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He waited until I'd drunk the damn stuff and then said, “So, Branna?”
I crossed my arms and grimly updated him on not only everything that had gone on over the last twenty-four hours, but everything I suspected.
By the time I'd finished, his expression echoed mine. “I would like to think that Julius Valkarie is not involved in Dream's schemes, but who knows how far the tendrils of her evil has spread.”
“You know him?” I asked, surprised.
“Know of him, more precisely. He is, as Minister for Home Defense, the commander and chief of the ranger division, and a good one at that.”
“I got the impression he left the day-to-day operations to his staff.”
Jonas hesitated. “He never used to, but it's been a while since I resigned from the ranger division. Things could have changed.” He pursed his lips for a moment, his expression thoughtful. “If Hedda is in fact Dream, then that might also explain the chancellor’s current state of ill health.”
“How so?”
“Hedda is Karlinda's younger sister.”
“But she's not—” I stopped. Sal had told me that Winter was a rare vampire survivor and that he'd been the force behind the push to give vampires light immunity. But they were all survivors of a rift that had mashed their DNA together, and while Sal had never shown any hunger for blood, that didn't mean the other two had similarly skipped the need. And the vampires in the bunker I'd raided had not only mistaken me for someone else, but had called me mistress. Not master. Mistress.
If Dream was feeding off the people closest to her Hedda Lang persona, then she'd been doing it for some time, given Karlinda's gradual descent into frailty. But how the hell was she getting away with it without someone catching on?
“Why would anyone catch on?” Jonas asked, obviously following my thoughts. “They were taking multiple blood samples at Winter Halo with no one being the wiser. It would be very easy for Dream—in her Hedda disguise—to take the same sort of approach with her so-called sister.”
“Yes, but surely someone would have connected the dots and have realized the weakness and anemia got worse after every sisterly visit?”
“Why would they? Hedda isn't a registered survivor of a vamp attack and she shows no outward signs of vampirism.” He grimaced. “And, unfortunately, not even Nuri can make a move on her without concrete proof. All we have so far is suspicion.”
“It’s far more than a mere suspicion.”
“Yes, but we still cannot act against her without proof. She is both too well regarded and well guarded for any action against her to succeed.”
“You don’t have to get close—any long-range rifle would take care of the problem nicely.”
A smile touched his lips. “Except that Dream is a body shifter like yourself, and unless we get close, we can’t be absolutely positive it’s not the real Hedda Lang we’re shooting.”
That was, rather annoyingly, all too true. “What does the chancellor actually do? Is it an official or ceremonial position?”
“Historically, the chancellor was the chairman of the governing body of the universities board, but after the war it became a position within the House of Lords itself. He or she is responsible for overseeing the running of the house, and is called on to vote if there is a tie on a piece of legislation.” He frowned. “Why?”
I leaned back in the chair and rubbed a hand across my eyes. “Karlinda invited Charles and me to dinner tomorrow night, so I figured I’d better be aware of what she actually does. It's possible Hedda will be there. If she is, then I might be able to act against—”
“No,” he said immediately. “Hedda Lang, as divisional second, is never without protection. It would be nothing short of suicide to even contemplate carrying a weapon into Karlinda’s premises, let alone trying to use it.”
“So I’m simply to sit there and do nothing?”
“I’d rather you not sit there at all,” he said. “Even without the bracelets Branna stole, she’s still an earth witch of some power. She might well sense that you are more than you seem, just as Nuri did.”
“Nuri had the advantage of a psychic connection with Penny and knew from the outset that I was lying.”
His expression clouded over further at the mention of his niece's name. I knew why without even asking.
“Jonas—”
“I cannot let it be,” he said, his expression suddenly fierce. “And I will not give up on her. Not until I know, with absolute certainty, that there is no hope.”
“I know, but—”
“You, of all people, should understand why,” he continued. “You went against reason and put your life on the line to rescue a child injected with wraith pathogens simply because you believed she had a chance—that she deserved the opportunity and the time to prove she was not the sum of what they'd done to her. How can you expect me not to offer my own flesh and blood that same chance?”
