Theo ran his hand over his jaw and looked away from her. Demon. Probably an Atrika demon. What the hell was an Atrika doing Earthside . . . again? He sighed, weariness bubbling up from the depths of him. Gods, he did not want to have to deal with Atrika again. “It wasn’t a man.”

“Okay.” Pause. “Not a man. So what did I wake up to in the middle of the night, Theo?”

“My guess is a demon.” He let her absorb that for a moment. Theo had grown up with this stuff, she hadn’t. He could only guess how shocking it was. “They call themselves daaeman and they come from a place called Eudae. It’s all in the book.”

“I just can’t . . .” She trailed off, putting a hand to her forehead. “I think I need a drink.”

“I’m sorry.” Her body was trembling slightly and her face had gone pale. “There’s a bottle of Scotch in the kitchen, if you’re serious about needing that drink. Look, I’ll give you a minute. I need to make a phone call.”

“Sure.”

He got up and went into his bedroom, pulling his cell out of his pocket. He punched the speed dial for Thomas. “Yeah, we got another Atrika.”

Silence.

“Did you hear me? The woman I thought was a warlock, but isn’t, says she saw one at the farmhouse.”

“Fuck.”

“I just thought you should know right away, man.”

“Tell me everything she saw.”

Theo told him what Sarafina had said.

“Okay.” Thomas’s voice was heavy and a little tired sounding. “Somehow, some way Stefan’s allied with the Atrika. That’s the implication. It’s nothing we didn’t already suspect might somehow happen.”

“Our worst nightmare.”

“Pretty much.” Thomas exhaled slowly. “Micah and Isabelle have determined Sarafina is no threat, right?”

“Yeah, we’re sending her home.”

“Let’s keep an eye on her, though.”

“I’m already on it, boss.”

Theo hung up the phone and returned to the living room where Sarafina still sat on the couch, her knees pulled up to her chin and Grosset by her side.

He sank into the chair near her and pushed a hand through his hair with a heavy sigh. “Doing okay with the demon thing?”

She looked at him and wrinkled her face. “Are you crazy? How am I supposed to be okay with the demon thing?”

“Yeah, that was a dumb question. I know this is a lot for you to absorb.” He looked at the book. “Read that, okay? It will answer a lot of your questions.”

She turned her face away. “I just want to be left alone. I want to go back to my life as it was four days ago, even with the death of my foster mother, the debt, and the dumping. Why did the warlocks want me? Why go to all that trouble for me?”