“Not an issue. I have three husbands.” Camille pointed to my notebook. “But can we get their names, just in case?”
After he gave us the names of everybody he could remember—a tidy list, at that—he leaned back. “Do you think . . . do you think you’ll be able to find her, to save her?”
I glanced at Camille. She caught his gaze and stared for a moment. He hung his head and turned to me.
“We’ll do everything we can,” I whispered. “Since we know she’s alive, there’s a chance. If you pick up anything more on her, let us know. We’ll keep in touch.”
As he stood to go, he gave us a curt nod. “I understand. Thank you for not sugarcoating matters. If I can sense anything more—if I can somehow reach out and touch her—I’ll call you immediately. There are ways . . . they require preparation but the Fae of the Black Forest have many secret rituals and I can perform some of these. They are dangerous at times, but I’ll do anything I can for her. Violet is special. She’s . . . she’s Violet.” And with that, he turned and left the restaurant.
Camille and I finished our drinks, not knowing what else to do.
When Marion came by, she brought a plate of cookies. “By the hangdog looks on your faces, I think you need these.” She set them down on the table.
“Thanks.” As Marion left, I turned to Camille. “So, what next?”
“Honestly? I have no idea. I guess . . . we eat cookies, then go home, and decide how we’re going to stop a demigod from waking up to take over corporate America. We know that Violet’s alive, so we do our best to figure out where the fuck they’re stashing her.”
“Or if they’ve sold her already.” I stared at the table, tapping it nervously with my nails. “Trouble is, Radcliffe isn’t the worst menace we’re facing.”
And on that sober thought, we ate cookies.
Chapter 19
Ivana had picked up her meat by the time we got home. We trooped in the house, dropping our stuff on the bench in the hallway. Morio was sitting on the sofa, sorting through a bunch of papers. He glanced up as we filed into the living room. Shade was leafing through a book, Chase was sitting in the rocking chair, holding Astrid, and Vanzir was playing with Maggie on the floor.
The scene looked so peaceful and quiet that it was hard to believe that we were back in the fray. But neck deep, we were. Vanzir had filled Morio and Shade in on the day’s events.
“How could anything get this convoluted, this fast?” I grimaced. “Three and a half days ago everything was on an even keel. Now? We have demons on the left, daemons on the right, and sorcerers in the middle. We’re sinking fast, Captain, and I don’t think we have a bucket large enough to bail us out of this situation.”
Shade shook his head. “I don’t know, Matey, but the universe is like that. So what do we do next?”
Camille and I consulted our lists.
“Well,” I said, looking over our notes. “All we have to do is discover how far Lowestar Radcliffe’s reach extends, and see if we can to find Violet. At least we know she’s alive, but we have to move on this and move quickly before he sells her out from under us yet. Tanne Baum will get back to us—he’s going to try some ritual to see if he can locate her or find out more information about where she’s being kept.”
“We need to research Suvika; figure out what his powers—and vulnerabilities—are, and hopefully how to stop Lowestar from waking him up.” Camille slid onto the sofa next to Morio.
“Oh,” I added. “Also—we still don’t know if there are any vamps missing from the Wayfarer fire, and we have to start talking rebuilding.”
Camille sighed. “I need to take Violet’s journal to Aeval to see if she can translate it. And we haven’t contacted Aunt Rythwar yet to tell her about Father. The Keraastar Knights are still missing. Sorcerers are marching on Svartalfheim and overrunning Elqaneve.”
“And let us not forget, Shade’s sister is visiting in a few days. I think that about sums it up, don’t you, Camille?” I gave her a helpless look and she nodded.
“In other words, life as usual.” Chase attempted a joke but it fell flat, and he sighed. “I miss Sharah. I know I should be thinking about how she’s doing her duty, how she’s being selfless and leading her people in a gods-
forsaken battle, but damn it, I miss her. She should be here with her baby. Or they should have let her take Astrid with her, even if they wouldn’t allow me to go along.” He nuzzled his daughter and kissed her lightly on the forehead.
I pulled a chair up next to his. “I know it’s not going to be easy, Chase, but life never makes that a package guarantee, you know. But you have your daughter, and you know Sharah loves both of you. And . . . you can keep Astrid safer than Sharah can right now.”
He shrugged, but a shy smile crept over his face. “Iris is wonderful. I can’t believe she took us in, and her with two babies of her own. They are cute munchkins, aren’t they? And she seems so sure of their place in the world. I wish I could see a safe future for Astrid. But when I try to look ahead, it’s all . . . just a blur of what might be.”
“That’s because your abilities don’t seem to include prognostication. But Chase, you have other gifts. And they will come out the more time goes on. You can help make the future safe for Astrid.” Camille stretched out her legs and stared at her shoes. “I am thinking, even though it’s barely near dinner, of crawling into a nightgown and hanging it up for the day.” After a moment, she whispered. “I miss Smoky and Trillian.”
Morio set down the papers and wrapped his arm around her. “So do I, love, but they will return safe to us.”
I glanced at the clock. “Menolly should be up at any moment—”
“Beat you to it, Kitten.” Menolly entered the room. “Why so solemn? Who . . .” She stopped. “Bad joke, not even going there.” At that moment, the doorbell rang. “I’ll get it.” In a minute she returned, an envelope in her hand. At my look, she shrugged. “For me. I have no idea who it’s from—messenger delivered it.”
As she opened it, the Whispering Mirror chimed and I motioned for Camille to stay put. “I’ll answer it.” I took my place in front of the mirror. “Delilah here.”
“Fuck! This is a notice that I’m being sued by one of the victim’s families! One of the FBH’s families.” Menolly let out a growl even as the fog lifted in the mirror.
I was facing Trenyth, who looked exhausted. I’d never seen him look so rough. “What’s wrong?”
Camille and Menolly crowded in behind me.
“Girls, I’m glad you’re here—Menolly, are you there too?”
“I am.”
“I don’t have much time. We are under siege and the fighting is rough. I wanted to let you know two things. One, you need to head to Grandmother Coyote’s portal as soon as we finish talking. Trillian is on his way over with Luke and Amber, and Amber’s baby. You need to keep them safe—along with the spirit seals. We don’t dare let them stay in Otherworld at this point. You have to hide the seals there, and they cannot be removed from Luke or Amber at this point.”
Camille paled. “How do we keep them safe here?”
“I don’t know, figure out a way.” He choked a little. “We lost Tam Lin to Trenyth’s forces. Shadow Wing now has another spirit seal. Benjamin and Venus are still missing. Smoky and Rozurial are hunting for them like madmen.”
I thought, quickly counting. “What about the seal we sent you from fighting Gulakah?”
“I’m sending it with Trillian. You must hide that, as well.”