home with him to Halifax so that I could become the keeper of our biological father, Lysander. Oh, and as a side gig, the organization that had arranged all this, milites mortis, wanted to artificially inseminate me with Lysander’s baby.
Yeah.
Emil had done some really shitty things, but he’d done them because if he couldn’t get me to have a baby, milites mortis would try using his mother again. Sophia Jasper was past seventy, but she was strong, magically speaking, and because of her slow aging, her body looked to be in its midforties. Emil was worried about what a pregnancy might do to her . . . and he had terminal lung cancer. He’d decided that my life was a price he was willing to pay to save Sophia before he died.
I’d killed Emil in self-defense, but there had been a moment when I might have been able to save him . . . and he’d asked me not to. He’d asked me to let him die, and I’d respected his wishes.
Then I’d killed our father, chopped his body into pieces, and spread the parts around the world. After that I’d spent months tracking down every single member of milites mortis and killed the shit out of them.
My first stop on that little tour had been Halifax, where I’d gone to see Sophia—and brought her Jasper’s ashes. The old woman wasn’t all there, though I didn’t know if it was because of Emil’s death, or because milites mortis had treated her like a plaything for decades. Either way, she hated me for what I’d done to her son. She hated milites mortis more, though, and she’d eventually given me a list of names.
I won’t say killing those assholes made Sophia and me even, but afterward, we’d agreed to stay out of each other’s way. I’d had every intention of keeping that promise . . . until now. Sophia was the one person who might be able to tell me about spirit bottles.
Ignoring Tallulah, I looked at Beau. “There’s someone I can call for information, but she may want something in return.”
Beau nodded. “If it can be bought with money, give it to her. Milburn can help you with the arrangements.”
“Is it okay if I stay in here to call?” I asked, gesturing at the office.
Beau raised his eyebrows a little, but inclined his head. “Of course.” He looked at Tallulah. “Let’s get started.”
As soon as they left, I called Quinn.
“Lex,” he said, sounding relieved and anxious at the same time. “What’s going on? Mary said there was a bomb?”
Right. Things had happened so quickly; I hadn’t updated him. “I’m perfectly fine,” I assured him, feeling guilty. “But I need you to get a phone number for me. Are you at home, by any chance?”
“Actually, yes. What do you need?”
I directed him to the jewelry box in my bedroom, where I kept a scrap of paper with a phone number written on it. This particular one was too important to be stored in a phone. “Lex,” he said when he had the paper in hand. “Are you sure about this? I thought you said Sophia was pissed at you.”
I had to laugh. “That’s an understatement. If she thought she could kill me, she’d probably do it. But we have an agreement not to interfere with each other.”
“So why are you calling her?”
“Because she’s the only other boundary witch I know.”
Quinn’s voice quieted. “It’s that bad?”
“Remember how Emil had those wraiths trapped in crystals?”
“Yeah . . .”
“Well, someone has figured out how to trap a whole bunch of ghosts and turn them into a bomb. I figure if anyone knows about it, it’ll be Sophia.”
“Jesus.” There was a pause, and I could practically hear his thoughts racing. “Lex, this is above and beyond the parameters of this job. Maven would be the first to tell you this isn’t your fight.”
I almost smiled. “You’re thinking like a vampire. This isn’t about Beau’s money, or even Maven’s parliament, not anymore.” I leaned my head against the back of the couch. I was so tired. “Someone made a new kind of bomb, Quinn. One that doesn’t make any sound or give off any scent. If we don’t stop them, people are going to die.”
He went quiet for another moment. Then: “You’re right. Of course you’re right. I just wish I could be there. I hate this sitting-on-the-sidelines shit.”
“I know. But hey, you saved my life tonight.” I told him about how the mahogany obsidian had