Which was why they made such ideal weapons.
I removed one of my bangles from my wrist. Small innocuous charms dangled from the gold, items that anyone could buy for charm bracelets at a jewelry store. I selected a teddy bear charm and pressed it to my bloody print on the first man’s forehead. “This lost, unrest soul is mine to command. So let it be.”
The light blew out of his eyes and his body crumbled to the ground. But instead of allowing his spirit to flutter past me through the Gates of the Dead, I trapped his spirit into the charm. I repeated the process for the other two men, and then stepped back.:These bodies can be burned now.:
A dark silent shape glided in a low pass overhead. :My pleasure,:the dragon said. Then he blasted the dead with flames. Far more than necessary. Writhing in the sky, he finally crashedwith a heavy oomph to the ground. On his back. His wings still twitching.
:Is he okay?:I asked in the bond.
Vivian snorted.:He’s more than okay. He just nutted. Next time get a little higher in the sky, Mehen. So you can leave a crater when you crash.:
29
SHARA
As we walked back into my house arm in arm, I couldn’t help but think about how much differently this goule attack could have gone if Leonie wasn’t here.
At least this time the zombies didn’t have a personal relationship to me, so I didn’t have the gut punch of seeing Mom’s corpse attacking my nest.
I didn’t doubt that we could’ve dealt with them—with flames and screams of agony if I couldn’t free their spirits quickly enough. Even if we’d been able to subdue each of the corpses long enough for me to easily pull out their spirit first, it would’ve taxed my energy.
Hit after hit after hit. Even small drains—without a break—would have taken a toll. Add to that healing Leonie and dealing with the thralls, so quickly after surviving the Skolos Triune attack…
The Dauphine might be dead, but she still managed to wage war from the beyond. Each of these attacks were calculated and executed before she ever went to meet Undina. It made me wonder what else Jeanne had planned. How many Blood hadturned thrall? How many times would we be attacked? Were each of the trapped queens booby trapped with more thralls?
Each night that passed was another night for her former Blood to turn as many humans into thralls as possible. Yet we didn’t know where they were or even how many we might need to kill.
“One day at a time, my queen,” Guillaume said, holding the back door open for us.
“I know. I can’t save everyone. I know. But I can’t help but feel like there’s a ticking bomb around every corner that gets bigger every single day.”
“Which is whyweget bigger every single day.” Rik pulled my chair out at the round table. “We have plenty of time to clean up whatever the Dauphine left behind.”
“She had centuries to plan out her revenge on whoever managed to kill her,” Guillaume added. “It’ll take time for us to unravel her plots.”
Even though I was never up this early, Winston somehow managed to have a full breakfast spread of all my favorites. I’d nibbled on the croissant earlier, but I was peckish, even though my part in this round had been minimal.
“What you did for all of those dead people was very cool,” I told Leonie.
Smiling, her cheeks colored at my praise. “I didn’t know I could handle so many at once. It must have taken several practitioners to create so many goules. I can start reaching out to some of my contacts and see if we can track down who might have been able to pull off so many rituals, or even who’s been in the area.”
“That’d be great. What do you need?”
She grimaced. “All of my records are at home, assuming the Dauphine didn’t destroy everything. Even if she burned my personal records at home, hopefully I can still access the shop itself. I’m hopeful our former employees managed to keepeverything running in my absence. If I’m allowed to use the tree portal, I’ll pop back to my house and see what I can find.”
“Of course, though I don’t want you to go alone.” I was tempted to go with her myself but Rik’s fingers tightened on my shoulder, reminding me I needed to stay home if at all possible. My period would likely start today, and I didn’t want to be out and about with thralls hunting me. “I’m sure Vivian would be glad to accompany you.”
:Absolutely, my queen,:Vivian replied before I could touch her bond.
“Is one Blood enough?” I asked out loud, waiting to hear what Rik and Guillaume recommended.
“I think at least one more Blood who can be on the ground,” Guillaume said. “Either Xin or Itztli would be my recommendation.”
“Xin had the long run from New York City just days ago. I’d like to keep him close and have some extra time with him if possible.”
“Done,” Rik said. “Vivian and Itztli will meet you at the tree when you’re ready to go, Your Majesty.”
I had a sudden idea. “If you met a human, would you be able to tell if they were a practitioner?”
