Sun Broken (The Wild Hunt #11) - Yasmine Galenorn Page 0,73

chaos.”

I paled. “It can’t be Typhon, can it?”

Morgana shook her head. “If Typhon landed in Raven’s front yard, there wouldn’t be anything left of the neighborhood. No, but there is that malign element to it.” She paused, then sighed. “I found out some particularly disturbing information this morning. The case you’re on? The serial killer case?”

“Yes?” Herne asked, looking like he didn’t want to hear the answer. I knew exactly how he felt. Events felt like they had just gone into a freefall, and one of our friends was caught up in the vortex.

With a grave look, she said, “It isn’t just happening here. I’m getting reports from all over the world that necromancers and bone witches are being targeted. It seems there is a systematic attack on those working with the dead. At the same time, reports of the dead rising are increasing. It occurs to me that since bone witches and necromancers can control the dead, and they’re being targeted, then someone’s trying to remove impediments to controlling spirits and…well…corpses, for what you will.”

“Typhon,” Angel whispered. “You said that he would bring the dead with him. Could he be sending out…I don’t know…scouts to pave the way?”

“More along the lines of emissaries. We told you that some of the gods are aligning themselves with him. Especially the gods of chaos.”

“Excuse me?” Llewellyn looked like he was about to faint. “Who’s Typhon? And what the hell is going on?”

“I’m afraid you’re about to be let in on a secret you really don’t want to know,” Morgana said. “Trefoil and Meadow, how much do you know about this?”

Trefoil looked at Meadow, then said, “Some. LOCK knows about Typhon. While some of the researchers haven’t been notified, some have. I think you should know what we do for the organization.”

Meadow nodded. “I think you’re right, Tref, considering what’s happening. We belong to the paramilitary side of LOCK. We answer to the Force Majeure and they occasionally send us out on missions when there’s a grave danger that cannot be controlled on local levels. We were sent here to keep an eye on activities surrounding the dead and we report directly back to the Council. LOCK, as you know, was created by Taliesin, who belongs to the Force Majeure. Therefore we are directly under their control.”

“My father is the current leader of the Force Majeure,” Morgana said. “He’s Merlin.”

Meadow blushed. “I didn’t make the connection,” she said. “Forgive me, my lady.”

“Nothing to forgive,” Morgana said. “I didn’t even think about my father being part of this. I haven’t heard from him in a while. That was shortsighted of me. So the Force Majeure sent you here to keep an eye on the signs that Typhon is nearing?”

Trefoil nodded. “Yes, we’re advanced scouts, you might say. And it seemed handy being across the street from a born bone witch. Since Raven was born a bone witch, and her mother is one of the Bean Sidhe, we thought she might notice some of the increased activity and be able to help us if need be.”

“No wonder you jumped on the house so quickly when I put it up for rent,” Kipa said.

“We had been looking for a place near her for a while.” Meadow bit her lip. “So what is this about a targeted attack on necromancers?”

Morgana sighed, pulling out her phone. She checked her notes and said, “I’m afraid it’s true. We’re getting reports from all over the world that necromancers, bone witches, and mediums who specialize in talking to spirits are being killed. Most just outright, not in as horrific a way as your victims here have been. We think that Typhon has sent emissaries into the world to destroy the opposition, so to speak.”

“Crap. Then our killer is just one of many,” I said.

“Right. The gods had decided to enlist all of those working with the dead in our fight against him. We’re scrambling to enact safety measures for those still alive. We’ve had reports of more than two hundred deaths so far and it’s just increasing.” She shook her head. “This is a blow we didn’t expect.”

“What are you doing to keep them safe?” Llew asked.

“We’ve put out the word through some of the magical guilds that they’re to allow the necromancers and bone witches access, so we can keep an eye on them. We’ve been getting some resistance, but the guilds won’t fight the gods for long, not when my father steps in. All the other agencies of the