“She called her sisters,” Alex said. “They think the bad guys were snagging the witches as a twofer while they were grabbing your clanswomen and going for the box and maybe had to abandon it when Eli set up a serious defense. The witches, even the weaker ones, could be used for the transport circle. Apparently, they might need weak witches at the home base working like conduits to funnel their life-force through as a power source. Or maybe they were taken as bait because they’re yours. Or maybe they thought Tau and the other stronger witches would be hard to control, so they took the weak ones first. Or some combination of all that.”
I knew about circles. I’d survived some doozies. That gave me possibilities my people might not think about. Plus, I had seen weak witches used in a time-circle in Natchez, and another time-circle in Asheville. Being in that kind of circle as a conduit could be lethal. Weaker witches were half buried alive in a circle, their magics used to link between stronger witches, their own life-force used to power the working as they slowly died and were absorbed by the ground and the power-drain.Dang.
I swiveled my chair and ate more cold meat. “And theTsalagi?” My clanswomen had been aligned with Mainet’s people. They were in jail as much for that as for eating people, goingu’tlun’ta. They had stolen the bodies, memories, and power that belonged to others. We had thought the skinwalkers would be safe and protected there, behind witch wards, but they had apparently just walked out, their doors not damaged, simply opened, allowing them to walk free. That settled inside me. “The attacking witches have someone on the inside. Or had.”
“Past tense, My Queen,” one of the human guards said. I whirled my chair around and saw Blue Voodoo standing honor guard behind me. I nodded for him to continue. “One of the witches killed in the attack had used her prison guard ID card and her passcode to open the doors.”
I spun back around to the table and screens overhead. “Interesting. They used her and then they killed her because she was a loose end. Bad for her, but good to know how they operate. That way if any of the people who are sworn to me have secretly changed sides, they can know what the so-called Heir does to his people.”
There wasn’t a flicker of response in the room, but I knew my words would get around. It was a nice warning, but maybe I needed to make it clearer.
I added, “Upon my honor and my crown. Anyone who is getting pressure to join up with the unwelcome visitors, the cowards who fled from Europe and Edmund and Grégoire, can come to me for help in escaping their influence. I don’t kill people who are loyal to me or who come to me when they get in trouble.”
I sent my eyes to Alex. “Any update on theu’tlun’tas?”
“Negative,” Alex said, his own greenish-brown eyes calculating, watching the room.
I thought about the armor in my closet and what weapons I had in HQ, to do all the things I might need to do.
A pop of air blew past my face. Everything happened fast.
Thema was suddenly standing inches in front of me.
Her eyes were vamped-out, black pupils the size of dimes in scarlet sclera.
Her mouth opened, jaw unhinged. Her fangs snapped down. Big-assed fangs.
My feet shoved me away from her. Instinct. Rolling out of the chair. But reacting, not acting. My left hand landed on the vamp-killer strapped to my left thigh. Right shoulder to the floor with a crunch, legs slinging over my head. Pain sang through my joints and ribs like the roar of wildfire. Right hand went numb, missing the new gun. My vamp-killer clattered away.
My guards’ weaponsschnicked and clicked and aimed at Thema.
“Hold!” I shouted.
A little slow, a lot stiff, I rolled to my feet. Stepped to the right. Picking up the knife. Pulling the H&K.
Though she reeked of fury, Thema hadn’t attacked. “Hold your fire.”
“MyQueen,” Thema said, only slightly strangling on the title. We’d made a lot of progress in the last weeks on her position in my clan, but the queen part was still hard for her to swallow. “I am your Consort’smessenger.”
My growl stuttered. Stopped. I hadn’t even noticed I was growling, but the vibration still rumbled in my chest, like an echo of threat. Beast’s golden eyes glared back at me, reflected from Thema’s black ones. Behind me, the room had gone still as death, the stink of threat and attack strong on the air. There were weapons of all sorts aimed at Thema. She ignored them.
Thema didn’t look angry. Or hungry. She looked... insulted?
Ho-ly crap.“So you got your panties in a twist because the Consort asked you to deliver a message.”
Softly, she said, “Your Consort has requested that you await him here, and not go—and I quote—‘traipsing back to the null prison and attempt to go through the transport circle alone’—end quote. And I am nomessenger boy,” she finished, her words a hiss of insult.
Bruiser had given her a job to do that she felt was beneath her. On purpose. Interesting.
Calmly, I said, “Messages are delivered by whomever is available. And whomever has no other job. By your own choice, you and Kojo have been predominantly fighters. There is no current fight. Therefore you are put to work as we need you.” I dismissed her by turning my back. “Alex. Update on the circle.”
His eyes were too big, but he answered calmly enough. “Liz and the other Everharts suggested that taking the people they did might be a trap, and that was the reason those specific witches—weak ones—were taken. Because you would care, and they could use the witches as hostages to make you more compliant. Ditto on the skinwalkers. Which means they have a really in-depth dossier on you.”
Yeah. To know about the witches trying to help Rick, and then the circles they had participated in, all the good and bad. Intel. Really good intel. Tilting my head to Thema, I said, “The Everharts. Are they safe?”
Thema moved her eyes around the room and took note of all the weapons aimed her way. Including mine. She looked...discombobulatedwas the right word.
Her eyes bled back to human, her jaw unhinged in that snakelike thing the older vamps do. Her oversized fangs clicked back into the roof of her mouth. She ducked her head in what almost looked like respect. “According to your Consort, they are, My Queen.”
