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used to fighting. Then you were attacked by elemental creatures, probably some other type of demon, composed of all the elements, invisible to the naked eye.”
    Nick waited for Merilee to mention the floating paint can, and the way something invisible had snatched off his talisman. He dreaded it, but the punch never came.
    She didn’t say anything about that.
    Was she waiting for him to bring it up? Testing him?
    “That’s the size of it,” he said. “Best I remember.”
    Merilee looked up. Her blue eyes seemed troubled, but open, not like she was holding something back, or getting ready to pounce. “Meanwhile, similar battles took place up and down the East Coast, and in Ireland. Any fire Sibyl separated from her triad was attacked. Some were even assaulted with their triads present. We lost one Sibyl in New York, nine in the U.S. total, and the Ireland count’s not in yet.”
    Nine women like Cynda. And God knows how many in Ireland . Rage boiled inside Nick, and this time, he growled inside along with Gideon. He’d give anything to be back in that alley.
    He should have fired sooner.
    He would have fired sooner, if he’d had any idea what was going down.
    “What did you find out from your source?” Andy asked. She took notes with paper and pen, too, but not because equipment malfunctioned around her. Because she was cop-trained, through and through, like Nick and Creed. Take notes about everything, thorough notes, and worry about typing it on a computer later.
    Nick said, “Max thinks he found a Legion house in the Bronx, toward the north.”
    Merilee and Riana visibly flinched at the mention of the area of New York hardest hit by Legion attacks last fall. Asmodai had killed one Sibyl, gotten another put in prison—where she died—and sent the third member of the North Bronx triad back to Motherhouse Ireland, probably forever. A ranger group was currently patrolling the area, but they didn’t know it as well as the shattered triad, or even Riana, Cynda, and Merilee’s group. Now, by the sound of it, the South Bronx triad was broken, too. Not good.
    “The place is near Van Cortlandt Park, which fits with the demon activity in that area a few months back.” Nick gestured toward the north section of the city. “I’d have found out more, but my snitch split when the demon action started.”
    “You got the address?” Andy yawned but kept scribbling. Tough broad. Nick liked her. He gave her the address.
    “I’ll get in touch with Captain Freeman and put eyes on the house,” she said, staring at her notes. “We’ll get intel and specs, then plan a raid for this time next week.”
    Riana shook her head. “What if that place is full of these new invisible demons?” She paused, then said the one thing Nick had been hoping she wouldn’t say. “They sound like Astaroths, and we don’t even know what Astaroths can do.”
    Creed went rigid on the couch.
    Nick felt himself go just as stiff. “There’s no evidence that the invisible things are Astaroth demons,” he countered as calmly as he could.
    Liar. Nick, buddy, sometimes you suck.
    Creed’s fists doubled, and Nick caught a glimmer of gold around the edges of his brother’s skin as his twin’s control slipped a fraction. “As far as we know, there’s only one Astaroth in New York City,” Creed said. “In the whole world, for that matter.”
    Nick nodded, still thinking about how much he sucked. Was he really willing to hold back on these women to protect a brother—a demon—he barely knew? A confused creature, a being Nick didn’t even know how to read or judge or interpret?
    But he’s my brother . He glanced at Creed. Our brother. He didn’t ask for what happened to him .
    This time last year, Jacob had been a little boy. A terrible blood ritual had aged him mentally, physically, and emotionally to adulthood, and turned him into a supernatural creature with unknown abilities. Only, Nick knew something about the Astaroths. In his time