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Five
CATALINA
Catalina's heart pounded as she made her way back toward the home she shared with her sisters and her aunt. Her aunt—now there was as thorny a problem as O’Riley’s club. She needed to find a way to speak to her sisters privately and bring them up-to-speed on her meeting with the Fae Council, and their aunt’s presence there.
The entire encounter at The Thorny Rose, including having sex with Riker, still buzzed through her veins, but it wasn’t just the adrenaline from the fight. It washim. Riker. Her initial irritation with his gruff demeanor and distrust of her kind had evolved into something far more complicated, and it had done so quickly. The man was infuriating, and yet there was something about him, something primal and magnetic.
But she didn’t have time to dwell on that—not now.
She shook her head and focused on what mattered: the dark magic, the shapeshifter on the rise, and the possibility that the city was in greater danger than anyone realized. She needed to focus on the investigation and nothing else. There was no time to indulge in whatever sparks had ignited between her and Riker. There were lives at stake, and her personal feelings couldn’t interfere.
As the next day stretched into late afternoon, Catalina knew there was only one person she could go to for help. She needed someone who could navigate both the digital and magical undercurrents of New Orleans—someone who had connections on both sides of the supernatural world. And that someone was Glitch Martinez.
Glitch was half fae, half human—like her and her sisters. Rejected by both worlds, Glitch had created his own path, a path that revolved around his mastery of magic where it intersected with anything high-tech. He was an information dealer and a master hacker, able to access the darkest corners of the digital and magical landscapes. If there was anyone who could help her get a clearer picture of what was happening, it was Glitch.
Catalina reached for her phone and dialed the number. It rang twice before Glitch’s smooth voice came through.
“Catalina. To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“I need your help,” she said, cutting straight to the point. “It’s big, Glitch. Bigger than anything we’ve dealt with before.”
There was a pause, and Catalina could hear the familiar clattering of his high-tech, ergonomic keyboards in the background—one of which he controlled by a combination of magic and thought. Glitch was always working on something, usually multiple somethings, all at once.
“All right,” he said slowly. “You’ve got my attention. Come over to the shop. We’ll talk.”
Catalina arrived at Glitch’s hideout, a nondescript tech shop on the outskirts of the city that doubled as his headquarters for more clandestine operations. The front of the store was filled with old computer parts, monitors,and other tech odds and ends, but the real action took place in the back, behind a series of enchanted wards that kept out unwanted eyes and ears.
As soon as she stepped inside, she felt the pulse of magic in the air—Glitch’s signature blend of fae power and technological genius.
“Back here,” Glitch called from behind a maze of servers and monitors.
She followed his voice and found him perched in front of a dozen screens, each displaying lines of code, news feeds, and magical signatures. Glitch was tall and lean, with sharp features and a mop of unruly black hair. His eyes glowed faintly with the trace of his fae heritage, but the rest of him was pure human. Well, almost.
“What’s going on, Catalina?” Glitch asked, turning away from the screens to face her. “You sounded rattled on the phone. You Duvall girlsneversound rattled.”
Catalina sighed, running a hand through her hair. “It’s bad, Glitch. There’s a shapeshifter working its way through both human and fae power structures. People are dying, and demons are involved. It’s all connected, but I can’t figure out how.”
Glitch’s expression turned serious. “Demons, huh? That’s a new level of bad. And you said this shapeshifter is involved?”
Catalina nodded. “We think so. Finn O’Riley hinted that whoever this is, it’s playing both sides. But the real kicker is that it’s working for something bigger. I don’t know what it is yet, but I need your help to dig deeper.”
Glitch frowned, his fingers tapping absently on his keyboard. “Okay. Let me run a few scans, check the city’s magical infrastructure, and see if I can find any digital anomalies that match what you’re describing.”
For the next hour, Catalina paced the room while Glitch worked his magic, his eyes darting between screens as hesifted through the city’s digital and magical undercurrents. She couldn’t sit still, the events of the past twenty-four hours replaying in her mind. The attack at The Thorny Rose, her near-death experience with Riker at her side, the amazing sex she’d had with Riker, the growing tension between the fae and the human world—everything was spiraling out of control.
Just as Glitch was about to say something, Catalina’s phone rang. She frowned, pulling it from her pocket. The caller ID flashed a familiar name—Maeve.
Her aunt rarely called, especially in situations like this. Catalina’s suspicions immediately flared.
“Maeve,” she answered. “What’s going on?”
“Catalina,” Maeve’s voice was soft, almost too soft. “I need to see you. There’s something you need to know. But it’s not safe to talk over the phone. I can explain about the council meeting, but I don’t want to get into it in front of your sisters.”
That made some sense. Of the four of them, Catalina was the most inclined to give the fae world some wiggle room. “Where are you?”
“I’ll send you the location. Catalina, I need you to come alone.”
Maeve hung up before Catalina could respond. The phone buzzed again a second later, this time with an address. Catalina glanced at Glitch, who had been watching her carefully.
