didn’t land on my arm. Still, it slammed against my side as I collided with the ground. The pain was a white-hot spotlight inside my head. The whine that emerged from my lips was the last thing I heard as that white light darkened.
Liyliy landed beside the unconscious figure and resumed her human form. She straddled the fugitive Erus Veneficus and grabbed her hands. As her clothes melted into a wispy tentacle she said, “Let’s see what’s in your mind.”
She chanted and the tentacle dipped toward Persephone’s neck.
When it touched her, a glow emerged around the E.V. For an instant, Liyliy saw silver-white armor. In an explosion of light, Liyliy was thrust backward.
She rolled end over end and came up panting and swearing.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
As Interim Quarterlord,” Giovanni said, “my first action is to declare Menessos unfit for leadership. I assume control of this haven—”
“That duty has already been assigned to Goliath,” Mero interjected. “I was sent here to conduct this investigation—”
“And as the Interim Quarterlord I am assuming control.”
The tension in the room ramped up. Goliath was shaking with fury. Mero knew that if the situation exploded, irreparable actions would commence. He also knew that his son was a master strategist. He’d given Mero an advantage, if he needed it, and the option to back down if that was what he needed.
Mero put a hand on Goliath’s shoulder and the lanky vampire withdrew to one side. Mero entered the outer chamber. “Since you have declared yourself the Interim Quarterlord, Giovanni, you will of course understand that my rank as Advisor trumps yours. If you cared to be a part of the investigation instead of running off to beg leverage of the Excelsior, you would have already known that I relieved Menessos of his position and bequeathed this haven to Goliath, dubbing it the Cleveland haven. It is no longer a Quarterlord’s haven, so you have no one to command here. However,” he gestured ceremoniously to Goliath, “I trust you will be compliant with the Interim Quarterlord’s requests. Should you have any concerns, I will be available to hear them and mediate without hesitation.”
Goliath bowed his head respectfully.
Mero approached Giovanni. Quietly he said, “Your personal grudge against Menessos is a veil before your eyes. I will not be able to judge your motives kindly if you are not carefully impartial in how you progress from here,
Giovanni backed away, making sounds like a vicious dog. “I want the shabbubitum sisters sequestered in an interrogation room. I want to question them immediately.”
“I know just the place to conduct that,” Goliath offered and headed toward the door.
“Ladies, please follow Goliath. Your compliance is expected.” Mero patted his chest as if to remind them the necklace was under his shirt. They followed Goliath out.
Giovanni hesitated long enough to glare, then trailed the group. Mark, who was still on duty at the outer door, shut it after Giovanni. “Mark,” Mero called before it had completely closed. When the man responded, Mero added, “I believe your former master would like a few words with you.”
When Menessos saw Mark, he motioned him close. “Get a search party assembled. Every Beholder and Offerling we can spare needs to be on the streets. I want to know in what direction Persephone flew off. I want them to find witnesses, to report in what they learn from them, then to follow up all leads.”
“What about the harpy? Won’t she bring her in?”
“No. We cannot rely on her. Our people should not confront her; she must be treated with caution. Appoint someone here to coordinate via phone. That way we can combine the efforts if needed and call it off when Persephone’s found.”
“Is the court witch a traitor, Boss?”
“No.”
“It won’t be easy to convince the Beholders and Offerlings of that just now.”
“Don’t worry about that. Just tell them Persephone must be brought in unharmed. Tell them Goliath has been appointed Haven Master and that the order comes from him.”
Mark bowed before leaving.
Mero resumed his bedside seat. “Their continued loyalty is a tribute to you.”
“As is yours. Thank you for trumping Giovanni.”
“It felt good,” Mero said as the door opened.
Goliath rolled a cart bearing a television into the rear chamber. He powered the system on and left.
In a conference room, Giovanni paced. The sisters were seated at a large cherry table. The décor was all dark browns, leather and wood and a few items of deep green. From the aim of the shot, the lens of the camera had to be hidden in the upper corner.
“We saw many things,” Ailo was saying.
“Tell me all of it.”
“What we see is . . . voluminous. We could discuss it for weeks,” Talto explained. “The images convey so much meaning, books’ worth of words into a snippet of memory. And it darkens with time.”
“If you have a specific area to focus your curiosity, ask questions,” Ailo suggested.
“Both the sound and picture are good,” Mero observed.
“Yes,” Menessos said. “The microphone is encased within the scrollwork of the torchiere floor lamp.”
“What of the witch?” Giovanni demanded. “Is she the Lustrata?”
“She is the bearer of the Lustrata’s mantle. Her powers are not yet complete, but she is getting close.”
“Did Menessos willingly accept her hexes?”
“Not exactly.”
“What do you mean?”
“She bore his mark, and then that mark was flipped.”
“Flipped?”
“It was overturned and the connection that was once his binding upon her, metamorphosed into her binding upon him.”
“How did she accomplish this?”
“She did not. A goddess did.”
At that, Mero faced Menessos with the question plain in his expression.
“The Lustrata has Hecate’s favor.”
Mero wanted to know more, but the interrogation continued.
“A goddess.” Giovanni crossed his arms. “A goddess.”
“No mortal can sever such a mark. Only divine intervention could have achieved this.” Talto’s tone was utterly serious.
“You do not have to believe or enjoy what we claim to have seen, but you would be a fool to discount our words,” Ailo said. The warning in her tone was not hidden.
“The second hex?” Giovanni prompted.
“He was nearly dead,” Talto said.
Ailo clarified. “She had staked him.”
Again, Mero faced Menessos in disbelief. He whispered, “You covet a mortal woman who drove a stake into your heart and forced a hex upon you?” This intimate revelation declared the complexity of the vampire that had Made him. “Why?”
Menessos remained intent on the screen and made no attempt to answer.
Giovanni, too, was astonished by this. “She staked him in order to hex him,” he repeated. “How did he survive?”
“The stake was extracted.”
