Dark Forsaken (The Devil's Assistant Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

comes to me or one of my siblings, you seem to be more bark than bite. You don’t act. Not the way the others would. So unless you want to figure out exactly how well matched we are, then I suggest you cooperate.”
    That jackass was calling my bluff. I turned away from him and stared out the window again. “It won’t always be this way.” I could feel the cocky bastard smiling.
    We rode the rest of the way in silence. I jumped from the car the moment he stopped outside the large brick building where the shop was located. I was hoping he’d brought me here to see Isla, the blacksmith. I wouldn’t go so far as to say I trusted her, but if she’d been able to leave the fourth realm, she could give me an update or possibly get word to Omar when she returned.
    I took in the scene around me. I had the oddest sense that everything was okay. But how would I know that was true? I hadn’t been to this part of town in months. As I thought this, I took a closer look at Isla’s shop and realized it was abandoned. I glanced around and noticed that everything on this street looked just as deserted. The Harley shop across the way was half boarded up and the sign for the surf shop next door was dangling by one chain. I no longer had the sense that everything was okay. The exact opposite was true: nothing was as it seemed.
    What was going on down here? Was this part of the displaced residents problem the big three wanted me to fix? Nothing else was open in these shops, so it wasn’t like new people had moved in and taken over. I needed a closer look.
    I closed my eyes, slipping into the in-between. My ability to slip my consciousness from my body was a trick I’d learned after entering Purgatory last spring. I’d lost the more powerful teleportation and time travel angle when Harry removed his blood, but I could still move my presence into the in-between and roam around incorporeally. The view I had of the world while using astral projection opened up my full sight to magic. Thresholds, wards, and other auras came alive in this bodiless state.
    I blinked my presence into the different shops. As I suspected, they were all deserted. Isla’s looked to be in good condition, just dusty from non-use. I assumed this meant no one was able to leave the fourth realm, which had to be why Omar hadn’t contacted me. But last summer he’d indicated that new Fallen had arrived with the ability to communicate outside the realm—so why was he staying quiet? Shaking off that concern, I considered the other two shops. Both were smashed up and abandoned without a backwards glance, as if someone just decided to walk away. There wasn’t as much dust, either. Whatever had happened here, it hadn’t happened that long ago. Since it didn’t appear anyone was setting up shop in the newly vacant properties, I had to assume there was more going on here than I first thought based on the big three’s description of the problem. The previous owners were displaced, but forced to evacuate would have been more accurate.
    I returned to my body and opened my eyes. “Why are we here?”
    Sorrel checked his watch. “Someone needs to talk with you.”
    Before I could ask who, a rush of wind blew past me. Gizelle, Sorrel’s mother, manifested in front of me, boldly laying her hand on my arm. A sharp pain seared my skin at her touch.
    “Gizelle,” I hissed, pushing her hand away. Her eyes widened as my vision flashed green. “What the hell was that for?”
    Was this who Sorrel had been texting when I thought he was texting with The Boss?
    Composing herself, she smiled. She ignored me and turned to Sorrel. “Son, you look well.”
    “Thank you, Mother,” Sorrel replied just as formally. “As do you.”
    I rubbed my arm to ease the pain. “What do you want?” I asked, drawing her attention back to me.
    She bowed her head, “My queen.”
    Oh, please . She may have called me her queen, but her allegiance was still with Purgatory. Considering her level of