Lily's POV
I'm still holding the dead phone when someone pounds on my office door.
"Lily! Open up!"
Detective Sterling.
I shove Sarah's photograph into my desk drawer and unlock the door. Sterling bursts in, looking like he ran the whole way here. His tie is loose, his face is red, and he's breathing hard.
"Did someone just call you?" he demands.
"How did you—"
"Answer me!"
"Yes," I say, my voice shaking. "Someone called. They said 'the fire's already started.' Then they hung up."
Sterling pulls out his phone and makes a call. "This is Detective Sterling. I need a trace on all calls made to this number in the last five minutes." He rattles off my office number, then hangs up.
"What's going on?" I ask.
He runs a hand through his graying hair. "Twenty minutes ago, someone set fire to Marcus Hale's last known address. We think it's a message."
My stomach drops. "A message to who?"
"To anyone looking for him." Sterling's eyes are hard. "Including you."
He drops a thick file on my desk. It lands with a heavy thud.
"This is why I called you earlier today," he says. "Before Dante Cross got to you first."
I stare at the file. "I already told you on the phone—I'm not taking dangerous cases anymore."
"I know. But people are dying, Lily." He opens the file. Crime scene photos spill out. Buildings reduced to ash. Bodies burned beyond recognition. "Marcus Hale is escalating. Three buildings in two weeks. Four people dead now, not two."
I look away from the photos. "Then send someone who can actually fight him. I sense lies. I don't stop fires."
"The witnesses won't talk to us," Sterling says urgently. "They're too scared. But they keep lying about not knowing where Hale is. We need your truth-sensing to figure out who's really seen him and who hasn't."
"No."
"Lily—"
"I said no!" My voice cracks. "I'm not equipped for this. I'll get myself killed, or worse—I'll help you find someone and they'll end up dead like Sarah Martinez."
Sterling's face softens. "That wasn't your fault."
"Yes, it was." I sink into my chair. "I trusted the wrong person. I didn't ask enough questions. And she died because of me."
"Robert Chen killed her. Not you."
"I led him right to her."
We sit in silence for a moment. Then Sterling sighs and starts gathering the photos.
"Fine," he says quietly. "I can't force you. But I needed to try."
He's almost to the door when guilt stabs through me.
"Wait," I say. "Just... tell me about the witnesses. What are they lying about?"
Sterling turns back, hope flickering in his eyes. "We've interviewed fourteen people who live near Hale's burn sites. Ten of them claim they never saw him. But their stories don't match up. Someone's lying, and we can't figure out who."
"What about the other four?"
"They admitted seeing a man matching Hale's description, but they say he was alone. No vehicles, no supplies, no way to transport accelerants." Sterling shakes his head. "It doesn't make sense. You can't burn down a building that size without preparation."
My detective instincts kick in despite myself. "So either they're lying about him being alone, or—"
"Or he had help," Sterling finishes. "Which means this isn't just one crazy pyromaniac. It's bigger."
I think about the symbol Dante mentioned earlier. House Blackwell's mark in the warehouse. About the distorted voice on the phone. About someone watching me.
This is bigger. Much bigger.
"I can't help you," I say again, but my voice is weaker now.
Sterling studies my face. "Cross already got to you, didn't he? That's why you look terrified."
I don't answer.
"Lily, whatever he offered you, whatever he threatened—"
"His nephew was kidnapped," I blurt out. "By Marcus Hale. He's forcing me to help find him."
Sterling goes very still. "Ethan Cross was kidnapped?"
"Three days ago."
"And the department doesn't know about this because...?"
"Because Dante Cross doesn't trust the police." I meet Sterling's eyes. "He thinks someone in the magical families is involved. That's why he came to me."
Sterling sits down heavily in the chair across from me. "If the Houses are involved, this is worse than I thought."
"What do you mean?"
He leans forward. "Two months ago, we got a tip about someone trying to recruit low-level mages for 'special projects.' Cash payments. No questions asked. We couldn't track down who was doing the recruiting, but the description matched several members of House Blackwell."
The symbol. The conspiracy. It's all connected.
"You think Blackwell hired Marcus Hale?" I ask.
"I think someone did. And I think kidnapping a Cross family child is a declaration of war." Sterling's phone buzzes. He checks it and his face goes pale. "The trace came back on your threatening call."
"And?"
"It came from inside this building."
My blood turns to ice. "That's impossible. I'm the only one here."
"Are you sure?"
We both look at my office door at the same time.
Sterling pulls out his gun. "Stay behind me."
We move into the hallway. It's dark and empty. The stairs leading down to the street are to our left. The stairs leading up to the roof are to our right.
"Check downstairs," Sterling whispers. "I'll check up."
"We should stick together—"
A door slams above us. On the roof.
Sterling's already running toward the stairs. I follow, my heart pounding.
We burst onto the roof. Wind whips my hair across my face. The city lights blur below us.
Someone's standing at the edge of the roof, silhouetted against the night sky.
"Freeze!" Sterling shouts, aiming his gun.
The figure turns slowly.
It's a woman. Young. Maybe my age. She's wearing all black, and her eyes reflect the light like a cat's.
"Lily Chase," she says, her voice flat and emotionless. "You've been warned."
"Who are you?" I demand.
She smiles, and it's the coldest thing I've ever seen.
"Marcus Hale says hello."
Then she steps backward off the roof.
Sterling and I rush forward, but when we look over the edge, there's nothing. No body. No sound of impact.
Just empty air.
"What the hell—" Sterling starts.
His phone rings. He answers it, listens, and his face drains of all color.
"What?" I ask. "What is it?"
He lowers the phone with a shaking hand.
"There's be
en another fire," he whispers. "Your apartment building. It's burning right now."