He didn’t point out that he had a hand on her arm to keep her from falling down. Not the same kind of touch. “She’d like that.”
They walked into the bedroom. Titian rushed to the doorway between their rooms. Lucivar raised a hand to stop her.
*Zoey is stinky and needs a bath,* Allis said. *Then we will have food, and then we will sleep.*
“I forgot how bossy they are,” Zoey whispered when Lucivar helped her reach the bathroom.
“Well, I hope you’re resigned to having Allis around, because I think she’s decided you’re going to be her human to love and herd.”
Zoey let out a small laugh, a sound that eased the tightness around his heart.
Leaving Zoey in the bathroom, watched by Allis, Lucivar dealt with Titian, who hugged him hard enough to constrict his ribs.
“She’ll be all right, witchling,” he said, stroking one hand down her hair. “She came out the other end of it, so she’ll be all right. But she needs you to be patient about . . .” How to say it?
“Touching?”
“Yeah.” He kissed the top of her head and eased back. “I’ll have Beale bring up a meal for the two of you. And some food for Allis.”
“Zoey will be going home soon, won’t she?”
“Tomorrow or the day after.”
“Will we go home too? I want to go home, Papa.”
“We’ll go home. Daemonar too.” He wanted his children out of Dhemlan and away from the storm that was coming.
“You sure about this?” Surreal asked.
Daemonar nodded. “We’re heading home, and I don’t know when Titian and I will be back to visit. There are things I want to say.”
“Don’t expect her to listen.” She opened the bedroom door. “Five minutes, boyo.”
“Thanks, Aunt Surreal.”
Daemonar walked into Jaenelle Saetien’s bedroom and felt the Gray lock on the door reengage. Jaenelle Saetien sprang up from the reading chair, her face lighting up when she saw him.
“I came to say good-bye,” he said.
The pleasure at seeing him faded. “Good-bye?”
“We’re heading home. Don’t know when we’ll be back.” If ever.
That possibility troubled him. There were people at the Hall and in Halaway who meant a lot to him, and he didn’t want to stay away from them.
“My father hasn’t come to see me,” Jaenelle Saetien said.
Is he that angry? That was what Daemonar heard under the words that were spoken.
“He’s not here.” He studied his cousin. Did she really not understand, or did she hope if she kept downplaying her part in what had happened, her father would make all the unpleasantness go away and everything would go back to the way it had been?
“Where is he?” she asked.
“I don’t know.” Since he understood some things about Uncle Daemon, he had a good idea of where Sadi was—and why he was there.
“You’re still angry with me.” She sounded subdued.
“I am. I expect I will be for a while.”
“Why? All I did—”
“Was open your arms and let the enemy walk in,” he snapped.
She rallied enough to push back. “Well, you killed some of the guests!”
“Intruders. Enemies. And I didn’t kill enough of them!”
They glared at each other. She looked away first.
“I really believed Delora wanted to mend her differences with Zoey,” she finally said. “I made a mistake.”
“You did, and I hope you’re prepared for whatever price you have to pay.”
Awkward silence. He took a step back, more than ready to leave.
“You’re not going to forgive me, are you?”
He hesitated. “You’re my cousin, and I love you. So I guess I will. But not today. Not tomorrow. Maybe once these bones fully heal and Titian stops crying in her sleep, maybe then I can forgive you because, when it really counted, you remembered who you used to be and protected Titian and Zoey. If you hadn’t, Delora and Hespera would have killed them.”
The door opened. He walked out, flinching when Jaenelle Saetien started to cry.
He and Surreal walked to the great hall in silence. When he saw the grim expression on his father’s face, he wondered what else had happened.
“Titian?” he asked.
“She and Zoey are in the informal sitting room. We’ll take Zoey to Amdarh on our way home.”
Which would give the two girls a little more time together.
“Problem?” Surreal asked.
Lucivar handed her a stack of papers, professionally bound, but it looked like the printer had been in a hurry.
Or very, very frightened.
Lucivar handed him the second stack. “You are old enough, and you need to know.”
The heading on the top page read: The following individuals were executed in accordance with Blood law. The debts they owed were paid in full.
Mother Night! Daemonar thought as he began to read.
Krellis. Dhuran. Clayton. Every male connected with the coven of malice who had come to the Hall during the house party, along with a couple more names he knew from school.
That was chilling enough. What he was sure was going to shake Dhemlan, to say nothing of the rest of the Realm, was the signature.
Daemon Sadi. Warlord Prince of Dhemlan. High Lord of Hell.
The rest of the pages listed each boy, and the girls he had raped, the girls he had broken, the where and when and how and why and his accomplices, both male and female, as well as the drugs that had been used. It listed each girl’s Birthright Jewel—if she’d been old enough to have gone through the Birthright Ceremony. A few of the girls . . . So young!
“Well,” Surreal said, her voice shaking, “Sadi isn’t hiding his claws anymore, is he?”
“No,” Lucivar agreed. He gave Surreal a long look. “Having heard Saetan’s stories about how being the High Lord of Hell had made things difficult for Mephis and Peyton when they were growing up, Daemon gave you and Jaenelle Saetien as much time as he could before publicly acknowledging that title. More time than he should have, considering . . . this.” He tipped his head to indicate the great hall.
Daemonar thought for a minute, then silently agreed. Delora might have targeted the daughter of the Warlord Prince of Dhemlan, somehow ignoring the fury of a Black-Jeweled Warlord Prince, but would she have been foolish enough to target the daughter of the High Lord of Hell? Maybe.
“Will you be all right?” Lucivar asked, still watching Surreal.
She nodded.
Lucivar took the bound pages from Daemonar and vanished them. “Collect your sister and Zoey, boyo. It’s time to go.”
Daemonar did as he was told, getting the girls in the Coach while his father and aunt talked quietly.
Everything had a price, and the debts that would be owed because of that house party would be steep. But he had a feeling Uncle Daemon was going to be the one who paid the highest price of all.
Surreal hesitated at Jaenelle Saetien’s door.
A copy of the crimes printed and bound? Stood to reason more than two copies had been made. Which meant, by now, all of Dhemlan’s Province Queens and District Queens had a list of who belonged to Delora’s coven of malice, as well as who had acted as accomplices and secondary players. Most would be at the school and easy to find. As for the rest?
Had Lucivar and Daemonar read the last page, the list of girls targeted for elimination because Delora and Hespera had decided those girls would never be brought to heel and would interfere with their ambitions to be the dominant influence in Dhemlan—an influence that eventually could corrupt the Blood in Dhemlan until they resembled Hayll’s depraved society?