I did a double-take. In all of this madness, it had never occurred to me that Grace and Mei might have something to fear. But of course they did. When Hell did re-orgs, they tended to tweak the larger structure. They could very well decide to transfer Grace and Mei and institute a whole new set of demonic leaders here. I didn’t like that idea any better than losing Jerome. I wanted things to stay the same. And studying that fatigue I’d seen on Grace’s face, I realized I wasn’t the only one with a lot to worry about.

“Well . . . for what it’s worth, I think you’re doing a great job. You’ve had to do so much clean-up and damage control, and then with all these demons . . .” I shook my head. “I don’t know. They’d be stupid not to recognize that.”

The strangest look came over Grace’s face. I would have almost called it surprise, but her careful, icy composure made it hard to say for sure. “Thank you, Georgina.” Her voice was stiff, like dealing with compliments made her uncomfortable. “I hope you’ll share your feelings with Ephraim, should he speak with you.”

“Sure,” I said. “No problem.”

After a quick glance at my kitchen clock, she turned back to me and gave a smart nod. “I have to meet with the others. I’ll speak with you again soon.” She vanished, but I could offer no farewell in return.

I had just seen something. Something that changed everything.

I stood frozen. This whole time, for the last week, something had been percolating in my head. I’d noted Grace and Mei’s dedication to their job, how they were always there to help when chaos broke out. I’d noted also how they’d been forced to split up a lot lately with the new workload, and as Grace had said, they would now probably be scrutinized individually. And why wouldn’t they be? If someone was going to scout for a new demon to run Seattle, why not look at the ones who were already running it?

“Oh my God,” I breathed.

But there was more to it than that. It wasn’t just that Grace or Mei had the perfect motive to get Jerome summoned. I had more than motive before me. I had proof.

Sprinting to my bedroom, I searched frantically for the photo of Mary’s medallion, certain it would be gone. Nope. It was still there, knocked off my nightstand to the floor. I picked it up.

“Oh my God.”