“We have an elixir that, when drank by a vampire, and maybe drank by a human, allows that vampire to control a demon,” I said. “The last demon in the collection chamber, the most powerful one I’ve ever heard of, wasn’t trying to get away. It was trying to get into the apartment building. I want to see—”
“Youknowsomething,” EJ interrupted, his eyes on me. “Spitball it.”
“Grizz?” I said.
The guard said, “One of the two vampires trying to get to Walter had another vial of the elixir. They were trying to pour it down Walter’s throat.”
“The leviathan was supposed to possess Walter,” I said, “attracted by the brand and thegeas. They would have hauled off Walter for whatever purpose they had for a possessed vampire who could control the demon.”
“And Ivyanna?”
“Test subject?” I questioned, ice in my veins. “They had to find out if the brand would attract a demon. Maybe it worked. Maybe it didn’t. No one has seen Ivyanna since the party. Maybe they discovered a demon needed to possess avampire, that a human didn’t work, or a human couldn’t control it after it possessed her. Or maybe they needed a Rule of Three and it didn’t matter if the people were vampires. Too many unknowns.”
The Rule of Three was the mathematical rule that three witches could do much more complex magics than just one or two. Of course, a full coven with balanced elements—that was the most powerful working.
“I need to see all the other vids at four times normal speed,” I said. And then I stopped. This wasn’t aknowing. It was simple deductive recognition. “The color of the magic on Ivyanna’s hipmatches multiple threads of the working in Walter’s brand. It also matches the color of Nyoka beneath hershadowinvisibility working while hiding in the corner at the reception. We assumed the color on the vids was Nyoka’s jewelry. What if she was branded too?”
“Fu—” Raccoon stopped. “She was in Willim’s power on the ship to America.”
“She was a slave,” Grizz said, the words sounding like a curse, which slavery always had been. “There was nothing she could do to stop them.”
I said, “They had expected Walter to be at the queen’s event, becausewewere there.” I hesitated, crawling my way through impressions, eyes closing as the colors of potential intertwined workings settled into me. “His absence was the key that threw everything in their plan off.
“What if the leviathan wasintendedto be torn in two. Or three? Walter, Nyoka, and Ivyanna, at the soirée. Walter and Nyoka were here when Leviathan attacked. What if Ivyanna was nearby. Maybe in the room with the shooter in the window.”
I opened my eyes to see EJ nodding, following my reasoning. He said, “Meaning that possibly they released an entity theyintendedto break apart so each part would possess a different person, each person with a brand and ageas. I never heard of such a thing, not even in the war, but with an elixir, same batch, same maker, it might be possible to control a divided demon and combine its energies with their own powers.” His brow wrinkled. “But Nyoka was already possessed.”
Pretty Thang said, “I’m feeling cocky, as usual.” He ignored the unit’s groans. “What if they knew Nyoka was in town and would be hiding at the reception, and the witch-fanghead wasn’t supposed to be possessed until Leviathan was let free?Then she showed up at Marrazzo’s Clan Home and was possessed by accident.”
EJ tilted his head as if trying to hear how the magics might have combined. I stared into space, trying to see how the light and colors might coalesce.
EJ shook his head and said, “One vampire, one witch-vamp, and one human isn’t a balanced power-for-power Rule of Three. Ivyanna shouldn’t have been an acceptable part of a Rule of Three.”
“Walter touched Nyoka’s hip after he stabbed her,” EJ said. “What if he felt a glamoured brand?”
“Nyoka, possibly branded like Walter, was at the reception,” Villetti said. “So was Ivyanna, regardless of whether we think she was part of a ritual. They needed Walter to put it all together, whatever it is.”
“Maybe anunbalanced Rule of Three was intended all along,” EJ mused. “Maybe Ivyanna was supposed to be a vessel, a carrier, like a weakly gifted witch in a full circle.”
“Huh,” I said, mostly a grunt of surprise. The Everhart-Trueblood family was a full, particularly powerful coven. We didn’t have to think about placeholders like most covens did. That family power created a blind spot in my thinking.
I wondered how much the family coven had lost in power without EJ and me as part of its workings. My thoughts circled around to the pronouns in my mind.Wedidn’t have to think about placeholders. Some deep part of me still believed I was part of the family coven.
Villetti said, “If you are correct, it also means that the collection chamber full of demons that was carried on the warbot, must have been near the Dark Queen’s residence during the reception. If this line of logic continues, this would mean the intent was for all the guests to be possessed and three people—Nyoka, Walter, and Ivyanna—to pull the leviathan into parts and control it.”
“That idea sucks donkey toes,” Grizz said.
Aunt Jane used that line from time to time. I laughed, though it sounded like nerves, not amusement.
EJ rubbed his head, his bright red hair sticking up in sharp spikes. Whatever power my brother had used in the fight in the street, it had left him with a headache.
Maybe I should offer him my tiara.
EJ said, “Our subject may still be alive. And the vampire directing all of this has to be frustrated because Walter didn’t show at the party, and they couldn’t get to him tonight.” EJ dropped his hand. “Peg, I’m sure the queen’s security has already run the plates and compiled a list of all vehicles at the reception. Have the info sent toOjos. We’re looking for something large enough to hold that vessel Villetti blew up in the street tonight.”
Sitting back, resting against Villetti’s chest, I said, “I agree there had to be three brands, one of whom had to be Walter. Who they don’t have. We also have to assume Nyoka told someone about Walter’s brand and its layered workings. We need the branding iron. It’ll be integral to the working.”
EJ tilted his head left then right, as if measuring something. “Who branded Ivyanna and Nyoka, and who killed Londyn? Willim isn’t a witch. We’re missing a puzzle piece.”
