Miller jolted from the shock. “Famine left her coterie behind?”
“That’s why Mom placed her with Conquest. Famine requires supervision, or she goes off the rails, and Mom needed a breather. She has her hands full plotting world domination while managing a full coterie. She doesn’t have time to keep an eye on Famine too.” A flash of emotion I might have labeled as pity softened her face, there and gone. “Unless Famine’s coterie figures a way through without her, she only has the cadre for support. Given my limited understanding of the nature of the anomaly, that’s not happening. Death’s breach, assuming she can ascend, is their next best chance at breaking through.”
Famine hadn’t lied. Naively, she had trusted War, her sister, to look out for her. She had trusted War to the point of leaving her own people behind without knowing if she would ever see them again. On some level, she must have trusted me too. The betrayal in her eyes when I shot her proved I had made a believer in Luce Boudreau out of one of the cadre at least.
Tonight, Famine had learned I wasn’t her sister. I wasn’t her protector. All the love I had shown her had been meant for the man she pretended to be. And I had to wonder if that same evidence of my identity as Luce didn’t play into Sariah’s interest in me.
“In addition to the free babysitting service, Mom hoped you would provide us with more information on the players in this round since you’ve been here longest. We learned about the NSB through you, and Adam Wu, but that was about it.” She acted like telling me was some kind of favor, and she expected me to be grateful. More than anything it made me curious why Wu rated a mention, but asking would only give her more leverage over me. “Mom was counting on Famine to complete a few months’ worth of recon before you caught on, but she’s unraveling without her coterie to hold her together. Her impulse control has gone from questionable to non-existent.”
The bond between coterie members must be symbiotic in its way. It would explain the connection between me and the others, the comfort they took from my touch and the solace I found in theirs.
“Personally, I’m thankful you took care of a future problem for me.” Sariah shifted her weight to get more comfortable. “Do you know how exhausting it’s been hopping from host to host to cover Famine’s ass? Orvis was sloppy, I’ll admit. I kept that host too long. I’m usually not so careless with disposals, so thanks for the help with the cleanup.”
I measured the distance between us, still too far to do any good. “Orvis was your work?”
“I liked that body. The setup was pretty sweet too. Out in the country, no nosy neighbors. I didn’t even mind the rug rats.” The children she had killed and left to burn. “I would have held onto Orvis longer, but after Famine helped herself to a tray of valerian and sneaked out to your house to plant it all over the damn place, I knew I’d have to burn that identity.”
And she had. Literally.
Orvis came after the Hensarling and Culberson fires, which left me wondering, “Where does Ivashov fit into the picture?”
“Girl’s got to have a host.” Her shoulders rose and fell in an easy motion. “I pulled the plug on the Orvis infiltration once I realized Famine had the gall to encourage your aunt to shop at the nursery. It was only a matter of time before you linked that purchase to the valerian in your yard, so I changed hosts and parked the bodies in the basement while I handled the Culberson cover-up.”
All too clear, I saw the sequence of events. Her dragging body after body into the small basement room, locking them in, taking the back way out through the cellar doors she locked tight to prevent snooping in case anyone smelled the decomposition in this heat. Leaving the drip torch had been an afterthought to tie all the scenes together.
“I was in bad shape after our little chat, and I did a piss poor cremation job.” She patted Miller’s cheek. “Lucky for me, the NSB runs a tight ship. They tied up all those pesky loose ends for me.”
Without bodies for autopsy, we never would have guessed the Orvis family had died prior to the fire. Had Wu known? Or had his involvement ended after he intercepted the corpses? And did it matter? Yes. The truth always mattered. There was an honesty in death worth preserving for the families left behind.
“Believe it or not, Auntie, I’m on your side. See, I did my recon. I know what’s doing above this terrene, and I want no part of it.”
A warning prickle climbed up my spine. For all the talk of this world, no one had mentioned what came next. “What are you talking about?”
“I can’t give it away for free.” A grim smile cut her mouth. “The information cost me too much.”
First Bruster and now Sariah. I was tired of all the carrot dangling. I wasn’t a damn bunny.
“Most of what you’ve told me we already knew.” Just the broad strokes, but none of her intel was breaking news. “What, exactly, is your proposition?”
“You and I are at an impasse, whether you’ve realized it yet or not.” Sunlight glinted off the blade in her hand as she adjusted her grip. “I ought to kill you. You’re the only one who can punch through the ceiling of this world. But you’re also the oldest daughter, the strongest, and you’re invested in saving these humans. I propose you and I become friends.”
“You almost killed Miller.” I let her current position speak for itself. “I see the urge hasn’t passed. That’s not what I’d call friendly behavior.”
“We’re square. I gave as good as I got, that’s all. Ain’t that right, buddy?” Leaning over his shoulder, she pressed a quick kiss to his temple. “I wouldn’t kill him. That would be counterproductive since I don’t want to die.” Her gaze zeroed in on me and the precious inches I had advanced toward her. “Have you seen under his hood yet? No? Good. Trust me. That’s one latch you don’t want popped.”
“War will destroy you if she discovers your betrayal,” Thom said what we all were thinking.
Sariah winked at him. “Then we’d best keep this our little secret.”
Chips of ice hit my circulatory system as I stood there staring at her while she held a knife to Miller’s throat. This was a game to her. All of it. And I was so very tired of playing. Chills swept up my arms, and my focus narrowed to the blade in her hand and the fragile column of flesh beneath its poisoned edge.
“I don’t expect an answer now.” Ready to make her exit, she straightened to her full height and allowed the flat of the dagger to rest against his shoulder. “Mourn your loss and think it over. I’ll pop by in a few days, and we can finalize the parameters of our alliance.”
Ally with my niece, who had as good as greenlighted my uncle’s murder. In what world, and I had learned there were so very many, did she believe me capable of such forgiveness?
I had always been fast, and I had always been strong, and I had never used either attribute to full advantage. Wrapped up in being normal, I had stifled what few charun gifts I could access on reflex. For the first time in my life, I called on both, willed the strength into my limbs and the speed into my soles.