“Queen Carys is the numbers person, but when the Mother wants something done, She’ll ensure the path is available to you.” I paused for a moment, waiting for her gaze to lift to mine. “The real question is who else is trapped in those trees?”
SHARA
“One problem at a time.”I sighed. “Let’s get Leonie out of the pit and see what I can do for her Blood, assuming they’re still alive. Then Xin can take us out to the swamp.”
“How do you want to get to New Orleans?” Nevarre asked.
“I’m assuming Gina has House Delafosse’s address. Do we have a house in New Orleans that we can use to travel like we did to Galveston?”
Nevarre typed rapidly on the phone, waited a few seconds, and shook his head. “Gina says you do have a house in New Orleans but there’s no pool at the residence. You could use the gulf again.”
A low rumble vibrated through Rik’s chest into my back. “I’d rather not pull that kind of stunt again with potential sword-master thralls to deal with.”
I focused on Thierry. “Do you remember if there’s a large tree close to the house that we could use?”
He sent me an image of a hoary old tree with low branches that swept out over the garden, laden with Spanish moss.:There was a large oak in the courtyard when I first visited. But there’s no guarantee it’s still there after so long.:
“Let’s try the tree. It looks big enough. But it wouldn’t hurt to have a plan for the jet if we need to fly. Sekh, have you been able to See when Basilia may have been entrapped by the Dauphine?”
Sekh shook his head. “Nothing specific, Your Majesty. The last time I Saw her outside her nest was forty-seven years ago. She traveled to New York City and visited Skye Tower.”
My eyes flared. “Why would she see Keisha? When did Tanza supposedly die again?”
“1938.” A faint shudder rocked through Rik. “According to Gina when we were down in the basement.”
When he’d ended up trapped in the demon child’s circle while I bargained with Keisha to satisfy her blood claim before the Triune. I hugged his arm tighter around me. “Maybe Keishawanted to see if a Triune-level queen could heal her. Was Basilia known as a healer?”
“Not to my knowledge,” Guillaume replied. “Skolos queens generally have darker gifts. Earthquakes, poisons, monsters.”
Other than earthquakes… all things I was drawn to. “I guess we probably won’t learn the truth of what happened to her until we free her. I’d like to go straight to Mykonos to help her, assuming I’m able to help Leonie. I’m sure I can free her, but I’m not sure I can heal her.”
“Especially mentally,” Guillaume added. “That kind of captivity damages a person’s mind. She may not be able to recover, my queen.”
Which meant I might have to kill another queen. Though surely a mercy killing wouldn’t earn her goddess’ wrath, especially if I was able to free her. I touched Daire’s bond.:Do you know who Leonie’s goddess might be?:
His gift was keeping track of all the old houses and how they were all related. Though I wasn’t sure if that extended to their goddesses or not.
:I don’t know off hand, my queen. It should be listed in the Triune registry, though.:
“Nevarre, ask Gina to look up Leonie’s goddess in the Triune registry, though since the Dauphine masked her information before, it might not be accurate at all. I’d like to have a little forewarning of what her power might be and who I might need to bargain with if it comes down to killing her.”
Something nagged in the back of my mind, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. “Everything always seems to come back to the Dauphine. Or Keisha. Or both of them, in the case of Basilia.”
“She played the game hard,” Rik replied. “She was willing to use her fosters to force House Devana into supporting her bid for the Triune.”
“Plus she had a personal relationship with Rosalind Valois,”Guillaume added. “Maybe the Dauphine was using that ambition behind the scenes through Leonie and then Basilia.”
“Hopefully they can give us some answers once I free them.” Assuming their minds weren’t too damaged. Though that gave me an idea. “I’ll see if Gwen can come with us. She said she’s a powerful healer, so having someone more knowledgeable will be a bonus. I can throw power at the problem, but I won’t necessarily know how to put things back together again.”
Guillaume let out a soft grunt of agreement. “Especially reattaching limbs.”
My stomach gave a queasy roll, but the tea and toast were helping. I ate some of the fruit while I touched Gwen’s bond. First, a light knock, so to speak. I kept my sibling bonds muted most of the time, though if Gwen ever needed to talk to me, I’d be open to her, Mayte, or Carys. Technically, the other siblings in Isador Tower could contact me as well, but I’d only exchanged enough blood with them to establish the bond.
I didn’t care for a bunch of people I didn’t even know to have access to my head. I certainly didn’t want to know their thoughts and feelings. Though if I used those bonds more often, I might have trusted them more when I wasn’t sure where the Dauphine was, rather than having Gwen take them all into a room and guard them.
:Good morning, Your Majesty,:Gwen answered in our bond.:Congratulations on a successful campaign.:
I wasn’t sure how much she’d felt through our bond. If she’d been aware that I was locked to the Skolos table. Unable to defend myself from the Dauphine when she tried to kill me.:Thank you. It was touch and go there for a while. Are you free today for a rescue mission?:
