information. “I think she does the ice stuff and he does the shadow stuff. There might also be a bit of a vibe where he’s more about consensual bargains and she’s more about the kneel-before-me-and-do-my-bidding shit but I’m straying out my lane on that one.”
“But you don’t know why he-she came for us now?” Tara went on.
“Only that she saw an opportunity,” Genevieve looked apologetic. “The Prince of Wands was part of it, but not all of it.”
I looked up from where I was lounging. “What does that mean?” Shit, Kate, leave the girl alone.
“The worlds have been unaligned ever since—”
“Ever since Nimue was put out of commission?”
Genevieve nodded. “The city-kings kept a balance of sorts. Now there isn’t one all sorts of entities are jockeying for power.”
I filed that one mentally under “will get worse before it gets better.” “So things are going to keep going to shit until Nim recovers.”
“Or dies, I think.” She set her tea to one side. “I caught flashes in the Queen’s mind; overheard snatches of her bargains with the Prince of Wands. I feel like they’ll come to blows soon.”
“He-she told me the same,” I added. “They’re not allies here. They teamed up against you guys, but it sounds like that might be passing.”
Tara was still very much in no-bullshit mode. “Why, how, when?”
Before Genevieve had to make another apology for not being more perceptive while kept prisoner, I stepped in with what I knew. “I think the why is mostly that they’re neither the sort of person to brook rivals or get the worst of a deal. As for the how and the when, I think—and sorry in advance if this sounds like I’m making it all about me—I think it might be to do with my ex-boyfriend’s new girlfriend.”
“Go on.” Tara’s look was a mixture of expectant and sceptical.
This was going to take some explaining. I took a deep breath. “Right, so the Prince of Wands is working with this vampire called Yelena, and Yelena is obsessed with Patrick—that’s my ex. From what I’ve been told it seems like her whole vampire bloodline—her, her creator, Patrick, the lot of them—all have this weird thing where they’re drawn to young people with magical powers like, I dunno, pick your metaphor. Moths and flames, wasps and jam, me and alcohol, whatever.” This was getting rambly, I tried my best to pull it back in a more structured direction. “Between me and Sofia, Patrick is two for two on dating girls with mystical abilities that tie directly into the plans of the Prince of Wands. Now he’s with somebody new and I think there’s a good chance he’s going for the hat trick.”
“And how do you think this relates to the King of Shadows, the Queen of Winter?” Tara’s eyebrows arched. She was clearly finding this a bit tenuous.
“No clue. But if what you’ve said is true and the role of city-king is up for grabs, then there’s a good chance Sebastian Douglas is going for it. That is, if a dead man can go for it.” A sudden, inevitable, and depressing thought struck me. “Fuck.”
“What?” It had been a long day and even at the best of times I wasn’t dating Tara because of her endless patience.
“Bear with me. I think I have to make a really important phone call.”
Tara’s voice got that low, menacing, honey-laced-with-chocolate-laced-with-bloody-murder quality it had when she was quite done with my shit. She got it a lot. “If you are deliberately vexing me, Kate Kane, this is far from the best time.”
“No, and I know how this looks but—I think I’ve worked out what this is all about and just for a moment it’s more important I tell Patrick than you.”
I rang and he didn’t answer, so I hung up and rang again. He still didn’t answer, so I tried several more times, while Tara glared at me with rapidly increasing disapproval. After far too much dialling and redialling, the fucker finally picked up.
“Katharine, I don’t know what games you are playing but—”
“Patrick, shut up and listen. What does your new girlfriend look like?”
“That is no concern of yours, Katharine. We are finished.”
As so often happened when talking to Patrick, I wished somebody would invent a phone you could punch people through. “Okay, fine. Just brood silently if I’m right. Is she blonde and kind of celestial looking?”
He brooded silently.
Why were these things never easy? “Patrick,” I said, trying to keep my tone as level as possible. “Please