merciless. “Runa Etterson is the Head of her House. She could’ve collected her brother and flown back to California. Instead she chose to stay here and take care of her family business. She involved herself. Every action carries a consequence.”
He was leveraging my family and friends against my cooperation. I finally understood why Rogan watched him the way he did. Except it was too late.
I forced my shoulders to relax, leaned back, and let Victoria Tremaine’s granddaughter rise to the surface. “Very well. We’ll view the Ettersons as part of my House for the duration of this investigation. Since you mentioned access, I’ll need entry to all the crime databases; the Assembly Prime criminal list, the FBI’s Mages of Interest, the Department of Motor Vehicles, the whole thing.”
Linus took the seal from the table and turned it over. On the back was a username and password. “With this you will be able to log into the Warden Network, which pulls data from every government network you mentioned. Everything you look at will be recorded and examined by me. Do not use it outside the scope of this investigation.”
“Understood.” My fairy godfather had just waved a magic wand and granted me top-secret clearance.
“My dear, I’ve been doing this for a while. Do give me some credit.” Linus pinned me with his stare again. “I want to be crystal clear in regards to what’s at stake. If means of manufacturing the 971 serum became public, every unscrupulous House in the world would jump at the chance to have it.”
“They would breed magic monsters for their private armies,” Alessandro said.
“Exactly. Eventually, there would be more monsters than people.” Linus’ face turned hard and unyielding. “And that, children, I will not permit.”
Alessandro and I didn’t speak on the drive back. He seemed lost in thought, and I felt like I had signed my soul away and sealed the contract with my blood. What had I gained? Was it anything at all?
Just before I reached the warehouse, I took a detour to a coffee shop. Alessandro didn’t want anything, but I bought a huge latte full of sugar and whipped cream and all the things that were bad for me. And then I drank it in the parking lot.
Alessandro stared at the giant cup with a mix of horror and morbid curiosity. “What is that?”
“Coffee-flavored sugar and cream.”
“I thought you only drank tea.”
“Why would you think that?”
“You post pictures of your tea on Instagram. It’s really very exciting. Will it be English Breakfast or Earl Grey?”
I should just delete my account. “Well, right now I need coffee.” I aggressively sucked the latte through a straw and nearly choked.
“It will be fine,” Alessandro told me.
“No, it really won’t.”
By the time Linus had gotten through the first half of the explanations about the 971 serum, half a dozen terrifying scenarios unfolded in my head and they kept spawning others, each more disturbing than the last. The weight of responsibility crashed on me like an anvil falling from a great height. It was Alessandro, me, and Linus between my family and the total collapse of our society.
“Of course it will be fine. You’re smart, resilient, and don’t forget conniving. Now you have the authority to be all those things in the service of humanity.”
I shut my eyes.
“If you keep doing that, someone will kill you. Or kiss you.”
My eyes snapped open.
“Ah, missed my chance.” Alessandro’s wolf eyes laughed at me.
“Is everything a joke to you?”
He thought about it. “Yes.”
I slumped against the car’s seat.
“He was right, you know,” Alessandro said. “Unless we stop this, it’s the beginning of the end. Dangle enough money and people will line up on the street to get warped. At first only a few Houses will have them, then others will have to match them and will get their own pet monsters, and then it won’t be if you have them but who has more of them, and who can breed the best strain, the most vicious, the most durable, with the greatest magic.”
“It’s wrong. All of it.”
“Yes, it’s very wrong. I never take more than one contract at a time, but I took this one. It’s bigger than Sigourney or Halle or me and you.”
“I know. I’m scared for my family. What if I fail?”
He dipped his head to catch my gaze. “‘We.’ What if ‘we’ fail. I’m not going anywhere. I’ll stay here with you until we see this through.”
He would, I realized. I wasn’t alone. It didn’t undo the weight