—never getting worse, never getting better.

He slid into the chair opposite me. “You gonna finish that?” he asked, pointing at my plate.

I shook my head and slid the curry over to him. He immediately dug in, practically inhaling it. “What’s going on?” he asked between mouthfuls of rice.

“You know what’s going on. Seattle’s gone to hell. Literally.”

“Yeah, I’ve noticed. How’s it feel to be footloose and fancy free?”

“It sucks. For some reason, my hair’s always frizzy. I used to style it myself before this happened, and it never did that.”

Carter grinned. “I doubt you were doing it all yourself. You may have still done all the labor, but some subconscious part of you was probably tweaking it just a little bit to keep it perfect.”

I pulled a face. “Well, even if that’s true, I’ve got a few bigger problems.”

I gave him a brief recap of my adventures this morning and what had happened with Greg. Even speaking about it still sent a chill down my spine. I expected Carter to laugh and make some quip at my expense, but his face stayed serious.

“You need to be careful,” he said gravely. “Everything’s different now. It’ll only be for a short time, true, but even if you can’t die, you’re still locked in a dangerous game.”

“We have to find Jerome. Do you know where he’s at?”

Carter shook his head. “Nope. He disappeared off our radars too. I don’t know anything more than you do.”

“You probably know more about demon summoning than I do,” I pointed out.

“Depends,” he said. “What do you know?”

“Pretty much what I already told you. Dante didn’t have much more to offer than who he thought could do it. And those other losers didn’t give up anything at all—except attitude.”