I eyed him for a moment, wondering if I should press him with my real question. He’d said he couldn’t directly interfere in this, but Carter had saved my life once before. His showing up here now was awfully coincidental . . . Was it possible he’d been following me all day? Had he helped expedite the stove’s incineration to save me? One might argue that touching Greg would have been direct interference . . . but harming the stove wouldn’t be, if you wanted to use demon-worthy technicalities. And, in a typically angelic way, Carter hadn’t actually denied his involvement.

I decided to let the matter go. If Carter was keeping his help a secret, there was a good reason. With a sigh, I glanced at the clock to my right. “Well, I’m still technically on leave, so I should probably take advantage of that and hunt down this seal maker.”

“Good luck,” said Carter. “But joking aside, I meant what I said earlier. You’ve got to be careful. At the very least, don’t do this stuff alone.”

“You sure you can’t break the rules and come with me, then?” I asked a bit wistfully.

“Nope, but why do you need me when there are plenty of other candidates?” With a grin, he nodded at something beyond me.

I glanced back and saw Seth standing at the take-out counter. I jerked my head back toward Carter.

“Hey! How’d—”

Carter was gone.

Just then, the waitress set down the bill, which included Carter’s meal. “Fucking angels,” I muttered, fumbling for my credit card.

Turning back around, I studied Seth, feeling my stomach twist in that usual way. As though sensing me, he suddenly turned and made eye contact. Surprise registered on his face, and then he held up his hand in a hang on a second kind of way.

A few agonizing minutes later, he walked over to my table holding a take-out bag.

“Hey,” I said.

“Hey.”

“Is that lunch?” I was suddenly embarrassed by the fact that I had two plates in front of me.

“Yeah, I’m actually heading home to work. The café at the store’s too crowded and noisy.”

“I thought you could work through anything.”

He shook his head. “These days I’m more . . . distractible than usual.” His eyes studied me for a moment, and then he looked away. But in that moment, I’d felt a tingle run through my skin. Seth cleared his throat. “So . . . what about you?” He forced himself to look back at me. “You look . . . I don’t know. Uneasy. Not as bad as yesterday but still troubled. More immortal intrigue?”

A good portion of my present uneasiness was simply due to his proximity. “Yeah, afraid so.”

“So, you haven’t found Jerome yet, and you’re still . . .”