-/-/-/-/- Thirteen hours from Now, approx. 10:00 PM

One of Mason's souls was a car accident victim, but the rest were prey to dog attacks. All of his reaps were isolated incidents, meaning he never met up with other reapers at the scenes of attacks. The rabid dogs ran off after they murdered their owners, no doubt searching for more victims. Mason wished his coworkers luck as he headed for the hotel, Barnub's.

Jexter let him into the room upon his knock. "Just as I'd thought. Four of them were dog attacks," he informed Jexter.

Jexter nodded firmly. He looked a little steadier than he had that morning.

He showed Mason the newly purchased map of Seattle he'd laid out on the table. He'd marked the locations of each of Mason's reaps, along with the ETD's, on the map. Each death was marked by a x. Three were in the vicinity of R. Nathaniel's apartment; the other two were a few blocks away.

"A wizard who lives here owned the crups." Jexter pointed to a place several blocks away from Der Waffle Haus, away from the small cluster of x's. "He was very annoyed when I told him that we'd killed his dogs, even demanded payment for them. Bloody pillock didn't even care that the crups were the likely cause of death of several Muggles."

"Did you pay him?" asked Mason.

Jexter scoffed. "Of course I didn't pay him. I turned tail and ran for it before he could hex me all the way back to Hogwarts."

The reaper grinned. Now that sounded more like the cousin he used to know.

Jexter pointed to the markings nearer R. Nathaniel's apartment. "Here're where the earlier deaths occurred." He slid his hand eastward to the remaining two marks. "And here are where the later deaths occurred."

"Looks like a line instead of a circle," Mason had to admit. "The spell's effect spread from the west and worked its way eastward." If they only knew where the rest of the dog attacks had occurred, they'd be able to discern where the spell's point of origin was supposed to be. That would, however, mean they'd have to get his coworkers involved, and Mason wasn't prepared to do that just yet.

"So, we've got a direction," Mason said. He traced a finger westward from the later deaths to the earlier ones. Somewhere farther west of that little cluster was the place where Ethan had performed the First Rite of the ritual.

"We've also got a tip." Jexter held up a piece of notebook paper. Two words were written on it, the phrase 'PAX PACIS'. "The bartender at the Banished Broomstick told me to go there and said we should talk to the owner. He should be able to help us."

"It's worth checking, I suppose," Mason agreed. He'd never heard of Pax Pacis. It was probably one of the demon bars, of which he'd rarely set foot in before last night.

Pax Pacis was clear on the other end of town. Mason offered to steal a car, but at the suggestion, Jexter gave him a disgruntled look and proposed that they would Apparate instead. Mason merely shrugged and agreed, amused once again at Jexter's squeamishness.

They vanished from the hotel room and reappeared outside the entrance to the bar. A voice blasted out of the speakers from inside, or they at least assumed it was a voice; it more closely resembled a flock of geese attempting to shout out the chorus of 'We Are Family'.

Mason and Jexter both stared in horror. "It's a fucking karaoke bar!" Mason said.

The two exchanged terrified looks. They took a moment to gather up their courage and then headed inside.

The karaoke bar was packed. Despite the horrid sounds the demon on stage was transferring into the microphone, no one was leaving. An assortment of beings was seated at the tables or at the bar. There were demons of all sorts of shapes and sizes, a few vampires and several humans.

There was a table stationed just inside the door. A human male looked up at them from where he sat behind it. "Weapons, please," he told them.

"We don't have any weapons," Jexter told him.

A demon stepped over to them. "Well, I beg to differ," he informed them in a friendly manner. "I can sense you wizarding types a mile away without even needing to hear you sing. If you want to come any further into my bar, you'll have to give your wands to Rinaldo here." He motioned to the bouncer sitting at the table. "Don't worry, you can have them back when you leave."

"You're Lorne?" Jexter questioned.

The demon smiled. "That's right. I'm afraid I don't have the pleasure of knowing your name, sweet cheeks."

Lorne had to be the strangest demon Mason had ever seen. His skin was greener than grass, his eyes were bloodshot red, his hair was orange and two small horns protruded from his forehead. Those weren't the strangest things about him. What was stranger was his clothing. While most demons he'd met wore leather and metal armor or dirty rags, Lorne wore a chalk pink suit jacket and pants. Underneath it was a yellow pokka-dotted shirt.

Jexter glanced at Mason, who shrugged. Jexter replied, "Er, I'm Jexter, and this is Mason."

Recognition dawned on the demon's face. The smile faded to be replaced by weary apprehension. "Oh, I've heard of you two. You've been going around to all the bars looking for the spell caster of a chaos ritual."

"Do you know where we can find him?" asked Mason. "His name's Ethan Rayne."

Lorne shook his head. "'Fraid not, cutie. Haven't heard a thing. I might still be able to help you, though."

"How?" the reaper asked him, curious.

Lorne smiled slightly and gestured over his shoulder at the stage. "I can read people when they sing."

"'Read people'?" Mason repeated, positively alarmed by the possible meanings behind this phrase. A glance at Jexter told him his cousin felt the same way. Mason wondered if demons could learn Legilimency.

"I can see peoples' near futures," he explained. "It might show me where your friend Ethan is holed up." He beamed encouragingly. "I'm up for a try if you are."

Mason and Jexter stared at him, horrified looks back in place.