Cold Burn of Magic(35)

I pointed to some of the ones and twos who were keeping to themselves.

“Oh, those are folks who’ve come to see Claudia,” Grant answered. “Problems they’re having, favors they want, petitions to become part of the Family. That sort of thing. They wait in here until she can meet with them in the library.”

So the Ice Queen deigned to see her noble subjects after all. I wondered if she made them bow to her as well. Probably.

“Okay,” I said. “But why is the rest of the mansion so . . . empty?”

Grant glanced over at the buffet, but all the pixies had gone back to the kitchen to get refills and no one was sitting at our end of the table. He leaned forward.

“You know that Lawrence, Devon’s dad, was murdered several months ago, right?” he said in a low voice. “It was all over the news.”

Total understatement. Lawrence Sinclair had been attacked and stabbed to death after leaving a New Year’s Eve party that the Ito Family had hosted. Something that had strained the already tenuous relations between the two mobs.

“Yeah, I heard about that. So what? Being the head of a Family isn’t exactly a safe job.”

“So people have been leaving the Family ever since,” Grant said. “Everyone knows that Victor Draconi ordered the hit on Lawrence. He’s got the Ito Family in his pocket, and it was probably easy to get them to do his dirty work. Rumor has it that Victor has his eye on the Sinclair Family and that he’s planning to make a move against Claudia. Take over her businesses on the Midway, muscle her out of contracts, things like that. And that’s before he goes in for the kill.”

Grant leaned forward a little more, and his voice dropped even lower. “People are saying that he plans to force Claudia to renounce the Sinclair name, disband the entire Family, and give everything she has over to him, including the mansion. Either that, or—”

“He’ll kill her,” I finished in a flat voice. “And everyone else from the Sinclairs who won’t join him.”

Grant frowned, as if surprised by my knowledge. “Yeah. And that’s why people have been leaving. Nobody wants to be associated with a Family that’s in as much trouble as the Sinclairs are.”

“So why do you stay?”

I tried to use my soulsight, but his gaze kept skittering away from mine before I could get a lock on his feelings. Although for some strange reason, his eyes seemed to darken the longer I stared at him, as if his black pupils were bleeding into the blue of his irises.

Grant wet his lips. “I stay because I—”

“I’m going out today, and that’s final.” Devon’s voice sounded in the hallway outside.

“You were attacked, Devon.” Claudia’s much calmer tone drifted into the dining hall. “And at least one of those people is still out there.”

Footsteps clattered on the marble, and mother and son appeared in the open doorway. Claudia wore another elegant pantsuit, this one a cool white, while Devon had on a black polo shirt and khakis.

“I know that,” Devon said, his voice harsh. “Believe me. I was there. And so was Ashley.”

I didn’t need my Talent for sight to see his fisted hands, the muscles standing out in his arms, and how tightly his jaw was clenched.

“I’m not going to hide in the mansion,” Devon said. “I did it enough after Dad died. I’m through sitting around. I’m not afraid of the Draconis or the Itos or any of the other Families, and I plan to show them that. I need to show everyone I’m not a coward.”

Claudia’s stern expression softened. “You aren’t a coward, but you’ve been through a lot this year. We all have.” She hesitated. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“It’s a risk I have to take, that we all have to take by being Sinclairs,” Devon said.

Claudia reached out and squeezed his shoulder.

“Besides, you know why I have to go,” Devon said, his voice taking on a sour note as he pulled away from her. “You’re the one who set it up, after all.”

Claudia’s mouth puckered. Devon turned and looked into the dining hall.

His jaw clenched a little tighter when he realized that everyone inside was watching and had heard every single part of their conversation. But he squared his shoulders and stepped inside the room anyway. I couldn’t help admiring him a little for that.

My stomach rumbled again, and I decided to make the most of the awkward silence that had descended over the dining hall.

“Well,” I said in a bright voice, getting up and heading back to the buffet table. “If I’m going to be on bodyguard duty today, then I’m definitely going to need some more breakfast.”





Claudia fixed herself a plate of food and stopped by the table where Grant and I were sitting.

“Grant, will you please make sure that Devon gets to his appointment?” Claudia said. “And Lila, too.”


She might be paying me to be her son’s guard, but she didn’t trust me. Not if she was sending Grant along to babysit me. Smart woman. Claudia gave me a chilly look before she left the dining hall. I resisted the urge to stick my tongue out at her.

Devon fixed himself a plate and took the seat next to Grant, focusing on his food and avoiding everyone’s eyes. A minute later, Felix wandered in, grabbed all the remaining bacon off the buffet, and plopped down in the chair next to me. The four of us ate in silence for several minutes.