“Tremaine owns nothing,” Lucien said. Irena stepped aside to give him room but never lowered her weapon.
“Of course. He is yours.” Maria’s plum-colored lips quirked upward at the corners, pulling at the skin of her face. “As I never will be. I know what your eyes mean, Lucien. I have not lived this long by being ignorant of change. I am here merely to say Tremaine has asked for solidarity amongst our five Night Courts against your presence in the city. We owe Tremaine nothing and will not join his fight.”
“You lie well enough, but I know what Tremaine learned from me. Whatever promises you gave him over the years will belong to me. He is my child, after all.”
Maria’s smile looked tacked on, her eyes cold. “No one owns me.”
Lucien moved too quick to follow. Before Maria or her followers could react, Lucien had her by the throat with one hand, nails cutting into her skin until she bled. He pulled her halfway over the threshold, and Ginnungagap reacted to Maria’s presence by tossing aside her followers the same way it had dealt with the god pack.
Magic twisted around Maria’s feet and legs, rising from the ground like burning vines. Her mouth opened on a scream Lucien choked off with tight fingers. He brought his face close to hers, staring into her eyes and pushing his will through her.
Maria shuddered in his grip, fighting him, but Patrick knew she would lose.
“Stay out of my business,” Lucien said in a low voice. “Our mother made me before you ever walked this earth in life or death. I will own you for that reason alone.”
With that threat given, Lucien threw Maria into the alley and didn’t wait to see where she landed before slamming the door.
“Dramatic much?” Patrick said into the silence.
“Not the time, Pat,” Jono muttered.
“Shows what you know.”
“Sounds like the other Night Courts are banking on Lucien taking over and are currying favor,” Sage said as she came down the stairs, carrying the blueprints and maps. “At the mediation the other night, Tremaine was trying to get them on board with running Lucien out of town.”
“Isn’t telling us that breaking client confidentiality?” Patrick asked.
“They broke it first when they started killing independent werecreatures.”
“Touché.” Patrick didn’t back off when Lucien turned to face them. “If there’s a chance the other Night Courts won’t come to Tremaine’s defense, then we shouldn’t waste this opportunity.”
“So eager to help for once?” Carmen asked.
“Eager to pay up and move on,” Patrick shot back before waving Sage over. “Leave the maps. Lucien can formulate a plan while I get us a train and some artifacts to deal with the subway wards.”
“Don’t bring your agency or the cops into this,” Lucien warned.
“It’s a little late for that.”
“What about Tremaine and Tloque Nahuaque?” Wade wanted to know as he hurried their way. The teen still couldn’t bring himself to call Tezcatlipoca by his true name.
Patrick sucked air between his teeth. “Lucien? You got his number?”
Lucien’s black eyes flickered toward his Night Court. “Biyu.”
The woman in question peeled off from the group of human servants at Lucien’s call. Her thick black hair was tied up in a high ponytail, showing off the necklace of bite mark scars wrapped around her throat. Patrick pulled out his phone at her approach. She recited the number from memory in a firm voice and Patrick saved it.
“I’ll let you know how it goes,” Patrick said as Jono opened the door, peering out carefully in case any vampires had decided to stick around.
“Tonight.”
Patrick ignored that order, ducking out of Ginnungagap after Jono. Sage and Wade followed him. He conjured up a tiny mageglobe and let it rest against his palm as they hustled back to the Mustang parked a block away. He’d had to move the car earlier when Sergio and his crew arrived. They weren’t ambushed on the way, but the lack of a fight didn’t lower Patrick’s paranoia any.
“I’ll drop you off back home,” Patrick told Sage as she and Wade got into the back seat.
“I’ll let Marek know we’re on the way,” she said.
Patrick got behind the steering wheel. Even before he pulled into the street, Jono was calling Tremaine. “Put it on speakerphone,” Patrick told him.
