I looked at Jude. “I don’t trust him, but I trust you.”

Jude nodded. He had my back. Nathaniel would be less likely to try anything funny with both of us there.

“What is the wolf doing here in the first place?” Nathaniel demanded. “Do you not think his behavior is suspicious?”

“She called me,” Jude said blandly.

“Before I left the house,” I said, nodding.

“Werewolves run very fast,” Jude said, and Nathaniel had to be content with that.

The mansion loomed, white and silent, on the hill before us. The hair on the back of my neck prickled.

“Something’s watching,” I said quietly.

“I know,” Jude replied. “But I can’t tell where it’s coming from.”

“It feels…” Nathaniel began.

“Like it’s everywhere,” I finished, and the other two nodded. “Well, we can’t just stand here. We can deal with whatever it is when it decides to reveal itself.”

The three of us crossed the road and started up the rise toward the front door. The sensation of being watched and pursued intensified.

“It’s behind us,” I breathed. My body broke out in goose bumps.

Jude started to glance behind us, but I laid a restraining hand on his arm.

“Don’t. Don’t look back,” I said.

“Why?”

“Just a feeling,” I said. “I think we should get inside as quickly as possible. But don’t run.”

We all picked up the pace a little. Sweat poured off my brow, but it was from fear, not exertion. The muscles in my legs trembled. The front door looked like it was a hundred miles away.

Just for a second, I thought I felt the pointed tip of a claw drag down my spine.

“Don’t look,” I said again, and then my boot heels were clattering on the porch. My hand closed over the door handle and I hoped that it wasn’t locked.

It wasn’t.

We all tumbled through the door and slammed it shut. I looked at Nathaniel and Jude. They were both chalk white and covered in sweat. I leaned back against the door.

“What was that?” Jude asked.

“Something faerie,” I said, glancing at Nathaniel. “It felt like the Maze, or the Grimm. The same kind of magic.”

“I am not certain of the identity of the creature. But I believe you were right in telling us not to look back. That kind of acknowledgment can give a child of faerie more power.”

Three hard knocks pounded on the door behind me. I stumbled away from it, spinning around to stare at the knob. It didn’t move.

“Don’t open it. And don’t look out the window, either,” I warned Jude, who was moving to do that very thing. “I don’t think we want to know what’s out there.”

Three knocks sounded again, and a whisper floated under the door.

“Madeline.”

I deliberately turned my back to the door. Several deep breaths did nothing to slow my pounding heart. The thing whispered my name again.

“Come on,” I said to the other two.

We were in a foyer that was wider than my apartment. Entryways stood in front and to the side. I realized I’d never even been in this part of the mansion.

“Where do these go?” I asked Nathaniel.

“To the left is the receiving parlor. To the right are servants’ quarters and the kitchens. Straight ahead is the passage to the ballroom.”

“And on the second floor are Azazel’s labs, right?”

Nathaniel nodded. “I was never permitted inside them. Azazel’s experiments were under strict lock and key.”

“He’s probably taken everything of importance with him,” I said. “Were you still here when Azazel took off for parts unknown?”

“No. After the battle I went immediately to Lord Lucifer.”

“Making sure your own ass was secure,” Jude said contemptuously.

“I do not have to explain my actions to you, wolf,” Nathaniel said.

“Don’t start arguing,” I said with a quelling look at Jude. “Let’s take a look around upstairs anyway. If Azazel was in a hurry to skip town before Lucifer heard about the uprising, then he may have left something useful behind.”

“Follow me,” Nathaniel said, and led Jude and me through the doorway before us.

There was a thump behind us, almost as if something had slammed its fist against the front door in frustration.

We entered a long hallway with several doors leading off it. The air had the staleness of an abandoned place. Here and there were signs of a hasty retreat. Doors had been thrown open, objects scattered. In one room I saw a trail of blood from the hallway crisscrossing around the space as someone had collected items. A large cabinet stood open and empty.

“This was Antares’ room,” I said. The cabinet was exactly like the one where Greenwitch had stored her spells. “I guess that means the cockroach is still alive.”

“Looks like he was bleeding pretty badly,” Jude said. “How do you know he made it out of here?”

“It’ll take more than a little blood loss to get rid of him,” I said. “I’ve never known any other creature to have such an immense capacity for tolerating physical pain.”

“I have,” Jude said. “You. It must come from Azazel.”

“Please don’t remind me that I share DNA with those two.”

“Still, the wolf is correct,” Nathaniel said thoughtfully. “I never fully considered your ability to survive situations that would kill an ordinary mortal. Lord Azazel is not only one of the most magically powerful of the Grigori, but one of the most physically powerful as well.”