Destroying the Maere’s old place made an enemy of EmberVerona, but we couldn’t risk anyone finding out what we knew—and all the answers had been in that ramshackle old mansion, if anyone had known what to look for. And someone had been closing in on us. Burning it down had been the only answer—but we’d thought they’d all been out.
We’dseenSerafine Duval just an hour before. Or at least Av was told we had, by one of her best informants. But we’d been wrong. And while the Maere couldn’t die, they could be gravely injured. It took Sera years to recover. It’s what broke Orphium’s Maere.Webroke them.
And much as I hated to admit it, the Trinity needed strong Maere to keep the balance between us, the Consulate, and the mundane world. The Authority and the Corps pulled too much power these days—they were practically one and the same, having bought one another off so many times that anyone who bothered to pay attention had lost count. It had only made them both worse, and more powerful.
The Consulate was nothing like my adoptive father, Roman Necroline, had intended for it to be anymore. They had lost their way long before his untimely death, but things got worse all the time. The nominal power the Trinity used to hold within the organization had dissolved, and as I wasn’t Roman’s biological child, I had no claim to his Founder’s Seat on the high council.
We took a calculated risk by tipping Verona off to the swords. I could only hope it was worth it. The Consulate ruled us more directly, but they were not a sovereign entity. Despite everything, on some level, they still answered to the Authority. We all did—there was no use in longing for the ancient past.
I shoved the threat of nostalgia for a time that never was to the back of my mind, drumming my fingers on my knee. Av took a sip of her coffee, then put the car into gear. As she pulled out of the alley, I leaned back in my seat, breathing deeply. Trying to get the scent of Ember Verona’s perfume out of my nose.
Typically, I hated the smell of roses, but she smelled like something else as well, something rich, musky, with a hint of spice. Peppercorn, perhaps? That had to be it. The perfume’s unexpected allure was the reason I couldn’t stop thinking about how she smelled when I dropped the tip.
She’d been hungover, keeping her oval sunglasses on the entire meeting, but she never went out without earrings, a slick of lipgloss, and smelling good enough to devour. Today there’d been a slump in her shoulders that made me uneasy. I’d had the bizarre urge to ask her if she wanted my macaroni and cheese recipe, but blessed be the Saints, I’d kept that to myself. I tried to tell myself I was just happy she hadn’t vomited in public.
“What’s the word on Lara Achilles?” I worked hard to banish thoughts of the way Verona’s leggings hugged every luscious curve of her thighs, or the odd surge of jealousy I felt seeing her oversized leather jacket. Six of one, half dozen the other she was going for style, but the mere thought that it might have been a lover’s irritated me.
Eryx folded his newspaper and pushed a lock of hair away from his face. People said we looked alike, but my brother had at least twenty-five pounds of muscle on me and a good five inches. Other than that, sure, we were alike. Dark hair, somewhere between brown and black, pale tattooed skin, and our mom’s crystalline green eyes.
Eryx turned slightly in his seat. “Achilles paid a visit to Aqualand last night.”
Inwardly, I swore. How did she know we were on to her? “Did she talk to Bubbles?”
“They were the only one in last night,” Av said as she turned uptown.
“Hang a left on Park,” I said with a sigh. “Let’s go see about a fish.”
CHAPTER 4
EMBER
The smellof chlorine hit me in the face as I breezed into the Mega-Dome Swim Center. The yellow structure ballooned over the green water of the half-dozen pools, glowing like some cheap version of the sun. It was the closest we were going to get to a sunny day this time of year, and though the chlorine made me sneeze, the wet, warm air was welcome enough.
There wasn’t much use in searching for Lara. I knew exactly where she’d be today as soon as the pool opened. I waved to little Eden Philips, who wasn’t a kid anymore but always would be to me, then swiped my card at the reader and found a seat in the bleachers.
My phone buzzed with notifications. I glanced through them. My monthly work from the Consulate was wrapping up. It was mostly administrative tasks right now—more glorified errand-girl shit that I hated. It had been a while since I had a bigger job. The last had been guarding the Aradios Trinity leaders at their annual meeting with their Orphium counterparts three months ago. Without my sistren, real jobs—like the ones the Maere in the other territories got frequently—were fewer and farther between all the time.
I resisted the urge to fuck with my phone and doomscrollthrough all the bad news and weirdos hawking pyramid schemes. Nothing on socials was entertaining anymore—even the cute cats were selling something these days.
At any rate, my situation was anxiety-producing enough without all the extra stimulus, so I stashed my phone. My knee bounced erratically while I waited, my hands itching for something to do. I’d never been good at sitting still. Lara was in the furthest lane from me, zooming through the water like a damn porpoise, and twice as mean.
When she finally popped out of the water, I stood up. She caught the movement as she pulled herself up on the ladder, rivulets of the chlorine-packed stuff streaming off her. Lara was just as handsome as she’d ever been, and she’d built up an impressive rack of muscles in the Asylum.
“Fuck,” I saw her say, rather than hearing her, because Eden Philips was blasting some wailing lounge singer over the speakers. But Lara didn’t bolt on me, which I took as an invitation to talk.
I picked my way between puddles on the tile floor and cut right to the quick of it. “Someone’s got our swords and they’re going to auction them off at the National Gallery Gala.”
Lara didn’t so much as act surprised. The smug bitch pulled a towel off a red plastic lounger and asked, “You know this for certain?”
There was no use in lying to Lara. We’d known each other for too long. “No. I thought we could check it out together. But the intel came from Ares Necroline, so…”
Lara rolled her eyes. “So it’s just as likely a goose chase as real intel?”
I crossed my arms, not disagreeing, but not wanting to talk it out either. “Don’t you want to find out?”
She squinted as she thought it over. “Meet me in the parking lot in ten.”
I moved to follow her, and she glared at me. “If you followme to the showers, Verona, I’ll kick your skinny ass six ways from Sunday and twice on Tuesday.”
