“You’re alright!” The second I stepped into the lobby, Mike came out from the squad room.

“We went to a friend’s place for the night. Didn’t know what else to do.”

He nodded. “I figured you weren’t in there, but wasn’t sure.” Genuine relief showed on his face.

“We’re good. Well, not good, but…”

“Come in back.” He took us to an interrogation room. “Sorry, but this is more private. So…”

“It’s Surtur,” I said, simply. “Who else got burned out?”

“Your friend Thea, a shop in Old Town…”

“…I didn’t even have much to do with them. Bruce?”

“They tried, but he apparently got some kind of warning. He wasn’t home and he got everything that mattered out.”

“He has cats, so that’s good.” Enough warning to escape, not enough to warn me. Or maybe he hadn’t known it had anything to do with me. But I was glad the cats were okay.

“So, everyone…”

“Everyone except Father William, and he had extra protection.” The angel. Maybe it was Father William’s guardian angel. I was pretty sure I had no such thing. And Kanesha?

That one is yours.

I had to be her guardian angel.

“You’re…”

“There was an angel in his church. I suspect it was his guardian angel. He was…rather annoyed about things.” Which if he’d had to spend the night keeping fire giants from burning down William’s rectory, was quite excusable.

“Huh. Well, if demons, why not angels? They only seem to protect their own, though.”

I frowned. “I think that’s in the rules. So. Can you find us somewhere safe to stay. Together, because if you split us up and put us in some crazy witness protection thing…”

“Hrm. Can you stay with your friend for a few days?”

I nodded. “And school’s closed for a few. I’ll have to contact my agency…” I tailed off. “They didn’t get hit too, did they?”

“Modeling agency? No…”
A sense of forboding flowed through me. “We need to go there. Now.”

Mike frowned, then nodded. “I’ll get a car. Meet me out front.”

We headed out front, and a moment later a squad car pulled up with a younger man in shotgun. I didn’t know who he was, but was glad to see another armed person. Hopefully he’d be up for this.

Hopefully he wouldn’t end up being another person we needed to protect. I hopped into the back, where they’d normally put prisoners, and slid over to the far side so Kanesha could get in.

“Okay. So. You think…”

“They’ve hit everything else connected to me. It’s on the list. Probably just didn’t get to it yet. We need to warn them.”

“But there might be…” He glanced at the young man. “Time to earn my trust, Warwick.”

I wasn’t sure this was the right time for such a test, but the car was moving through the streets. He didn’t turn on the siren. It didn’t seem necessary. If anyone saw us, they probably thought it was a cop giving a couple of lost kids a ride home.

And when we pulled up outside, at least, the building was intact.