House Madero included five brothers, and of those five, the oldest two looked so alike, they could be twins. But Dave Madero had a permanent scar on his left cheek.
“And what does Frank do?”
“His skin and bones harden, his muscles swell up, he grows to seven and a half feet tall, and then he punches through furniture. Or walls. Or people. Whatever is in his way.”
“House Madero is what happens when you breed for strength instead of brains,” Linus said, his voice dry. “In a couple of generations, they’ll have to hire handlers to help them put their pants on in the morning.”
“There are more like him?” Alessandro asked.
“There are five brothers total and a grandfather,” I explained. “They’re mean, stupid, and they hold grudges. And they’re for hire.”
In theory, hiring one of the Maderos as a bodyguard made sense: they were huge and scary even before they used their magic and they served as an excellent deterrent. But the Maderos had a temper. Bringing Frank here was like dragging an enraged bull to a toddler’s birthday party.
Alessandro pondered Frank. “Do your families have a history?”
“His brother, Dave, tried to kidnap Nevada, and Rogan broke both of his arms. Frank also tried to kidnap Nevada and ended up in the ER. If Frank turns, bullets and knives won’t work on him and the only way to fight him is to dodge and hope his body gives out from the strain before he gets his hands on you. The Maderos can’t sustain the combat form for too long. They overheat and pass out.”
Alessandro narrowed his eyes. “Does he still have to breathe in combat form?”
“As far as I know.”
“Excellent,” he said.
“Remember, be discreet,” Linus warned.
“We may not have a choice. Benedict brought friends.”
I surveyed the crowd, trying to pick out faces I had seen on Alessandro’s laptop.
“How many Diatheke employees are here?” Linus asked casually.
“Seven,” Alessandro said. “The dark-haired man to the left of Benedict is an aegis Significant.”
I glanced in Benedict’s direction. A lean, pale-skinned man in his late forties sat by Benedict, picking at the appetizer with his fork. Aegis mages specialized in protection. They could throw a barrier in front of themselves that would absorb physical impact and block elemental magical assaults. An aegis Prime could walk through a modern battle with everything from snipers to artillery shooting at him and emerge unscathed. A Significant would be considerably less powerful, but still, shooting at Benedict would do no good.
“Catalina, lean toward me again,” Alessandro asked.
I turned slightly and tilted my head closer to him.
Alessandro smiled. “Benedict is having a fit.”
Looking at Benedict would be entirely too obvious.
Alessandro’s eyes narrowed. “Let’s see what happens if I do this.”
He reached over, took my hand, gently rubbed his fingers on mine, and kissed my knuckles.
All my hormones stood up and gave him a standing ovation. Damn it, Alessandro.
“Careful,” Linus said, raising his wineglass to his lips. “He might explode.”
I finally glanced in Benedict’s direction. He was staring at me with a kind of possessive hatred. If I were in range, he would have hit me.
“What is his deal with women?”
“He’s a half phobic with sadistic tendencies,” Linus said. “He finds pleasure in inflicting torture and fear, and the more exquisite the woman, the more he wants her.”
“He prefers mental mages for his amusement,” Alessandro added. “Maximum satisfaction.”
I turned to Linus. “Why has he been allowed to operate?”
Linus grimaced. “I could give you a long explanation about magical checks and balances, but the short answer is that powerful people find him useful. He’s a known quantity; he’s reliable and rarely unpleasantly surprising. There are a great many things I wish I had the ability to change.”
There were nine other people at Benedict’s table and nine at Cristal’s. Most of the tables around us had filled. Several women were looking in our direction, some at me, but most at Alessandro. Our table remained empty except for the three of us.
“Will we be joined by anyone?” I asked.
“No,” Linus said. “The Society maintains a table for me to use as I see fit.”
If Linus wasn’t here tonight, nobody would have sat at this table. For some reason, I found that more disturbing than all of his turrets, guns, and exosuits.
A handsome older Hispanic man in a ringmaster’s suit of blue velvet strode to the middle of the stage, a top hat in one hand and a cane in the other.
The opening act began.
Chapter 14
The beautiful acrobats in silver bodysuits cartwheeled off the stage to