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I let my body become smoke and let it disperse to surround the house. It wasn’t good. There were eight demons, three werewolves, four vampires, and five witches in that house. Witches and demons didn’t usually work together. Most witches didn’t appreciate the Satanic Panic that surrounded their craft since they didn’t actually worship the devil. They tended to avoid them like the plague.

Vampires were loners. They had their nests, but they usually didn’t play well with others. From what I understood, when a demon took over a body, it changed the taste of their blood in a way vampires found unappealing, so they didn’t bother with them.

Werewolves were filthy animals who liked to sniff around Logan and I didn’t like them. They smelled like wet dog and they were leg humpers. I’d never met a single werewolf I liked. Logan did, which is why I despised most of them.

This wasn’t good and it shouldn’t be happening. These people generally didn’t congregate. I pricked my ears up. It was muffled since they were deep in the house, but I heard the one name that made me know I didn’t want Logan anywhere near this.

I felt something brush against my smoke. I didn’t know what Saul’s idea of stalling was, but the trio of priests were already here. They probably hadn’t tipped off anyone in the house because their car was just pulling up. I knew it was their car because I learned how to fix them while Logan was. If I was familiar with a car, I knew what the engine sounded like.

Shit. Logan would shit her pants if these guys found out I wasn’t a regular dog. I wasn’t scared of humans, but they could have something that could trap me.

I let myself shrink and appear near some bushes. I trotted out and sat in front of them on the sidewalk. I bared my teeth in warning.

“Who’s a good boy?” Saul said, kneeling down.

Nope. That wasn’t going to work this time. I liked him, but he’d better not go for a butt scratch. I was working. I’d bite him.

“I guess the LeDoux girl is here,” Father Caleb sighed.

No, she wasn’t. She was probably having some serious road rage. There she was. I could hear the purring engine of the Cobra from up the street. Now, she was probably just pissed about trying to find a parking spot.

Solomon took a step forward, and I blocked his path with a growl.

“It’s just a dog,” Caleb snapped.

“We don’t kick puppies, Father. We’re the good guys,” Saul said.

I knew I liked him because if any of their feet came near me, I was going to bite them off.

“Something is wrong. She never goes anywhere without that dog.”

Well, that wasn’t true. I didn’t make groceries or go to the gynecologist with her.

When Logan got close enough for me to speak with her, I let her know what was in that house. She was swearing up a storm as she came stomping onto the neutral ground we were standing on.

They looked surprised because in a way, they were right. We were always together on jobs. She wasn’t coming from the direction of the house.

“Before you go get yourself killed, you should know there are eight demons, three werewolves, four vampires, and five witches in that house. You need a plan.”

“How do you know this?” Caleb demanded.

“Feminine wiles. I don’t want you spilling my secrets to the Church.”

Big sigh. Logan only played well with others if they played well back. These three had been showing up on the same jobs as us and acting like they knew better. And technically, Logan did extend an olive branch to share secrets before any of us ended up out here.

“She’s here, we’re here, and there are monsters inside. We should work together,” Saul said.

Caleb looked like he was still thinking about it. I knew I shouldn’t have pissed before I got in the car. It was just that I didn’t want to get stuck in traffic with a full bladder.

“We have to,” Solomon said. “We can’t handle that many with just us. And we could learn from sharing information.”

I decided I would piss on that one less unless he gave me a reason to change my mind.

And we had an additional problem. The Flame didn’t have a uniform. You showed up to jobs in comfortable clothes you could move in. They couldn’t exactly walk around naked like me, though Logan bought me some comfy pajamas.

These guys wore their collars. If it didn’t mark them as Venatio Daemonum, it definitely marked them as priests. Since most supernaturals couldn’t tell the difference between a regular priest and Venatio Daemonum, they tended to give them a wide berth.

Unless they were monsters.