As he was pushed out into the pit and down toward the prison entrance, the last thing he heard was Mia’s terrified scream.
Violet stared at the phone every few minutes as she researched the names Kade had given her—all Dragons, all dead. She didn’t like that he’d hung up so abruptly and hadn’t called back. It’s only been twelve minutes. He’ll call back soon.
When her phone rang, she lunged for it. Not Kade but Ernie. She frowned. Why would he be calling her?
“What’s up?” she asked. Please don’t let my clan be there causing trouble.
His voice was low as he said, “You’d better come on down here. A few of the clans are having a meeting. Didn’t start out that way, but they’re talking. And that would be a good thing, but they’re talking about your clan and the murders in the same conversation. You didn’t hear it from me.” He hung up.
She thought about bringing her brothers but decided against it. They would cause more trouble and, really, she had enough right now.
There were only a few vehicles in the lot when she pulled in a short time later. At the door, she took a deep breath, smoothed her shirt, and walked in all casual-like. A group of men and women clustered at the low tables inside Ernie’s bar. Peregrines along with the Augusts and a few Murphys, the people who had likely killed Arlo. Rage rippled through her and burned where her Dragon resided. She put her hand at her waist and sauntered over.
“Well, lookee who’s here. Fancy that,” one of the Murphys said, shooting a glare at Ernie, who was wiping glasses.
“I came in for a beer. Been a helluva last few days.” She took them all in, anger simmering in their eyes. “Fancy you all sitting here playing nice.”
Toth August came to his full, lanky height. “That’s more than your clan is doing.”
Danger prickled over her skin. “What are you talking about?”
Bob Murphy stood too and held up a key ring. “One of yours came onto our land and killed Dan. Left this for us to find.”
Bren said, “My cousin saw you pick up something over at our place, after Butch got killed. You came over, pretending to be all concerned, but I think you were hiding evidence. I know you’re trying to protect your brothers, but someone’s gotta pay.”
They started moving in on her, fists at their sides.
“Stop!” She held out a hand, standing firm. “We’re not murdering people. The Guard is.”
They paused and looked at each other. Then burst out laughing.
“The Guard snuck onto our land and planted your key ring, did they?” Bob said.
Well, when he put it like that. “Look, I know it sounds unbelievable. I haven’t had a chance to figure out the why of it. Marshall,” she said to the Peregrine patriarch she’d spoken with, “you said there were footprints leading to the Wolfrums. And you,” she said to the Augusts, “You found a handkerchief that likely belonged to the Spears boy. Think about it. Suddenly members of three clans independently decide to murder someone and leave evidence, to boot. Blatant evidence.”
“Why not? Everyone’s getting restless, with the solar storm coming. But that doesn’t mean we’re going to put up with it.”
The solar storm. How did the power of the storm factor in? It made the Deus Vis fluctuate, affected weaker Crescents and made others loopy.
She turned to Toth. “You’ve got to call your people, tell them to watch out for Kaitlyn.”
“Is that a threat?” Bren’s eyes narrowed.
“No, it’s a warning. Someone in the Guard has a map of all our territories, and he’s methodically targeting us. We caught a female Carnelian about to Breathe Paul Slade…after she murdered him.” She met their gazes. “Everyone who’s been killed so far has been Breathed. She’s doing it for the power, but we stopped her from Breathing Paul.”
“Who’s we?” Bren asked.
“The guy I was with.” She wanted to check her phone again and see if he’d called. She had a bad feeling about him going back to Headquarters. “He’s Guard, but he’s been helping me investigate this on his own time.”
“The Guard?” Bren said. “You brought the Guard into our business!”
“The very Guard you’re saying is trying to get us to kill one another,” Bob said, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
“He left the Guard over this, because he suspects corruption.” She wasn’t going to get into all that. “I want peace here. I don’t want to have to bury my family, and I know you don’t want to bury yours either.”
Toth at least seemed to be listening to her. “Why would someone target Kaitlyn? She hasn’t been Awakened yet, so it’s not for her power.”
“If someone wanted to incite war among the clans, killing a child would do it.”
