Hands of Flame

“Janx,” Alban went on in a rumble. “I’ve been sent to ask why you’re not packing your bags.”

“Because Margrit wouldn’t expect me to leave these hallowed halls until she has accomplished the task I’ve set her,” Janx said easily, then lifted his voice: “Would you, my dear?”

Guilt spasmed Margrit’s skin and ended in a sheepish laugh as she crept around the corner to peer into Janx’s chambers. The dragonlord was draped across his chaise lounge, indolent and clearly terribly pleased with himself. The twins were curled up in armchairs, both of them peeking back at Margrit as if they were children rather than hundreds of years her elders. Alban stood just within the doorway, wry humor curving his mouth. “I’m afraid you’re less sneaky than you thought.”

“I wasn’t trying to be,” Margrit protested. “I just stopped to listen. I forgot you could smell me.”

“And hear your breathing,” Kate offered.

“And your heartbeat,” Ursula finished.

Margrit put a hand over her face. “Remind me of my inadequacies, why don’t you.”

“Hardly.” Janx unwound from his couch and came to stand before her at his full height, a gambit that would have been more imposing had Alban, slightly taller and considerably broader, not been a few feet away. Margrit crooked a smile at the dragonlord, whose expression was mixed with challenge and curiosity. “Have you set the wheels in motion already, my dear? I would so dearly love to admire your alacrity.”

“I’m not here to talk about that.”

Janx’s lips thi

“I’ve been dead,” Margrit muttered. “You can’t trump that.”

“An excellent point.” Good humor restored, Janx fluttered an extravagant bow and gestured Margrit toward seating. Alban, looking dour at not having been invited himself, followed, then shot Margrit a sly wink as he took over the lounge Janx had abandoned. Gri

“Forgive me,” Alban said with enormous i

“I am losing all control.” Janx pulled another chair up to the chess table and flung himself in it with the abandon of a tantrum-throwing two-year-old.

Margrit, unable to stop herself, applauded in the same lazy fashion she’d seen him do in the past. Janx, knowing himself out-played, laughed and spread his hands in defeat. “Very well. What are you here to discuss, Margrit Knight, if not my oldest rival’s downfall?”

Alban shifted behind Margrit, the tiny motion somehow conveying dismay. Janx’s smile lit up. “Oh, you didn’t know. Really, Alban, you might have guessed. I could hardly let Detective Pulcella go for anything less.” By the end of his speech, his smile had fallen away, leaving reptilian coolness in his jade eyes.

“I might have,” Alban murmured, “and yet I hadn’t. Must it go like this, Janx?”

“It always has.” An unexpected flash of injury darkened his gaze. “And Eliseo, this time, has taken it upon himself to stand on honor, and not let certain unfortunate events be forgotten.”

“That’s not his fault.” Margrit was surprised to hear her own voice, as though Alban and Janx had been carrying on a conversation and she, like the twins, had been left to listen in silence a long time. “Or—Oh, well, it doesn’t matter. You’re going to be furious either way. Might as well leave it alone.” She set her teeth together deliberately, trying to stop talking.

Janx, eyebrows elevated as high as they could reach, said, “You can’t possibly expect me to let that go now, Margrit.”

Exasperated with herself, Margrit sighed. “No, I can’t. The dji

“Your point, my dear. I’m sure you have one.”

Margrit shook off her musings. “The point is they were never going to settle for sharing your territory with the selkies. Daisani agreed to support them. That’s the deal that makes him unable to back down over Malik’s death.” Though Tariq’s part in helping Daisani’s financial empire crumble would probably provide the vampire with the excuse he needed to renege on that matter. Margrit bit her tongue, not wanting to complicate matters any more than she already had.

Hurt so astonished it hadn’t yet become rage filled Janx’s voice. “Eliseo made a deal with Tariq to gut my empire? Why?”

Margrit shook her head. “You’d have to—”

“Because it means he wins,” Ursula interrupted thoughtfully. “Neither of you are kidding yourselves, right? You know you’re going to have to leave New York soon anyway, because the modern world will notice you sooner rather than later, after this much time. So if you’ve both got to go, then what greater win could my father have than to set up your replacement? To fill the vacuum your absence inevitably creates? That’s game, set and match to him, and it leaves you floundering like a fool.”

Palpable anger rippled Janx’s skin, contorting his features. “There is only so much ignominy I will take gracefully, Margrit Knight. There is only so much humiliation I will stand. I have lost my territory to co

“I can do better than that.” Margrit took a deep breath, thinking of her mother working alone in an office building. “I’ve set it up so you can hand the keys to his kingdom to the selkies.”

CHAPTER 34

Two distinct things happened: glee lit Janx’s eyes again, and Ursula went uncomfortably still. Margrit’s stomach clenched at the latter, a warning that she ought to have not spoken in front of the vampire’s daughter. It was Ursula who said, into a silence that suddenly seemed very loud and long, “So what legacy do I inherit?”

“The same one I do,” Kate said, full of irritation. “You get to meet Daisani. You get to know your father. It’s not as if I’ve waltzed into a treasury full of gold here. But that was never the point, was it?”

Ursula clamped her jaw shut, staring at her sister. Then she looked away, lip thrust out in defeat. Kate got up and crawled over the back of Ursula’s chair, squirming and squashing down until they nearly shared the same space. Ursula twitched as though she’d try to escape, but in truth gave Kate a few more inches to fit into. Kate looped her arms around her sister and put her chin on her shoulder, whispering into her hair. After long moments Ursula sniffed, then harrumphed and squished back, peace evidently restored. Margrit, certain she was the only one in the room who hadn’t heard Kate’s whispers, felt a brief flash of envy for their sorority.

“My mother works for a company that holds a dozen of Eliseo’s accounts,” she heard herself saying quietly. Janx’s attention came back to her, bright with greed. “She’s working to destabilize his holdings. Kaimana’s the only one I know with the resources to take advantage of that kind of weakness. Will that do, dragonlord?”

Some of the pleasure faded from Janx’s gaze as she spoke. “Your mother. That delightful woman will go to jail for this, Margrit. While I’m not typically averse to incarcerating humans, I find it difficult to believe you asked her to do such a thing. Or that she agreed.”

“Tariq made her an offer that was hard to refuse.” Margrit bit the words off, too aware that she had asked for something that could send her mother to jail. That Rebecca had refused took away none of the guilt at having asked. “Either way, I’ve got to talk to Kaimana—”