Levi rushed through the door of the restaurant and out onto the sidewalk. There were still quite a few people out shopping and running errands, despite the chilly night. Cars whizzed by on the street at the major five-point intersection near the front of the building. The commotion made him pause to get his bearings as his eyes searched the crowd and the traffic for the former goddess.
Finally, he spotted her.
Hecate weaved between the crowd on the sidewalk and Levi followed her in hot pursuit.
“Sorry,” he murmured as he bumped into people. “Excuse me.”
“Hey!” a lady barked at him when he nearly flattened her to the ground.
“Sorry!” he called over his shoulder, but turned to keep his eyes on Hecate.
The crossroads demon darted into the street and almost collided with an oncoming car. She stopped short and the car slammed on its horn as it narrowly missed her.
“Stop!” Levi called out, even though he knew it was useless.
Hecate looked back at him and then continued the dangerous trek into the middle of the intersection where she…vanished.
Levi took one step off the sidewalk and stopped on the edge of the street. His eyes scanned the whole intersection, looking around cars, surveying the line of people on the opposite side of the street.
Hecate was nowhere to be seen.
Another car slammed on its horn and Levi jumped back onto the safety of the sidewalk as the car careened by.
Levi looked around again, but couldn’t see any sign of Hecate. He had lost her. But where had she gone? One minute she was there and the next she wasn’t. Levi didn’t know a lot about magic, but he knew even that was odd.
But with no other choice, he turned and walked back to the restaurant.
Outside, Frankie was huddled on the sidewalk, leaning against the front of the building. He held his legs and rocked back and forth. His shoulder shook and his face was wet with tears.
“Hey, what’s going on?” Levi crouched down beside his friend. He reached for his shoulder, but Frankie flinched away from him.
“My wife,” Frankie blurted.
“Your wife?”
The witch nodded. “Marie.”
Levi narrowed his eyes and searched his mind for the best follow-up question. “Did you…see her?” The math didn’t make sense to Levi. From what little he knew about Frankie’s late wife, she had been the same age as Frankie when they were married in the future. It was impossible for him to see her in this time.
Frankie nodded again. “Yeah. A couple times.”
“Where?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
Levi pinched the bridge of his nose. First Evelyn went missing and now Frankie was crying over his wife, who hadn’t even been born yet in this time and was dead in Frankie’s time. He was feeling the strain of keeping their little trio together. “What did Marie say to you?”
This got his attention. Frankie finally met his friend’s eyes. “She needs me. She needs me to join her.”
“Join her?” Levi asked. “Join her where? What are you talking about?”
“In the afterlife,” Frankie said. “We’ll be together when I’m dead. I have to find Hecate. I have to sell my soul!”