Kelly Meding - Requiem for the Dead

I shuddered. "Worst case scenario?"

"No." She made a sour face. "The worst case scenario here is that Vale's open challenge could lead to civil war among all Therians."

"Yeah, that's definitely worse. Has that happened before?"

"According to legend, the last time we came close was when the Assembly ordered the decimation of the Lupa. Not all Clans agreed that genocide was the way to end their reign of terror."

"So Vale has himself a kind of win-win scenario here," I said as I puzzled it out in my head. "He wants the Danes out of power, and he also wants the Assembly out of the Watchtower."

"The trouble is, his methods will ensure the Tucks never regain power within the Pride. He has directly attacked Pride members and kidnapped the grandson of the Elder. He will likely focus his energies on the other Clans now, sowing discord from within."

"It only takes one match to start a forest fire."

"Exactly."

Hell, this just kept getting worse and worse. "Did Vale actually expect Marcus to give him the security codes to the Dane mansion?"

Astrid shook her head. "Doubtful, but he did succeed in putting Marcus in an untenable situation. If Marcus gave in, he failed both his Pride and his family. However, by resisting, he can be painted as heartless by allowing a loved one to be physically harmed."

Loved one. I should have chosen my next question with more tact, but it slipped. "It sort of outs him to the Pride, too, doesn't it?"

"It certainly verifies years of speculation. As reckless as today's kidnapping seems, Vale will absolutely benefit. Marcus will suffer the most."

"And Vale has it in for Marcus because Marcus helped capture Prentiss?"

"Yes."

I exhaled hard. "No one in this town ever does anything half-assed, do they?"

Astrid's mouth quirked. "No, they don't. Present company included."

"Does that mean you have a plan?"

"We find Vale, and we continue to deal with the goblin threat. The newest Queen targeting you is named Nessa?"

"Yeah." I'd given her a brief overview of my goblin encounter earlier. I retold it with more details, including a fun fact that had only now sunk in. "They were toying with me on the street. I had no chance against the six of them, not without better weapons. All they had to do was attack me en masse."

"Agreed."

"I want to go out hunting tonight, no mercy, like the old days."

Astrid only hesitated a few seconds before saying, "Who do you want to take?"

"Tybalt, Paul, Kyle, and Autumn for sure," I said without hesitation. Her help last month hunting down the Lupa pups had put her on the Mostly Trust list with Kyle. "And anyone else who wants to go. We used to hunt in threes, I'm thinking pairs will be more manageable. One human, one Therian."

"All right. I'll get that into the works."

"Thank you, Astrid."

At first, I hadn't known what to make of Astrid Dane. She was a small, powerful woman who looked to be in her mid-thirties, with the black hair and dark eyes of a Roman goddess and the personality of a rattlesnake. But she was incredibly smart, insanely loyal, and had a good heart when it mattered most. I could see what had drawn a teenage Tybalt to her—and what probably still drew the older versions of each to the other, even if they both seemed to actively deny it.

Before I left Ops, I got a new cell phone. One of the nice things about our financial setup was a ready supply of cheap phones, as well as the ability to transfer numbers with efficiency. Made it less of a problem when we lost or broke them.

Cell phone in hand, I reluctantly gave Reilly a call. I hadn't forgiven him for the scene in the diner,, and couldn't say for sure I still trusted the man, but we needed all of our allies on this. I did take a small measure of satisfaction in his timid greeting before filling him in on the latest drama with the Felia. He promised to keep an eye out for Vale and Starr Tuck, and to report any rumblings about the Assembly.

"I want to apologize again for this morning's ambush," he said before I could end the conversation.

I glared at the corridor tiles spread out in front of me as I walked toward the sleeping quarters. "Don't ever do that to me again, Reilly."

"I won't. As I said, they contacted me before—"

"Whatever. I don't want to talk about the Frosts."

"They aren't going anywhere, Evangeline. They've called me twice today, begging me to contact you on their behalf."

"They know their daughter is kind of alive. What more do they want?"

"A relationship."

"I'm not their kid."

"Do you plan on explaining how that's possible?"

"Not a chance."

"Then you need to talk to them. Convince them that Chalice is fine, so they can go home with a clear conscience."

"I can't lie to them."

He sighed long and loud. "They're parents. Ignoring them won't make them go away."

I hated so much that he was right. "Look, I have too much on my plate to make nice with Chalice's parents, okay? Maybe after we find Vale, prevent Therian civil war, save the vampires who are dying, and stop the latest goblin Queen who wants me dead. Maybe then I can make nice with the Frosts."

"That's some To Do list."

"Welcome to my life."

"If I hear anything useful, I'll be in touch."

"Thank you."

I hung up. Reilly was a somewhat- seful, occasionally frustrating, ally. The call also reminded me of a very important fact: I was a lot less anonymous now than I used to be. Running around the city in daylight would be a new challenge. Good thing the sun was setting in a couple of hours.

I had some goblin hunting to do.

After a long shower and a change of clothes, I went down to the infirmary and was immediately denied visitation rights with Milo.

"He needs rest, not visitors," Dr. Reid Vansis said. He was an intimidating doctor, not because of his physical appearance—which was actually kind of bland, almost meek—but because of his gruff manner and the fact that he shifted into an enormous grizzly bear. We were alone in the infirmary's outer office, and I wasn't getting any farther.

"But he's okay?" I asked.

"The boy has serious contusions on his back and ribs, and some deep bone bruising on both legs. He's being kept sedated for now, while I try to reduce the swelling. He'll be in a great deal of pain when he wakes up."

"Nothing's broken?"

"No, no broken bones, but he's still looking at a minimum of several weeks before he's fully mobile again."

"Because of his legs."

"Correct. Now if you'll excuse me?"

He didn't have to ask twice. Milo's condition could have been much worse, but he was still in bad shape, and I hated that. Hated seeing any of my friends suffer, like so many were suffering over Baylor's death. My chest seized, and more tears threatened to show themselves. I tamped down on the unwanted emotion as I sought out the one person I really wanted to talk to about all of this.

I found him at the other end of the Watchtower, past the gym, in the old department store we were renovating into a training obstacle course. A frozen escalator took up space directly ahead—one of the few internal structures that hadn't been torn down yet—and Wyatt was sitting on the bottom step. He didn't say anything when I sat next to him. He simply turned and folded me into his arms. I pressed my cheek against his shoulder and slipped my arms around his waist, absorbing his warmth, breathing in his scent. Enjoying the beat of his heart so close to mine.

We didn't say anything for a while; there was no need.

"I'm sorry we lost the vampires' cure," he said.

"So am I." I'd been so excited to present Horzt's gift to Eulan, and now it was missing, along with the ancient elf scroll. Five minutes in my possession, and I lost a Fey artifact. That had to be some kind of record. "Reilly says the Frosts are still up his butt about talking to me."