I started to speak, stopped, and started again. “Two vamps? Which two?”
Softly Bruiser said, “Dominique and Shaun MacLaughlinn.”
“Anamchara: One dead, a traitor who had been working against Leo for ages; the other still alive, sane, and in league with Ka and Monique against us.” I sipped the champagne, which was probably a very expensive wine, but it just tasted winey to me. “Why did Adan give Ka a transfusion? Was he trying to turn her? Can humans or skinwalkers be changed into vampires through transfusion? I thought it had to go through the digestive tract?”
“This may have been one of Adan’s experiments, a test of some kind. And Malita Del Omo and Soledad Martinez were later cut and their blood was fed to Ka, against their will. Against hers.”
“I found Adan in a cage, bat-raving nutso. I broke his neck and gave him to Leo. In hindsight, letting him keep his head might have been a bad decision.”
“Adan had old handwritten texts, ones Malita and Soledad insist were written by the Sons of Darkness and one of their trusted confidants.”
“Who?” I asked.
“I’m narrowing that down. I received the impression that the texts were written long in the past, though I haven’t been able to discover who in the Pellissier bloodline would have been considered the current master of all. And...” He rubbed his bearded chin, making a raspy sound. “And why he might be considered to be stronger than the Flayer of Mithrans. Leo never called either of the Sons of Darkness master.”
I remembered Monique’s conversation with Bruiser about Leo’s master. More important were Leo’s own words.My master,notmy maker. Who could this master be? Was it the same person and force behind Immanuel and Ka becomingu’tlun’ta? Fear froze my lungs.Could the master be Grandmother?Had she been working with the Sons of Darkness? Or perhaps another vamp, one stronger than Shaun?
I sat up straight in the limo seat. Dominique and Shaun MacLaughlinn had been forced to give blood and forced tofeed Ka, which could have created some kind of forced bond between them. And with Shaun tied to Ka, and Ka tied to Monique in her soul home, that meant that Shaun, Ka, Monique, and whoever else was still alive-ish were likely still under the control of whatever vamp had created the experiment, including the two brain-sick vamps we had just left. There was enough black magic taking place to fry the brain of any weak vamp, but Adan wasn’t powerful enough to force sane vamps to his will. So who was? Shaun?
And... Ka had to be still alive...
I said all this to Bruiser and added that Beast thought the old vamps had smelled sick. “It’s possible that they are still under the control of the person who forced the experiment on them. Ka was Adan’s primo. Like me, Ka probably had little training, and we always thought that Adan was teaching her, but what if he was forcing her?”
Bruiser placed his champagne glass in the small wooden holder. “Your Beast found that high-powered magic locket with the pictures of them, and we have no idea what it actually does. Leo had hidden it, and we don’t know why.”
“Arcenciel blood was used in the construction of the locket. And in the construction of the flying lizard amulet Sabina gave me and in Shaun’s snake armband. Arcenciels can timewalk better than I ever could. Leo saidsomeone was back. Who? And how much power do they have, individually or collectively? And... what does timewalking have to do with this whole situation?”
Softly, Bruiser said, “Enough for Shaun to survive his mind breaking when hisanamcharadied in the rising sun.”
“Maybe because he was mind-bound to more than Dominique,” I said. “A three- or more-way mind-binding might offer some protection and strength not offered to ordinary bound vamps.”
A silence settled between us, and I rested my head on Bruiser’s shoulder, letting all the possibilities resonate through me. All of them bad.
Our flight and ride had been mostly silent, he had been distant, and now, clearly, he didn’t plan on coming inside. He tossed the cell to the seat and opened his arms, taking my hand, pulling me closer and onto his lap. Our armswent around each other. Silent, we breathed each other’s breath; I felt our heart rates, different at first, then slowly, as we sat, they synced. I lay my head on his shoulder.
“I love you,” he said. “I love you, and I don’t know how to protect you, how to keep you safe, how to make you happy without smothering you. You have enemies I didn’t even know about. That terrifies me.”
“You’re going back to HQ to see who the master might be, aren’t you?”
“There are journals everywhere at HQ. Sub-four. Sub-three. Leo’s private belongings are stored somewhere, perhaps in the empty room next to his old office. He will have some records. I need to find the text Soledad and Malita were talking about.”
“What about the library? Are there black magic texts and journals in the library?”
“Unlikely. The Vodka Boys were meticulous in finding all such items and storing them in sub-four storage,” he said, “but I never directed them to look in the library, only in storage areas. Why do you ask?”
“There was one night that Bethany and Sabina called me into the library, and we had a very strange discussion. I don’t remember what it was about now, but maybe it will come to me.”
Bruiser breathed out a quick laugh. “Hiding in plain sight. In the library. Why not. No one looks at the books in the library, why not store things there.”
“Hidden passages, hidden shelves, hidden whatever.”
He laughed quietly. “It’s going to be a long night.”
“I get to go meet with my brother—my brother by blood—about my grandmother’s perfidy and betrayal. Wanna change places?”
“Not in a million years.” He kissed me lightly and slid me to the seat. “I love you. You are my love first, my queen second, and I will love you and serve you for long as there is breath in this body.”
“I love you too. Be safe.”
