"But she didn't." I couldn't imagine hiding for so long. "She survived and founded the Taverner Trust in 1980. Then Corvus in 1982."
"There were two years between the fire and the Trust," Aidon observed. "Enough time to be found by the right people. Or the wrong ones."
"The question is," Stella said quietly, "does she know? Does Audrey Taverner understand that the organization she built, the system she created to 'preserve magical bloodlines'. Does she know it's run by the same creatures who killed her daughters?"
"Does it matter?" Nana's voice was hard. "She's been harvesting children for decades. Eighty-three families were destroyed that we know of. Whether she knows who killed her daughters or not, she's become exactly what they are."
"It matters," Mom said softly. "Because if she doesn't know, if she's been manipulated this entire time?—"
"Then she's both victim and monster," I finished. The thought made my stomach turn. "And that might be the worst part of all."
The scope of it was staggering. A woman who'd lost everything, twisted by grief into becoming the architect of the very horror that had destroyed her own family. Whether sheknew the truth or not, she'd built an empire on murdered children.
"The essence she's been stealing," Stella said, her voice carefully controlled. "Where does it go? What's she doing with it?"
"Extending her own life, probably," Nana said. "Fifty years of this—she'd need stolen power to survive that long."
"Or she's still trying to bring her daughters back," Aidon suggested, his voice dark. "Necromancy on that scale requires immense power."
"Either way," Tarja projected, her tail lashing, "she's built an empire on murdered children. The Trust funds Corvus. Corvus identifies targets. The Thessmark collect power and kill innocent babies."
"She turned her daughters' deaths into justification," I said. "In her mind, what she’s doing is probably noble. She might even believe she is saving magical bloodlines instead of destroying them."
"The worst monsters always do," Mom said quietly. "They convince themselves they're heroes. That the ends justify the means. That their grief, loss, and pain matter more than everyone else's."
Jean-Marc cleared his throat, drawing our attention back to the screen. "I found video footage of her if you’re interested."
He pulled up a grainy video, timestamp showing it was from three weeks ago. The camera angle suggested that it was security footage from inside the Corvus medical offices. A woman walked down a corridor. She was tall, slender, with dark hair going silver at the temples. Her face was lined with age but animated with purpose as she spoke to someone off-camera.
"That's her," Tarja projected. "That's Audrey Taverner. She looks older, but it's her."
We watched as she entered a room at the end of the corridor. The camera angle didn't show what was inside, but I didn't need to see. Somehow, I knew the Scythe was in there.
"She's actively involved," I blurted as surprise washed through me. "Not just funding it from a distance."
"Which means she might have sanctioned the attack on our babies. I know she’s there tonight," Aidon growled.
"I want her to see us coming," I said. “I want her to know that her empire is burning down around her. And if she doesn't know the truth about her daughters—if she's been a pawn this whole time—maybe it's time someone told her."
Stella grinned, fierce and sharp. "Now you're talking."
CHAPTER 12
The drive to the Corvus building took twenty-three minutes. Aidon drove his BMW SUV in careful silence while I sat in the passenger seat. I watched the city lights blur past. In the back, Nana checked her weapons. The soft click of her shotgun being loaded was the only sound breaking the tension. Stella sat beside her. She was perfectly still as her mind raced through scenarios and contingencies.
"You good back there?" I asked, glancing in the rearview mirror.
"Better than good, Buttercup." Nana's grin was sharp enough to cut glass. "I haven't had this much fun since I told your grandfather I was pregnant with your mother."
Stella snorted as Aidon pulled into an abandoned lot with clear sightlines to the Corvus building. The facility loomed three blocks away. Its windows were dark except for the security lights marking the perimeter. From this distance, it looked like any other medical office building. It was clean and professional. All of it was nothing but a lie.
Jean-Marc's voice crackled through the earbud. "Security diagnostic window opens in eight minutes. I'm ready to loop the feeds, but I can only hold them for forty-five minutes beforethe system auto-corrects. After that, you'll be visible to anyone monitoring."
"Got it," I said, pressing my finger to the earpiece. "How are things at the house?"
"Layla and Murtagh are patrolling the perimeter with Tseki. Nina just fed the babies. Everyone's secure." Jean-Marc's voice softened slightly. "Mom, be careful."
"Always am," I promised as Aidon's hand squeezed my shoulder. He would be there to protect me and make sure we all got back home safely.
