Emerald Blaze

by Ilona Andrews

  “I can carry you.”

  “No!” After that kiss, being carried by him was the last thing I needed.

  We trudged up the sidewalk.

  “What kind of images?”

  “The impress-your-date kind. He showed me his crib, demonstrated that he was a good provider, and I wouldn’t starve, and then he showed me what he did for work, and how creative he was.”

  Alessandro put his hand on my forehead.

  “I don’t have a fever!”

  “Did you hit your head?”

  “No!” We were almost to the road. “He killed a guard and used the dead man’s brain and nervous system to make a five-foot-tall replica of my dog.”

  “That might be the creepiest thing I’ve ever heard.”

  “Yeah, it wasn’t a ton of fun to watch.”

  We reached the bridge and walked onto the pedestrian access, separated from the traffic by a narrow barrier. Alessandro’s Spider waited just a few yards ahead.

  “You should dump this on Linus.”

  “That’s not how it works. He gave me the job, I’m doing the job. Besides, what is Linus going to do against a Saito construct?”

  “What is that?”

  “A construct that’s alive, capable of independent decisions, self-repair, and growth, physical and mental. It’s not supposed to exist, but it’s in the Pit right now preparing a lovely lily pad for me and feeding dead bodies to fish to fatten them up so he can serve them for dinner.”

  Alessandro stopped. I leaned on him, resting all of my weight on his arm. It was that or kiss the pavement with my face.

  “Is this what the rest of your life is going to be like, Catalina?”

  “If I’m lucky.”

  “I’m being serious.”

  “I know you are.”

  “Giuro! Mi sembra di parlare al muro.”

  Uh-huh, talking to me is like talking with a wall? Okay. “Da che pulpito!”

  He opened his mouth. Nothing came out. I had just demanded to know from what pulpit he was delivering that sermon.

  Alessandro finally recovered. “Ma sai parlare italiano?”

  Duh. I answered in Italian. “Did you think you’re the only person in the world who can learn a foreign language?”

  “How long?”

  “For years.” I learned so I could read his Italian posts. “If you’re wondering if I understood all of your mutterings and curses, and every time you called me your treasure or your angel, I did.”

  He looked like he was about to have an aneurism.

  I slumped onto the Spider’s hood. I would have to fold my battered body into that tiny car. I switched back to English. “Would it kill you to have a normal-sized car?”

  Alessandro opened the passenger door and all but stuffed me into the seat. He got in on the driver’s side and we were off.

  He pressed a button on the steering wheel and said, “Call Leon.”

  What?

  “Did you think you are the only person who can call your cousin from the car?”

  Leon’s voice spilled from the speakers. “Did you find her?”

  “I have her. She’s okay, but I’m driving her to Dr. Arias.”

  Leon swore quietly, the relief plain in his voice.

  “Are you okay?” I asked.

  “Yes. Don’t come back here. Half of Houston PD is here and Sabrian is in beast mode.”

  “She’s going to need a change of clothes,” Alessandro said. “She’s due at Victoria Tremaine’s in ninety minutes.”

  He remembered.

  “I’ll send some over with Beetle. I want her in an armored car. Keep her safe.”

  “I will,” Alessandro promised.

  Leon hung up.

  “How did you even find me?”

  “I will always find you,” he said. “I told you, Catalina. I won’t abandon you.”

  He said it with complete sincerity, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. He’d come for me. Even if the thing dragged me into the river, he would find it, kill it, and pull me out. If the Abyss took me into the Pit, Alessandro would follow and bring me out.

  Nobody besides my family would ever do that for me.

  The realization of that was too big for me to deal with. I slumped on my seat. “Just tell me.”

  “I was there when you made the arrangements with the Primes, so I knew where you would be. Once Linus and I finished, I drove to House Jiang and ran into your cousin and your sister. I saw the trail leading to the river, realized that it was dragging you back to the Pit, so it would be heading northwest against the current, and drove to this bridge very fast.”

  “Why do you have my sword?”

  “It’s not yours. This is mine. It’s a gift from your . . . supervisor.”

  I glanced at him.

  “He said it was the prototype of the prototype. He thought I might need it.” Alessandro grimaced. “Aside from the null space, it’s a shit blade.”

  “He usually makes ranged weapons.”

  “I noticed.”

  Houston slid by outside the window. Alessandro reached over and squeezed my hand. I squeezed back.

  Chapter 13

  The Shenandoah State Correctional Facility, nicknamed the Spa, loomed ahead as I steered Beetle down the smoothly curving road. A four-story-high masonry fort built with Austin limestone, it rose above the ten-foot wall like a luxury hotel and offered an indoor pool, tennis courts, a track, a driving range, and a garden. The rich and powerful didn’t like to be inconvenienced, even in incarceration.

  A heavy, irresistible dread crawled over me. I didn’t want to see my evil grandmother today. Each visit to the posh country club she called prison felt like walking into a monster’s mouth. I never knew if I would get out alive. Nobody except me truly understood the magnitude of the threat she posed, and I would keep it that way as long as possible.

  By now Detective Giacone would have reported everything there was to report about Leon being framed for Audrey’s murder. She would want to know what I planned to do about it. I would have to answer for exposing her spy in the Houston PD. I needed to be sharp and alert, and instead I was exhausted and rattled, which is why I’d insisted on driving. It put some control back into my hands.

  To say that Dr. Arias had been less than pleased to see me again would be a severe understatement, kind of like referring to a Category 4 tornado as a cute little dust devil. She resealed my wounds and gave me a Serious Lecture, which I mostly ignored, because I was too busy thinking.

  Munoz called to confirm that I had sustained injuries that required me to leave the crime scene and was indeed at the clinic. Dr. Arias talked to him while Sabrian played referee. At the end, Sabrian got on the phone with me. The Houston PD determined that the encounter was House warfare and was letting both Leon and Arabella go.

  Bern arrived with my clothes and Beetle, a Toyota Tundra Grandma Frida had snagged in some kind of complicated trade after one of her clients couldn’t pay their bill. She’d added her special touch, and Beetle was sufficiently bulletproof. Alessandro saw the giant black truck and laughed for a full minute, but he let Bern drive his Spider back to our place. Bern was slightly shocked by that development.

  I kept banging my brain against the problem of the Abyss. Regina’s words glowed in my memory. You have to kill it. All of it.

  I had stolen a matrix node from the Abyss. The node didn’t collapse once its tie to the Abyss was severed. It didn’t stop functioning. It still felt like the Abyss, a paler, weaker version of it.

  If we came for the Abyss with all of the firepower and magic we could collectively muster, we wouldn’t win. In his place, I would cleave the matrix nodes from myself and send them in all different directions. A matrix node could be anywhere. It could be in a construct. It could be buried in the muck in some hidden corner of the Pit. It could be disguised as a plant.

  Power alone wouldn’t do it. The Abyss was just too massive.

  “I’m not understanding some
thing,” Alessandro said.

  “Yes?”

  “If Cheryl is Arkan’s contact and the person who killed Felix, then she has access to the serum. But I don’t think she took the serum herself. It’s too risky. If the serum backfires, she could die or end up warped, which means her House is left without a leader and her children become orphans. Why take the risk? Her position is already secure as is.”

  “I don’t think she took it. I think she gave it to the construct.”

  “The Osiris serum only works on humans. They tried giving it to animals early on and it just killed them.”

  “Yes.”

  Alessandro frowned. “Have you thought about why that thing keeps pulling brains out of corpses and sticking them into the constructs it makes? Where did he learn to do that?”

  Oh fuck.

  “Your magic doesn’t work on animals or constructs,” he said. “But it worked at some level on that thing. And no construct is capable of telepathy.”

  “She put a human brain into the Kraken,” I whispered. Oh no.

  “She wanted the decision-making capability of a human,” Alessandro said. “She used a male telepath, stuck him into her fucking toy, and then gave it the Osiris serum.”

  I pulled into the parking lot past the guard.

  “If this gets out . . .” Alessandro said.

  Somebody else would do it too. No matter how horrific, no matter how revolting, it worked, and someone else would replicate it. Regina was right. Cheryl had to die, and fast.

  “I can’t think about that right now.” I shut off the engine. “I have to survive the next hour. Will you be here when I’m done?”

  Cold fire flashed in Alessandro’s eyes. “Even if you ordered me away, I wouldn’t go far. That thing is fixated on you. He will try again, and when he does, I’ll be waiting.”

  Grandma Victoria waited for me in the gardens. She sat at a picnic table, bordered by roses. The heavy blossoms framed her, as if she were a priceless work of art. She wore a white summer dress that fell to midcalf with tiny pink flowers on the bodice that grew larger toward the hem. A pale-blue shawl of complex lace draped her shoulders. Strappy leather sandals hugged her feet. Her toenails were painted bright blue. Her silver hair crowned her head in a stylish updo and her makeup was perfect, as always.

  The only indication that we were in a prison and not in some mansion’s English garden was the table, a heavy monstrosity of thermoplastic, with benches attached.

  A platter with a teapot and two cups waited on the table. I approached, picked up the teapot, and poured the tea. If I wasn’t at my best, if I was a touch slow or said a wrong word, my grandmother would strike. She wouldn’t hesitate, and if I was very lucky, I would be the only target.

  I handed her cup to her and sat.

  Victoria’s gaze pinned me, her eyes merciless. “You burned Giacone.”

  Right to the point. “He was clumsy and obvious. A liability. Munoz already suspected him, and I needed a sacrificial goat to establish trust.”

  My grandmother narrowed her eyes. “Or you wanted my informant out of the way.”

  I smiled. “Why not both?”

  She drank her tea. I had jumped the first hurdle.

  “Tell me about it.”

  I summarized the events related to Audrey’s murder, starting with Giacone and Munoz and ending with Leon shooting the illusion mage in the face.

  “Have you found the leak?” Victoria asked.

  “Yes. Leon told Albert Ravenscroft about Audrey.”

  “Do you need ammunition to lean on the Ravenscrofts?”

  “No. I have my own.”

  Victoria’s gaze fastened on me. “You’re hesitating.”

  “I have my reasons.” Pressuring the Ravenscrofts could backfire. I would have preferred to do it with a scalpel. Instead I had a hammer, and once I smashed their House with it, they would either submit or go on the offensive. I was already fighting a war on multiple fronts. I didn’t need another.

  “Now isn’t the time to be subtle. If they try to retaliate, I’ll handle it.”

  I sipped my tea. I didn’t love Albert, but I didn’t hate him. This would be unpleasant.

  “You don’t have to like it,” my grandmother continued. “Someone obtained confidential information and attacked your House. Do it or I will.”

  “If you tug too hard on my leash, I’ll turn around and bite.”

  I smiled and refilled her cup. Showing any weakness in front of her was like pouring blood into shark-infested waters.

  She reached over and put her fingers under my chin, lifting my face so she could peer into my eyes. I met her gaze and saw approval.

  “Good girl,” Victoria Tremaine told me. “Remember who you are. Don’t ever let people bully you.”

  “I’ll take care of the Ravenscrofts.” If I took the coward’s way out and let her do it, there would be nothing left of Albert’s House.

  “I know you will.” She let me go. “What is this Pit matter?”

  A flashback to Linus’ study, his face, his dark eyes. Do me this favor . . . “A favor for Linus.”

  Victoria’s magic brushed by me, oh so subtle. I welcomed it. To lie to a truthseeker, you had to tell the truth.

  “Why is he involved?”

  “The dead man asked him for help. Linus was too late.”

  Victoria rolled her eyes. “How utterly predictable. Linus always had an ego. Being the savior of his rival’s son would appeal to him. Now the fool will throw all his resources at fixing it. The safety of the House is your priority. Backburner it if you have to.”

  “I took the job. MII is involved and I don’t want to offend Linus, Augustine, or Morton. Too many enemies for too little gain.”

  “Morton is a tiger with rotten teeth, but Linus is valuable, and Augustine has potential. Very well. Do as you must.”

  “I’m planning on it.”

  “Kazarian is a simpleton,” Victoria said. “Jiang will do anything to save face. Both are completely devoted to family. Use it as a lever. Pierce is a rabid bitch but she isn’t stupid. She’ll bite if you back her into a corner, but her family made no moves to retaliate in any way after Adam’s conviction. They value public opinion.”

  “What about Castellano?”

  “Her charitable contributions have doubled in the last six months.”

  My grandmother had known everything there was to know about the Pit project before I even came through the door.

  Victoria leaned forward. “Never trust an altruist. Humans are selfish creatures. The only people who give away money either haven’t earned it or are trying to buy prestige or absolution with it. She has prestige. What has she done that she needs to atone so badly?”

  You have no idea.

  She looked off into the distance, the line of her mouth firm, her gaze hard. Frustration emanated from her, like hot air rising from scalding asphalt. I lost her for a moment. My grandmother was imagining five minutes alone with Cheryl. There was something about Cheryl Castellano she didn’t know, and it was killing her. I didn’t want to know exactly what she was thinking, but it probably involved cracking Cheryl’s mind like a walnut and picking out pieces of the shell looking for the good bits.

  Would she be horrified when she found it or impressed?

  “I’ll find out,” I told her.

  Victoria snapped out of it. The corners of her mouth curled slightly. “It’s a race. Let’s see who gets there first.”

  We sipped our tea. Another hurdle done.

  “How far along is your sister?”

  Do not react.

  “Nevada is almost ready to give birth,” I said. “Would you like to be at the hospital?”

  My grandmother raised her eyebrows. “House Rogan’s children do not interest me.”

  “It’s your great-grandchild.”

  “Your child will be my great-grandchild. Possibly Arabella’s, if she stays with the House. Nevada’s children belong to Arrosa. Let her dote. I’m not inte
rested. Unless, of course, I’m forced to consider all my options. I’m sure there are ways I can use the child, or the mother, to my advantage if the circumstances require it.”

  She looked directly into my eyes.

  Ice burst through me. I fought her on the Ravenscrofts, and she just snapped my leash. This was a quid pro quo.

  “Nothing is going to happen to my sister’s baby,” I said, my voice breezy. “Nevada will have a wonderful birth and will return home with her child, unhurt.”

  Victoria smiled. “Or?”

  “Or I’ll hit back and then I’ll excise myself.”

  Excision meant being disowned and shunned. When a House excised someone, that person became a stranger. My grandmother wanted House Baylor to survive and she’d decided I was the only one who could deliver. She went for the jugular and I had to match her.

  “You think I would stoop so low?” she asked.

  “Absolutely.”

  She chuckled. It chilled me to the proverbial bone.

  “Your Italian is back in town.”

  We changed the subject again. The terms had been set and understood. My grandmother was moving on.

  “He is.”

  “Remember what you promised me.”

  “How could I forget?”

  “Good,” Victoria said. “He’s powerful. Use him, sleep with him if you must, but do not commit.”

  I was so tired of everyone telling me what to do about Alessandro.

  “Remember, you belong to your House.”

  “I know,” I told her.

  We drank our tea.

  “Grandmother, suppose you have a group of people in a large area with many routes of escape. You have to kill every single one of them but don’t have the resources to surround their territory. How would you do it?”

  Victoria smiled. “You’re finally asking interesting questions. Does this group have a leader?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then it’s simple, my dear. Offer him what he wants, and he will bring his people to you to get it.”

  I held it together until the parking lot. Walking through the prison had become a ritual. When I entered, I armored myself with every step in a perverted meditation, sinking deeper into Victoria’s granddaughter, cold, calculating, and ruthless. Someone like herself. Someone she would approve of. When I left, I shed chunks of that armor as I walked out. I couldn’t drop it completely. My grandmother had me watched, and if I ducked into the bathroom to cry the stress out, she would know and there would be hell to pay. Instead I took a lighter breath with each landmark. Exit the garden, let a little bit go. Turn the corner into the main hallway, a little more. Reach reception, another chunk. Exit the prison, exhale, but still hold it, to the car, through the parking lot, all the way to the side road two miles down.