someone’s trail who I thought might have run afoul of Chaos?”
“Yeah. You said it was a member of the Bloodline. Sounded like you were worried they’re getting caught in the crossfire of Chaos’s rivalry with Fate.”
“They are. And I don’t plan to sit around waiting for any of them to get hurt before I do something. If the Bloodline are at risk of becoming collateral damage, I need to step in, but I need to make sure that’s what’s really going on. All six of my hounds followed a member of the Bloodline from Las Vegas to Seattle, but they split up once they got here. I didn’t give them a new command to follow someone different, so whoever it is, the original orders must have been applicable. When I inhabited Blaze’s consciousness a few moments ago, that was when I saw you guys, so I knew something was up.”
I sat back in surprise. “So there are two members of the Bloodline being targeted? What the fuck is that bastard up to? I swear he didn’t give us any orders. We don’t work for Chaos anymore. You know that.”
“But he still has the Bane brothers,” Stuart said. “They’re the guys he sends after members of the higher races who screw him over.”
Deva frowned. “Who are the Bane brothers?”
“More like what are they,” Eddie muttered.
“Typhon,” Chayton spat. “The monster with a hundred heads. The brothers are really just the heads of Chaos’s favorite son. And if you cut off one head, two more grow back.” He shivered. Behind Deva, Llyr turned pale.
“Hey, buddy, you don’t look so hot,” Eddie said, vacating his stool and urging Llyr to sit. The big satyr fell onto the stool with a grunt, shaking his head.
“I’ve faced them before,” he said when he finally regained his composure. “One is an easy fight, but more than that and their magic produces so much feedback you can’t focus enough to defend yourself.”
“Yeah, I was kind of glad they were technically on our side while Chaos signed our paychecks,” Chayton said.
“If Chaos sent a creature that powerful, he must have a good reason. Nothing makes him flex his muscles like Fate. Since Fate favors the Bloodline now that I’m their advocate, we have to assume that’s what’s driving him,” Deva said. She cast her gaze around the table at the four of us. “Which brings me back to my earlier question. When Gray sent his message, did he mention the Bloodline?”
“His message was coded,” I said. “All it mentioned as a ‘convergence of earth and fire’ that Chaos wanted to steal. Could he have been referring to the Bloodline? Who were the hounds trailing?”
Deva pursed her lips, then nodded. “It was a member of the Bloodline. Strong in ursa magic, judging from his appearance, but without meeting him in person, I wouldn’t be able to confirm. They lost the target after he got to Seattle which is unusual. It’s as if he disappeared entirely. The other three followed someone else for a couple days, but now all of them are following you, which is why I came. You guys used to work for Chaos, so I worried he might still have you in his pocket. That doesn’t seem to be the case though.”
I held up my hands. “On Gaia’s honor, it isn’t us. We want to get to the bottom of this as much as you do. But why the hell would the hounds be on us now and not their target?”
“Because, for whatever reason, the hounds see you as a piece of the puzzle. I commanded them to follow the person Chaos was hunting and keep them safe. They would have manipulated circumstances to urge the victims to safety. They aren’t overt about it though. You never see them. Their magic simply affects your preferences when offered a choice, and steers you to the choice most likely to lead to the desired outcome. If they were guiding you to a soul mate, they’d nudge you toward the fork in the road that would lead you closer to the other person. I suspect that since you guys are skilled bodyguards familiar with Chaos and his thugs, that makes you the best candidates to offer protection to whoever this new target is.”
“So it’s probably lucky Gray was here to start with, huh?” Chayton asked.
“Perhaps. But wasn’t he considering a trip to North Carolina instead? He chose Seattle last-minute, if I recall.”
I frowned. “We were all considering driving cross-country together to