Diamond Fire (Hidden Legacy, #3.5)(21)

Venenata was Latin for poison. Runa was a poison mage and she was smiling at me and holding her hand out. She could probably poison me by just breathing in my direction.

“Catalina Baylor. Of House Baylor.” I shook her hand.

She grinned at me. “Aha, took you a second. Don’t worry, I only poison random strangers on Tuesdays.”

“Today is Tuesday,” Leon said.

“Oops. Well, that’s okay. You told me your name, so we’re not strangers. You should be safe.” She turned to Leon. “But I don’t know who you are. No promises.”

“This is my cousin, Leon.”

“Nice to meet you, Cousin Leon. So, where are the potentially poisoned goodies?”

I led her to the refrigerators and opened the doors. Tubs of frosting and fondant in every color filled the shelves. Runa rubbed her hands together.

“Come on, guys, don’t just stand there. Grab a spoon and let’s get busy.”

Nobody said anything or moved.

“What? How did you think this worked? That I would wiggle my nose and sniff out the poison? If only. No, you eat it and if you die, I can say, ‘Yes, it’s been poisoned.’”

Rivera sighed. “Ma’am. Please take this seriously. According to the agreement between House Rogan and House Etterson . . .”

“Yes, yes. I’ve been stuck in the guardhouse on a chance someone at this wedding will get poisoned for the last two weeks. Let me have a little fun.”

Runa raised her hands. A faint green mist spread from her, passed through the refrigerators, and dissipated. She stepped forward, took a tub of ice-white fondant out, opened it, pinched some fondant off, and popped it in her mouth. “Mmm, delicious cyanide. Old school. Histotoxic hypoxia on you, histotoxic hypoxia on your house, histotoxic hypoxia on your cow. Wait.” She held her hand up. “What is this fishy aftertaste?”

Runa ate a little more and smacked her lips loudly. “It’s on the tip of my tongue. Ooo. Tetrodotoxin. Sneaky. Cyanide would kill you in minutes, but if you happened to somehow take an antidote, tetrodotoxin would still get you.”

Runa held out her hands. “Every tub in here is poisoned. All of the fondant. If the poisoner wanted to simply assassinate the happy couple, they could have used thallium. It is odorless, tasteless, lethal, and it takes several days to kick in. What this person did is about as subtle as taking a hammer and smashing the bride and groom on the head with it. You are looking for someone for whom Connor’s and Nevada’s death is deeply personal. This person wants to see them suffer and die. They will likely be in the wedding party or near it. They want to inflict pain and witness it so badly, they are willing to risk their personal safety. They can’t wait to do it. There is glee in this and a horrible malice.”

This aligned with everything I was thinking so far. I pulled up my main suspect and showed the tablet to Rivera and Leon. Rivera’s eyes narrowed.

“Makes sense,” he said.

A crazy grin tugged at Leon’s mouth. “Oh, I hope so. I really hope so.”

“Who is responsible for the fondant?” I asked.

“Jeremy,” Carlos said. “But he’s a good kid. He wouldn’t do this.”

Rivera spoke into his phone. “Bug, I need a full workup on Jeremy Wagner. Payments, debt history, any connection to Rogan or Baylor. I want to know where he was and what he was doing since Valentina’s was hired for the wedding. Anything you can dig up.”

We had done a background check on every employee. Jeremy Wagner had come back clean, which meant that either we were incompetent, or his darkness was well hidden. Trying to retrace Jeremy’s steps in the last few days, even with Bug’s talent, would take time. We didn’t have time. Right now, in Mountain Rose, Mrs. Rogan could be serving the children poisoned lemonade.

I had to use my magic. I felt cold and nauseous and sticky, as if I had been poisoned. It was an awful feeling. My heart was hammering in my chest. I wanted to go somewhere alone and quiet, anywhere but here. I wanted this to be somebody else’s problem.

They were going to poison my sister. And Rogan. And his mother. And all their friends, relatives, and children. Mia Rosa with her bedazzled unicorn. I could think of only one person who had that kind of hate.

“I will interview Jeremy.”

Rivera startled. Leon frowned at me. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“The real target is the person who hired Jeremy,” Rivera said.

“I’m aware of that. The background will take time and may not turn up anything. It’s a simple matter of what would be quickest and produce the best results. If I ask him, he will tell me.”

Rivera spoke slowly and deliberately. “If I wanted to poison someone by tampering with the wedding cake, I would watch the bakery to make sure the tampering was not discovered. The moment you question Jeremy, we will have to sit on him. If the poisoner suspects that we know about the cake, they will try again, and this time we may not find it in time. Tracing Jeremy’s employer through Bug is cleaner and carries less risk.”

“And what if Bug doesn’t find anything?” Leon asked.

Whatever happened, my cousin was in my corner.

“If he doesn’t find anything, then we squeeze Jeremy,” Rivera said.

“I can question Jeremy and make sure he won’t remember it.”