Blood Heir (Aurelia Ryder, #1)(72)

My head was killing me. I desperately needed rest. Either I went to bed now or my body would shut me down and I’d fall asleep right here, on the floor.

Maybe I would get a flash of brilliance in the morning.

I locked my doors, both of them, and dragged myself to bed.





14





The morning brought a fresh magic wave, and a strong one too. The lotuses in the basin bloomed in seconds, and now their petals glowed gently above the water.

I brewed a fresh pot of tea and built a fire in the cauldron. The flames licked the dry wood, it caught, and I tossed a handful of herbs into the fire. They ignited in a flash, turning the flames blood-red. Magic splayed from the cauldron. I grasped it and reached through it to my grandmother.

Her voice came through first.

“Seven days! How very modern of you.”

The flames snapped into the image of my grandmother. Tall and broad-shouldered, in real life she towered over me. Like Kate, she was stunning. Powerful face, beautiful features, bronze skin, and a wealth of black hair streaming down over her shoulders. I’d seen her in armor and in formal gowns, with gold jewelry tracing her brow and neck. Seeing her in a tank top and sweatpants never failed to crack me up.

“Ungrateful child. I see you smirking. Was my worrying funny to you?”

“No, ma’am.”

“Ugh.” Erra shook her head. “Tell me everything that’s happened.”

By the time I brought her up to speed, I was on my second cup of tea.

“What a damn mess.”

Don’t I know it.

“What are you going to do about Feldman?”

“Depends on where his mind is when I meet him this morning. I must contain him at all costs, or he might mobilize the Chapter and start a manhunt to find Derek. Or worse, he might rope the Pack into it.”

“That man is good at keeping secrets. Use it.”

“I’ll do my best.”

Erra frowned. “Tell me about this divine beast.”

“I have no idea what it is. I have never seen that magic signature before. I’ve never heard of anyone eating some creature’s heart to see the future. There are legends of people eating mystical birds’ hearts and gaining magic powers, but nothing that fits.”

My grandmother tapped her fingernails on something, thinking. “You said the historian had a chance to flee, but she didn’t take it.”

“Yes. It looked like she started to but stopped.”

“It must have spoken to her.”

“Why?”

Erra drained her cup. “An academic like her would be trained to keep an open mind. Something made her more curious than frightened, and as a teacher, she would place great value on communication. If the beast spoke, she would stop and listen to it. She would reason and ask questions.”

How did I not see it before? “That makes perfect sense.”

The list of creatures that could speak was short. The general rule was if the creature was depicted with a human head, it had the power of speech, provided it reached a high level of magic or the right age. Lamassu was one. The manticore was one, too, although the manticores I’d run across were beast-like and never spoke. Sphinxes. Nagas. Harpies.

“An idiot would have run away and kept running. Sometimes our intelligence is to our detriment.” Erra sighed. “There has been a development. If you hear about any incidents related to the Casino and necromancers, try to avoid that area.”

“Why?”

Erra hesitated.

“Grandmother?”

“Namtur is in Atlanta.”

I choked on my tea. “What is the High Sakkan doing here?”

“Damned if I know. He said he wanted a ‘respite.’ I gave him a month, and what does that ingrate do with his vacation? He goes to Atlanta and gets himself captured by the necromancers.”

Now her frantic attempts to reach me made sense. Namtur was a ticking time bomb. She didn’t even trust Hugh enough to tell him about it. Probably because he would’ve dropped everything and come to drag Namtur out of Atlanta before he caused a massive incident.

“He let the People capture him? How are they still alive?”

“They’re alive because he has some kind of scheme.”

“That’s what I am afraid of.” When Namtur schemed, streets ran red with blood. Literally. “I thought we agreed that I would handle Atlanta on my own.”

Erra raised her hands. “I didn’t send him there! I didn’t even know where he was until Ghastek called us two days ago.”

Ghastek, the head of the People, now EIN, in Atlanta, was trouble. He was calculating and ruthless. A navigator armed with a single vampire could wipe out a SWAT team in seconds. Ghastek could easily pilot two at a time and had enough navigators under his command to massacre everyone in the city in twenty-four hours. I couldn’t afford him as an enemy. Not right now.

“What did Ghastek want?”

“He wanted me to send someone to escort Namtur back. He’s worried about Namtur’s safety because he is elderly.”

I opened my mouth. Nothing came out.

“That was my reaction, too.”

“Could he know who Namtur is?”

Erra grimaced. “I doubt it. That old fox can look so decrepit, you’d think he couldn’t make it up a flight of stairs.”