All That Lives Must Die

They all turned toward Dallas and Henry. The sun had set, and in the dimming light, the two were silhouetted by flames.

This is what Audrey had come to discuss-why she’d maneuvered her sister off, and had maneuvered herself onto, the Council.

Her children. Their fates. To defend them, if possible. . and if not both, perhaps one of them could be saved.

She felt cold inside. Absolute zero cold.

She had to be. She had to think her way through this, for if she felt anything. . blood would be spilled. And despite her certainty that oceans of blood would flow one day. . that could not be today.

She prayed not today. She just needed a little more time.

Dallas broke the crystalline silence that hung in the air. “So I should talk?” she asked, dripping with sarcasm. “Now? Why, I’m not sure I have it all straight in my head.”

“Do not play games with this Council,” Lucia murmured.

Dallas stood and sneered at Lucia. “You’re no fun.”

She practically danced to the center of the room and cleared her throat. Fire illuminated her on all sides. She smiled. “Fiona is with us. More than ‘with.’ I think one day she’ll be leading us.”

Dallas turned to Audrey. “Oh, and you should see how she looks! She could be on the cover of Teen Vogue.” She laughed. “And the best part, she doesn’t even know it. Beauty and modesty-the rarest of combinations.”

She paused, touching a finger to her lip, thinking over the self-directed irony of her words.

Audrey hissed an exasperated sigh.

“We care nothing for such silliness,” Kino interrupted, folding his arms over his chest. “The only things that matter are her deeds and moral center. Assuming she has one at all.”

Dallas snorted. “You wouldn’t call it silliness if you saw her cleaned up, old prune.”

Tension crackled between Kino and Dallas-which vanished as she flashed her dimples at him. Even the Keeper of the Dead could not stay mad when she fought dirty like that.

“And as far as her moral center is concerned,” Dallas continued, “it is far more intact than any in this room. She protects the weak, fights evil, and has a certain. . je ne sais quoi, a character that reminds me of the days when Zeus fought for this family, instead of against it.”

Kino stroked his chin. “Interesting. .”

“We look forward to reading your full report,” Lucia told her.

“Oh, was I supposed to write this down?” Dallas asked, batting her eyes.

Lucia gave her a stony glare, which was wasted because Dallas turned and flounced back to the fireplace.

“Henry?” Lucia said. “What of Eliot? How did he react to the gift of the corporation and his new responsibilities?”

Henry stood and smiled.

Something was wrong. Audrey spied his still-full martini glass. His eyes were narrowed with an uncharacteristic concentration.

“Oh, I wish I could call the lad my own.” He bowed to Audrey. “Such a good boy with a sterling conscience.”

“So he accepted the chairmanship?” Kino asked.

“Well, no, not precisely.”

“Either he is running Del Mundo Pharma Chemical on our behalf,” Lucia said, leaning forward, “or he is not.”

Kino huffed. “Perhaps even this honorary position was too much responsibility for the boy, a sure indication that chaos runs through his blood.”

Audrey made no move. In truth, she wanted to know the outcome of Henry’s experiment as much as the rest of them. Was Eliot more her son. . or his father’s?

“It most certainly was not ‘too much’ for him,” Henry said. He approached Lucia and handed her a file folder of glossy photographs. “The exercise was to see if Eliot could do something to improve the refinery-to keep it literally from sinking into a pool leaking financial resources and toxic wastes.”

Lucia’s face went blank as she shuffled through the photos. “What am I looking at, Henry?”

Kino came closer and looked as well, then passed the photos to Audrey.

Audrey scrutinized the aerial photographs. The land was green and lush as land was when the world was new. The only features that marred this Eden were a four-lane freeway and a sprawling complex of stainless steel and green plastic buildings, which from ten thousand feet looked like an open flower.

“That is Del Mundo Pharma Chemical,” Henry told them.

None of them could do that. Or more accurately, those who might were unwilling to put so much at risk to do so.

Her Eliot had power. . and apparently no compunctions against unleashing it. What had this cost him?

Audrey ran her fingertips over the picture. This had a hint of the diabolical, though. The Infernals and their land. . their connections were always closer than any of the others, but that connection had ever remained in their Lower Realms. . not on Earth.

Was it possible for an Infernal to claim land here? Bring Hell to the living?

Minutes ticked by as they examined the photographs: acre after acre of impenetrable jungle, spotless white beaches, and an improbable five-kilometer spiral of river that disappeared into a sinkhole.

“So. .,” Henry continued, “I would say he passed my little challenge.”

“He solved the problem,” Kino whispered, “but the way he did so, it is not our way. When it is discovered-”

“It will not be.” Henry waved his concern away as if it were a buzzing mosquito. “Not like that. I made sure the face of the Madonna appeared on a Del Mundo Pharma Chemical stucco wall. The locals have already proclaimed it and the clean land a ‘miracle.’ ”

Audrey read the faces of Kino and Lucia: They were uncertain about Eliot.

“But,” Lucia said, “he did not stay to run things.”

“Too committed to his studies at Paxington, I’m afraid,” Henry offered.

“I like not that both twins are still so firmly entrenched at that school,” Lucia said. “How have they done on their midterms, Aaron?” She turned to him. “Have you heard yet?”

Aaron stood and grinned. “Eliot and Fiona-their entire team-all received As!” He smashed one fist into his open hand for emphasis. “And destroyed Ma’s precious obstacle course in the process. Ha!”

“A-minuses,” Audrey corrected.

“Still,” Aaron said, “they used teamwork to achieve that grade. And that is a trait of this family.”

“Could it not have been solely Fiona’s influence?” Lucia asked.

“Paxington.” Kino said this word as if it had a sour taste. “I do not trust anything that happens there. How can we, when no League member is permitted on campus?”

“Nor any of the Infernal clans,” Henry countered.

“Technically neither of those statements is true,” Lucia told them. “Any student who passes the entrance and placement exams may go to Paxington. Both Eliot and Fiona are from the League. The Infernal protegee, the Handmaiden to the Mistress of Pain, also attends Paxington.”

“We should have taken that place long ago,” Kino muttered.

“Perhaps you would storm the gates,” Henry said, “as Harlan Dells defends his wall, fights, and dies in his many incarnations as he did in the old days against the giants? Or perhaps you would test pernicious Miss Westin- who can become shadow and mist and summon her hordes from the darkness? Or would you challenge the unbeatable Ma? Even though killing him would mean death for us all?”

Aaron flinched at those names.

Kino scowled.

“We’re getting off topic.” Lucia tapped the pile of Henry’s photographs. “Have we come to a consensus on