“They overlooked the vampire chickens altogether,” I remarked. “What were they looking for, then?”
I suspected I knew what… or who. Harris thought the Spirit Agents had been sheltering the escaped Family members. That, or he’d been more worried about the cantrip which had killed Zade than he’d let on.
Miles shrugged. “Anything that might undermine their rule in the city, I imagine.”
“That, or he wants to seize our property,” said Shelley. “Wouldn’t be the first time the Houses have decided the vampires’ old houses are theirs for the taking. Luckily, we have the paperwork to send them packing.”
“Damn right we do,” Miles said. “It’s not like we’re encroaching on their territory. Unless you count the incident with the wyrm.”
“Or the time we accidentally sent those phantoms inside the House of Water,” Tate added from behind him.
“You did?” I said.
“Miles’s fault, as per usual,” said Shelley, with an eye-roll. “Really, it’s amazing the Houses haven’t taken him into custody by now.”
“How long have you been here in this house?” I asked curiously. “I assume you didn’t grow up here.”
“We didn’t,” Miles said. “Not all of us did, anyway.”
“You and Grey were already living here with some of the others when you were, like, fourteen,” Shelley pointed out. “Tate and I came along later. We moved out of our parents’ house when it became clear they viewed having two spirit mages in the family as a double dose of bad luck.”
“Sorry,” I said. “I know about family issues.”
Miles shot me a look of sympathy, then glanced out the window. “They’re retreating. Don’t come back here, fuckers.”
“Were you telling the truth about having a cantrip supplier?” I asked him.
“Yes,” he said. “Why?”
“I think Harris might have been looking for the source of the cantrip which killed the jailor,” I said. “That or he thought the Family might be here, but it makes no sense for them to assume you were hiding them in the attic or something.”
“Unless they know about Shawn,” he added.
“Good point.” It was either that or they assumed I’d dragged the Spirit Agents into my nefarious plans, but Harris plainly hadn’t expected to find me here. “Maybe they do, but Shawn was jailed long before Zade’s murder.”
“Help me out here.” Shelley looked between us. “You’re saying someone was murdered at the House of Fire. Did they follow you here and assume we were in on it?”
“No,” I said hastily. “The guy was murdered before I even came to Elysium today. The Death King sent me to talk to the House of Fire, and I didn’t know anything about the jailor’s death until I got there.”
Shelley made a noise of distaste. “Right. The Death King wants an alliance with the Houses?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Have the Spirit Agents ever cooperated with the Houses before? You mentioned the House of Spirit…”
“The Court of the Dead is the House of Spirit,” said Miles.
“Wait, it is?” I said, disarmed.
“I thought you knew,” he said. “All the surviving members of the House of Spirit got turned into liches after the war. We’re what’s left of the next generation of spirit mages who managed to escape the cull, mostly because we were born into non-spirit mage families. That’s why we’re not given the same authority as the Houses or recognised as a House in our own right.”
This was news to me. “I know the other Houses ended up turning into prisons for mages after the war, but I didn’t know there was ever a House for spirit mages. I assumed you did your own thing.”
“We do,” he said. “But any spirit mage who’s related to anyone in the House of Spirit always ends up as a lich. Nothing we can do about it.”
“You’re not going to turn, are you?” I asked.
“Nah,” he said. “I’m safe. No spirit mages in my family except for me.”
“Good.” I looked from him to Shelley and Tate, thinking of what she’d said earlier about him living here since he was a teenager. “So… you moved here when you were fourteen?”
“Not alone,” he said. “There were half a dozen of us back then. Grey was the oldest… he became Death King at eighteen or thereabouts.”
“Grey?” I echoed. “The Death King has a name?”
“Most people do,” he said, amusement glittering in his eyes. “As for me… well, my parents are safely and happily incarcerated in the Houses’ facility in the north of Elysium. They couldn’t really take care of me after that.”
His words knocked the breath from me. “They… they were arrested? For what?”
What had they done to get themselves locked up in the highest security prison for magical criminals in the city? The same place my family had been locked up in, no less, before they’d escaped? It seemed I was mistaken in thinking I was the only one of the pair of us sitting on some major secrets.
His mouth pressed into a line. “My parents are mages, but not spirit mages. They were House members, until they did something the Houses didn’t like, and that was the result.”
“Damn,” I said. “I’m sorry.”
“It was a long time ago,” he said. “Those guys who came here to search the place didn’t taunt me about it, so they might not know who I am.”
“I guess they were more interested in looking for the Family,” I said. “Or your cantrips.”
Shelley gave me an appraising look. “Or the murderer?”
“Hey, don’t look at me,” I said. “They’re the ones who decided to imprison Adair in their basement. The dude has mind-control powers which might be able to circumvent their magic-suppressing security. He might’ve convinced anyone to commit murder on his behalf.”
“Isn’t your friend in there, too?” said Tate.
Dammit. I should have guessed the others wouldn’t forget so easily. “Yes. She claims she didn’t do it. Even if she
