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“Why?What happened to the others?”
“Their mad king slaughtered them.”She sounded like the gruesome version of a children’s library storyteller.
“How charming.He must’ve learned leadership from the Revelare’s demon mother.”
“Divine right and royal blood mean a lot in the goblin world.The same as with you witches.”
“Fair point.”Unless a witch was female born into the right family with a Legacy bloodline, they didn’t matter to the Senate.
“Their king decided to sacrifice the royals to appease some crusty old gods to end a famine.”
“Zealots can’t be reasoned with.”Perry knew.The demon organization he’d worked for had depended upon it.
“Or it could’ve been a convenient excuse to kill off rivals to his throne.They say he executed every potential threat—no matter how young or old or feeble—except his brother and his daughter.This way.”
They passed guards strapped with handguns and assault rifles.Perry worked to keep his gaze on the floor and his powers on lockdown.Pissing off the demon-hired thugs who protected his temporary sanctuary would be the worst kind of stupid.Almost as dumb as talking goblin genocide with the pain bringer.
She stopped outside a room packed with racks of couture clothes, shelves of expensive perfume, and boxes of cigars that took up every inch of space except for narrow pathways.“Be nicer to her.”
“Will do.”He stared at the treasure hoarder’s dream.Or maybe it was a master thief’s playground.
“Good.I’d hate to kill you when you might be helpful.”Alys’s perky voice sounded like a flight attendant welcoming him to board a fun flight to hell.He followed her through a maze of electronics, watches, and jewelry, wondering how much of it was legal and how much wasn’t.Mob family problems.
Vori wore the same clothes he’d seen her in hours ago.She stared at a table piled with photographs, police reports, and medical examiner sketches among empty coffee cups and yellow candy wrappers.Judging by the slump of her shoulders, she’d been working the entire time he’d slept.
She glanced at him.Not a nice glance.A fuck-off glance.“This is not your business.”Her words stabbed at him like temper-fueled daggers.“You refused my proposal.”
“What do you have?”He took in the disorganized disaster.“Other than a mess of what looks to be multiple investigations jumbled together?”
Alys set the basket that smelled of fresh-baked bread, cheese, and lemon on the table.On top of crime scene photos.“Mom madevatrushkifor you.”She bumped Vori’s side.“Come on.Let him try.You’ve been at this for hours, and what do you have to show for it other than being tired and irritable?”
“I’m not…” Vori trailed off at the look from her cousin.“Fine.”
“Perfect.”Alys pushed away from the table.“I’ll leave you two to sort this out.Let me know if you need help burying the witch’s body.”
Perry didn’t think the pain bringer had been joking about adding him to the murder victims the supermodel goblin was already investigating.“What a family.Adopted or not.”One to fear for their brutality.Or envy for their loyalty.
“Adopted doesn’t make people any less family.”
“True.”He sorted the police reports.Five victims had been mauled to death, ripped to pieces in different countries across the globe.All in the last two weeks.“What’s the connection between the victims other than method of death?”
“Each man had a giant amethyst.”
“What makes this rock so special other than its size?”
“Rocks.Seven of them.One is still in the goblin realm.”An emotion—raw and honest—flickered across her face.Sadness?Fear?The look was gone so fast he couldn’t tell.
“So why are the others in the human realm?Amethysts aren’t that valuable.Not like rubies or diamonds.Or the enormous sapphire I got from a client.At least he said it’s a sapphire.I didn’t have time to get it appraised before conscription to the Evil-Demons-R-Us.Why would someone kill people for these stones?”
“For the same reason others have died in the past.”She tugged the cloth off the basket and stared at the pastries inside as if they’d been discussing the weather and not macabre, murderous history.
“You going to explain that cryptic tidbit?”
“The amethysts were carved from the goblin court’s blood crown.Only a true queen of Kradnovtl can wear it without inducing madness, and there has been one queen in our entire history.The realm’s original ruler.”
“Blood crown?”He’d heard a lot of scary shit in his supernatural dealings, but never that.
She broke a bun in half, making him wait until she finished eating for her answer.“The wicked crown was a golden circle of thorns heavy enough to prick the ruler’s scalp.Legend said royal blood fed the stones, making the realm stronger through the sacrifice.”
