Edmund rose to his feet and said, “Antoine kidnapped Ming near the time that Immanuel, the Damours, Adrianna, and others were to make a play for Leo’s Blood Master status. I believe that is one reason why Adrianna and Rafael became Anamchara and allied with the Damours is that they intended to challenge him to a blood duel. Had they won that challenge, there would have been all-out war between the Mithrans and witches all across the colonies. Such a war would have played into the hands of the Europeans. Perhaps that very thing was part of their plan, and the shaman Antoine was being coerced or maneuvered by them.”

I said, “Yeah, yeah, we’ve been over and over this. He had Ming. He knew where the Damours were. He went to kill Immanuel and died instead.”

Edmund said, “You killed Immanuel, but you didn’t save Antoine. Or the other female witch. They may believe that you were responsible for Antoine’s death. And also that their fellow witches are fools for aligning with the Mithrans. They may wish to halt any such parley and drag us back into war. There is seldom only one reason for treachery, but many, interlaced and tangled.”

Eli said, “I get the vengeance angle. So they kept Ming alive but stoned, feeding her humans when they could, biding their time for revenge against Jane and the witches who ‘let it happen’”—his hands made little quotations around the phrase—“and the vamps who started it all.”

I said, “Our problem is the timeline. The women have had Ming for months. Why did they wait to hit me?”

“Changing someone into something vampish, but not a vamp, someone capable of beginning and possibly winning a war with vamps, might take time,” Eli said.

“No,” I said. “It happened to Bruiser in days.”

“But,” Edmund said, “they didn’t have a priestess to make it happen in the proper time.”

“And they might have had to wait on probate on Antoine’s estate to get the second brooch,” Alex said. “And the third and fourth brooches, which we haven’t added into the equation.”

I nodded. “Okay. We’re all on the same page, meaning we still don’t know enough. Next subject. Bruiser hasn’t sent a text or called about the girl smelling like Onorio.”

“And there’s nothing,” Alex said, “in the files or histories about female Onorios at all.”

“Fine. Molly, do you have the anti-DNA charms?” She nodded. “Good. I’ll have Leo’s CPA send you a check.” When her lips parted, I said, “What? You thought those were favors for me? Heck no. You made big bucks, baby.” Molly ducked her head and blushed, delight glimmering in her eyes.

“We’re late,” I said to the Youngers, “and so are you,” I said to Edmund and Molly. “Lachish isn’t going to get well by tomorrow night on modern medicine alone. You need to get to Tulane to donate blood to Lachish and add your magics to her healing. We need to get the security set up at the Elms. We have a conclave to put together.” And with the new charms, we might just pull it off. “Let’s all get crackin’.”

* * *

In the SUV, the powerful engine rumbling under the hood, I said, “Update.”

Eli pulled away from the curb, the lights of New Orleans casting neon glares on the windows, a group of tourists walking down the street, laughing and smelling of alcohol. A motorbike roared past, a vibrant blue crotch rocket, the exhaust foul, as if it ran too rich. He said, “You are one scary chick. I like it.”

“Get a room,” Alex said, fingers beating hard on the tablet’s keyboard.

“Ewww. He’s like my brother.”

“Fine. Buy pompoms and do some calisthenics for each other, bur shut up and listen. About an hour ago, I found clear and current pics of the women, and the young one is hot. Hot and crazy. And you know what they say about crazy women.”

“No,” I purred. “Do tell. . . .”

He looked up at my tone and quickly back down, hiding a smile. “They make the best bosses.”

“Good save. Insulting, but a good save.”

“Sending pics to your phones,” he grouched.

“How goes the background checks on the Elms’ servers, cooks, delivery people, and all the others?”

Alex began telling me everything, about the staff. Eeeeverything. The rest of the drive was tedious and boring, but, in its own way, just as important as weapons practice and workouts.

* * *

Eli and the Kid were pure wizards with electronics. They had a system set up, refined, tested, rerefined, and powered down in minutes, all the while charming the ladies and a few of the men who made it a point to come around and watch or to ask questions. Amalie, however, was less than pleased with the results of our last visit, and seemed inclined to blame Yellowrock Securities for the damage to the gardens from the icon explosions.

Overhearing her comments, Alex suggested that she contact our lawyer, or better yet, Leo’s lawyer, but that YS couldn’t be held responsible for the actions of a third party, outside the time limits of our contract. That we were being paid to provide security for the event, not the days leading up to it. And that perhaps she could consider how many lawsuits, and defensive spells gone haywire, might have resulted from the same situation had we not discovered the trap several days early. She went away dissatisfied with the financial burden placed on her to get the gardens repaired in such short order, but placated with the thought that greater disaster had been averted.