We walked to the middle of the courtyard, away from as many prying ears as possible. Unable to resist, I reached down and skimmed fingers over soft, thick grass, comforted by the confirmation that spring was on its way.
When I rose again, Malik’s eyes were on me, concern tightening the corners of his eyes. “You’re all right?”
Luc must have called him. I nodded, but the mere fact of his asking was nearly enough to move me to tears again. “I’m okay.”
“The attack was psychic?”
Ethan nodded.
Malik’s eyebrows lifted with interest. “Does that match your memories of him?” he asked Ethan.
“I knew him as ‘strong,’ sometimes frighteningly so. And always with a sensual bent.”
Malik nodded.
“Tell me about Navarre,” Ethan said.
“I’ve only reviewed the first layer, but it’s bad enough. Celina did no favors for the House; Navarre and the Circle are entwined as intimately as lovers.”
“So not just debts?”
“Not just,” Malik said. “The House certainly owes money, including several large promissory notes. As Morgan suggested, Celina was not well accustomed to thrift. She had excellent taste, and liked to dabble in the finer things. She got some return on her investment—she purchased some art and antiques that have retained their value—but much was spent on consumables. Clothing. Shoes. A very well-stocked wine cellar. We’re still determining the full scope. Celina and Carlos are both dead, and she apparently didn’t confide in anyone else about her arrangements.”
“The Circle just kept giving her the money?” I asked.
“Considering the interest rates we’ve seen so far,” Malik said darkly, “it was a good strategy for them.”
I couldn’t argue with that.
“And beyond the debt?” Ethan asked.
“She gave limited powers of attorney over several of the House’s investments and bank accounts to a variety of questionable corporate entities, and put some House properties in trust for the benefit of others. I’d bet all of them are connected to the Circle.”
“Can you get the list of companies to Mr. Merit? Perhaps the CPD can use them to ID the Circle’s members.”
“Of course. But I expect linking them will be difficult.” Malik rubbed the back of his head. It wasn’t even his House, but his concern was obvious. “They look like anonymous LLCs—limited liability companies—and the names are all random three-letter acronyms. FAH, GLR, OMQ, that kind of thing. You take that much care to set up bogus LLCs, you’re probably pretty good at laundering the money that comes out of them. It would take time to unravel.”
Ethan nodded. “We’ll leave that to the CPD.”
“How long has this been going on?” I asked.
“She began incurring the debts approximately seven years ago—or that’s the earliest we’ve seen so far.”
“Before she outed vampires,” I realized, and Malik nodded.
“She was fairly social, as you know. Morgan has suggested she might have made a connection to the Circle that way, through some social engagement or other. The Circle would have known much about the House’s operation—and probably about the existence of vampires well before she announced it to the rest of the city.”
We considered that silently. “Is that why she outed us?” I wondered. “Because the Circle forced her hand? Blackmail, maybe?”
Ethan whistled. “This keeps getting better. Riddle me this,” he said. “If the Circle’s so worried about King, why haven’t they made contact again with Navarre?”
“And why haven’t they skipped asking altogether and just taken the properties and investments they apparently have an interest in?” I asked.
“Both are excellent questions,” Ethan said, then glanced back at Malik. “And another one: Since when is Irina Second?”
“Since Nadia resigned two weeks ago. That’s all I know.”
“You were going to tell me about Irina,” I reminded him.
“She was one of Celina’s very close friends,” Malik said. “Many thought she’d be appointed Celina’s Second after Carlos. When Morgan got the job instead, there was dissention in the ranks. Those who supported Irina were vocal about their belief Morgan got the position because he and Celina were sleeping together.”
I’d suspected Celina’s and Morgan’s relationship had been intimate, but I hadn’t known his promotion to Second had been controversial.
“So that group was probably especially pissed when he got the House,” I guessed.
“They were,” Malik said. “The faction only strengthened—because now they had something specific to be pissed about, particularly when he appointed Nadia as his Second.”
“She didn’t have a position in the House before that,” Ethan explained. “She was Russian, had protected her sister during the revolution. She was fearless. She was not a bad pick for Second, but nor was she the most connected to the pro-Celina contingent.”
“So now he’s appointed Irina to keep that contingent happy,” I suggested, and paused to consider Morgan’s difficult history as Master. He’d had the Circle to contend with, and now I realized he had also been trying to prevent Celina’s supporters from revolting.
“What a mess,” I said.
“It is,” Malik agreed. “And given the faction’s love of Celina, I’d strongly suspect no one has any idea how bad things truly are. And we’re only through the surface layers.”
My stomach picked that moment to grumble, and I squinted with mild embarrassment.
“Let’s not delay the inevitable,” Ethan said. “We’ll get some food. Keep at it,” he said to Malik. “Don’t hesitate to call if any problems arise.”
“Let us hope it doesn’t,” Malik said.
For vampires, hope literally sprang eternal.
Chapter Fourteen
SHE BECKONS
We trekked back to the first floor, handed back our guest passes, and signed out again. The guards were no more enthused by our exit than they had been by our entrance.
“Glum dudes,” I said quietly as we pushed open the heavy door and walked outside.
“Would you want that job?”
“Excellent point, and no.”
The mood between us was lighter now, perhaps buoyed by the reminder that ours wasn’t the only House with troubles. I knew denial wasn’t going to improve my comfort level, not really, but for the moment—and with Ethan at my side—I was happy to pretend Balthasar was merely a memory from Ethan’s past.