Page 391 of Eight of Swords, Part Two

‘He’s the one that’s responsible for all of this. For every ounce of suffering I read in what you shared with me, for Roman’s death, for Savannah being shot, for how his children were raised and why. For what he did to you that forced the decision that led here! He’s the one responsible and his death will burst the bubble once you show your daughter that all is well and there’s no need to hide me anymore.’

Riley looks between them both. ‘The ritual, the bubble and the curse.’

‘Yes, exactly.’ Kade is building steam, his certainty gathering. ‘All this time focusing on other people when there’s only ever been one person to blame in all of this for all of this. The man who pushed Lee and Blaire to do what they felt they needed to. The same man who killed my mother. Who forced all of our suffering into existence because he’s so fucking greedy for eternal life and power. Blaire is right. His inability to accept death has cost thousands, maybe millions of lives over nine hundred years of suffering. We can end it all tonight.’

‘How? He can’t come inside and we can’t leave.’

‘By offering what he wants.’

‘Absolutely not,’ Lachlan counters swiftly. ‘No fucking way.’

‘He wants me.’

‘No.’

‘I’m saying we make him believe—’

‘You don’t know him,’ Lachlan interrupts flatly. ‘He’s too smart.’

Lee leans back against the wall. ‘I have to agree. So will Blaire.’

‘We can send him a message through Roman. Get him to come meet us at the dividing line. Just because we can’t leave the bubble doesn’t mean the Moroz Front and Last Light can’t. Lee can leave too. We can set up a kill zone, lure him there and boom.’

‘There’s no boom, sweetheart. Alistair uses other people, that’s what he does. He’ll send representatives, proxies.’

‘Not to mention that even if you do shoot him, the death will only transfer to whatever host he has on ice somewhere,’ Riley says. ‘His own father’s body.’

Kade stares ahead.

‘Then we find that.’

‘Find what?’

‘The other body. The other side of his Death Knot.’

‘That’s a complete wildcard. He can only do this ritual with you on the full moon, so let’s deny him the opportunity.’

‘If we don’t kill him before the full moon, we’ll lose,’ Kade tells him, strained. ‘I will lose you and I can’t. I won’t.’

Riley steps forward. ‘This is a good plan.’

Lachlan shoots him a glare of utter loathing.

‘The fuck are you talking about?’

‘The objective. Penhalyx dead before moonrise.’ Riley looks at Kade. ‘Tanner’s right. He won’t attend a meeting in person. He’ll send bodies he can easily afford to lose and watch through their eyes, but there’s one he can’t afford to lose, and I think I know where it is.’

‘Bullshit. Where?’

‘The sub-levels he built during those final months. He transferred everything there from Sable Key, where the siblings kept their most valuable assets.’

‘If his Knot body is there,’ Céliane says, watching Riley with interest, ‘and he cannot get inside the city…’

‘Then it makes sense that that’s where the Resets would patrol,’ Riley says with near-total confidence.

‘The Estate burned down.’

‘But the sub-levels didn’t. You said it yourself, they were rated to withstand all kinds of damage and the power was geothermal.’