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She’s talking in full sentences now – that’s already a massive improvement. I debate whether I should tell her what Galen showed me. “Not great. News of Nero’s death is circulating. There are some people outside who want to speak to Eli.”
“Is Livvie still downstairs? Cali?” I nod. She curls her fingers into a weak fist and waves it around. “Get them in here.”
Eager to do something to help, I go downstairs and tell Livvie that Claudia wants to see her. Cali went outside for a cigarette, stole Noah’s car, and drove off in a cloud of dust.
“Presumably, she’s gone to calm things down in Tartarus Oaks,” I say as Noah and I stare at the empty spot where his Porsche used to be.
“More likely, she’s off to incite violence and mayhem,” Noah growls. In the end, he gets on the phone and tells her Claudia might be on her deathbed, which gets Cali to come back. She may have come through for us, but that doesn’t mean she won’t relish the chance to gloat over Claudia’s corpse.
When Cali arrives, Claudia asks me to bring them to her room, and to crack open Howard’s oldest bottle of Scotch (that she’d cunningly hidden from Gabriel in the pocket of Mackenzie’s headboard) and pour a drink for them all. I hand Livvie and Cali their drinks and drop a box of juice in Claudia’s hand. She frowns at me but sticks the straw into her juice and sucks, like a good Imperator.
“Shit, girl, you look terrible.” Livvie slides into bed beside Claudia. She doesn’t look so hot herself – dressings cover her skin where she was scratched by the spines.
“Want me to finish you off?” Cali slides her knife from her belt. “I’ll make it painless. An honorable death.”
Claudia smiles at them. “You’re both awfully excited to sign my death certificate. I’m not done yet. And neither are you.”
Cali flicks her gaze to the window as she sips her drink. Something hardens in her gaze. “I don’t have enough knives to put down the chaos out there. My days are numbered as Imperator. I just hope I take as many bastards down with me as possible. Would that Constantine’s soldiers had but one neck.”
“I’ve spent too long trying to wrestle more power from Nero and Constantine,” Claudia glances at each woman in turn. “I thought the only way to be safe was to own this city. But I learned the opposite is true. You’re never truly safe, and if you can’t trust anyone, then all the power in the world means jack shit. One person shouldn’t have absolute power in Emerald Beach. I’m no better at wielding it than Nero. I think what our world needs is to cleanse this city of the old ways and build something fresh – a new Triumvirate. One made up of the three of us.”
Cali spits Scotch all over her leather skirt.
“But Nero’d already announced his successor—” Livvie starts. Claws cuts her off with a raised hand.
“Eli,” she calls. He looks up from his seat in the window, between Noah and Gabe. “Do you want to run Nero’s empire?”
“Fuck no.”
Claudia turns back to Cali. “There’s your answer. I mean, look at that Golden Boy. Do you think he’s got the cajones to stop what’s happening on the streets? No, he doesn’t. None of them do. It has to be us. We link arms, we show solidarity, and we march out there and end this war with as little bloodshed as possible.”
“What makes this Triumvirate any better than the last one?” Livvie asks. “We might shake hands now, but Cali will be trying to slit your throat in a month’s time.”
Cali twirls her knife in her hand and catches it. She doesn’t argue.
“What’s different is that we get to decide the rules. No more of this pureblood nonsense. We can nominate the best successors for our jobs. And maybe instead of trying to get the best of each other, we work together. Maybe we strike deals that benefit all of our families, instead of trying to plunder from each other.” Claudia reaches across the bed and picks up one of the cylinders. “And maybe we start by sharing this.”
She tosses the cylinder to Livvie, who uncaps it and slides out a scroll. “What are we supposed to do with this?”
“Whatever the fuck we want,” Claudia grins.
Cali flicks a knife from her sleeve. She slices across her hand. The blood drips onto the sheets as she hands the knife to Livvie, who winces as she makes a tiny cut in her palm. Claudia takes the knife and cuts herself. She holds out her hand. “Nam si violandum est jus, regnandi gratia violandum est: aliis rebus pictatem colas. In the words of Julius Caesar, If you must break the law, do it only to seize power. In all other cases, observe it.”
“Can I break necks to seize power?” Cali grins.
“Why not? We make the laws now,” Livvie says.
The three women shake.
My chest swells. I feel like I’ve just witnessed history remake itself. Emerald Beach has its new rulers.
They will not be kind.
They will not be gentle.
They will grant no mercy.
But they will be brilliant.
