“Like Prince,” Theo said. “Used a symbol instead of a name.”
“Which prince?” Patience asked.
Theo waved that away. “Never mind.”
“So every demon has a sigil,” Petra said. “But you don’t know what hers is.”
Patience nodded and seemed shamed by the admission.
“And how do we find it?” Theo asked. “Is there a sigil catalog or calling card or—”
“Only she can provide it.”
“Oh, good,” I muttered, breaking the silence that fell after that little apple. “More good news.”
Patience looked down her nose at me. “Sarcasm is the tool of the weak-minded.”
“Agree to disagree,” I said. Sarcastically. “So if this demon made it into Chicago, in order to stop her, we have to figure out her sigil, which only she knows. We have to find her, and we have to use metaphysical magic in order to lock her down again.”
“Correct.”
I blew out a breath. The world had just gotten very, very complicated.
***
“Demons,” Petra said after Ariel let Patience go again and the rest of us had gone outside for fresh air. “I did not expect that.”
“I work for the Ombuds,” Theo said. “But even by that standard, that”—he gestured back to the room—“was very woo-woo.”
“Seconded,” Connor said.
“Super woo-woo,” Petra agreed.
“Was Rose working for demons?” I asked. “I feel like Roger would have mentioned it if she’d admitted that to him.”
“Maybe she didn’t tell him,” Petra said.
“Or maybe she didn’t know,” Theo said. “People work this hard to exorcise a demon; maybe the demon’s wise enough to keep their identity secret.”
“I think you’re missing an obvious candidate for the chaos demon,” Connor said.
“Who?”
“Rose.”
We all stared at him.
“She’s a sympath,” Petra said, “not a demon, and she’s been Roger’s informant for years. She’s given him data, information that’s helped bring down other criminals.”
“And she was trying to get into Chicago,” Connor added.
“She was being chased out of Edentown,” I countered. “That’s not the same thing.” But I didn’t like the unease that was beginning to gather in my chest.
“I have alotof research to do,” Petra said. “On sigils, on sealing spells, and we still don’t know where the other wards are. Or what inadvertent damage they might do.”
“We’ll break up the work,” I said. “You take the demon. What does she want? Why is she here? Can we find that first and capture her that way? And keep your eye out for the sigil. I’ll update Cadogan and request they focus on the Cadogan library—any demon treatises, historical documents—anything that might bear on this.”
“Can you have the Librarian or Paige call me?” Petra asked. “That might be easiest.”