Xavier’s portrait appeared on the screen. Of average height, Xavier was lean and pretty. Some men grew more masculine in their twenties, and Xavier had done some growing up, but his face still retained a slightly androgynous beauty. The first time I saw him, five years ago, I thought he looked like a singer from a boy band. His bronze skin glowed with a perfect tan. His chestnut brown hair was cut in a flattering style, the kind that screamed, “I go to an expensive salon, and I enjoy it.” His dark eyes were arrogant and cruel, and the smirk on his lips told you he had a high opinion of himself.
“That little shit,” Grandma Frida said.
“Xavier’s involvement means the murder was committed with Arkan’s blessing,” Alessandro continued. “At this point we don’t know what motivated him to have the Speaker murdered. Arkan prefers to remain in the shadows and when he has to eliminate a public figure, he typically arranges an accident or makes them disappear.”
“The Respite is owned by Linus,” I said. “Shining a searchlight on Linus isn’t convenient right now, so we moved the crime scene.”
Arabella pivoted toward me. “Why? What happened to Linus?”
Mom raised her hand and made a simmer-down-now motion. “He will be fine. Don’t freak out.”
“What’s going on?” Arabella’s voice spiked. “Will somebody tell me what happened?”
“I will if you stop talking for a second.” I took a deep breath. “Sometime in the last twenty-four hours, Linus was attacked in his home. Pete is dead.”
Arabella sucked in a sharp breath. Sadness touched Mom’s face. She and Pete had been friends. Bern looked alarmed, which almost never happened. On the laptop screen both Connor and Nevada went expressionless. My sister had picked up her husband’s habit.
“Linus made it to the vault,” Alessandro said. “The attacker was a mental mage, because Linus took two double doses of Styxine.”
Grandma Frida whistled.
“Is he conscious?” Connor asked.
“No,” I said.
“What’s Styxine?” Runa asked.
“It’s a mental defense drug,” Connor said. “Military issue. It takes your consciousness completely off-line. The mage can’t kill you if they can’t sense your mind. It can render you permanently comatose, so it’s a last resort.”
“Can we give him something?” Arabella demanded.
“No,” Mom told her. “We have to wait for him to wake up on his own.”
Arabella squeezed her fists. I needed to move past the “Linus might not wake up” part.
“He activated the siege protocol, which I disabled to get him out of the vault.”
“Where is he now?” Runa asked.
“In the spare bedroom upstairs in the main house,” I told her.
Arabella jumped up.
Mom pointed to the table. “Sit.”
My sister sat.
“Dr. Patel is with him,” Mom said. “When the meeting is over, you may see him.”
Alessandro leaned back in his chair. “We’re going on high alert. Nobody goes anywhere without an escort or backup.”
Patricia nodded. “Very well.”
I looked at Bern. “Linus’ house with all of its toys is defenseless unless we can bring the security system back online.”
There was enough firepower under that house to topple the government of a small country.
“I’ll handle it,” he said.
“I’ll go with him,” Runa said.
Runa was a Prime venenata, a poison mage, and she loved Bern. My cousin couldn’t have asked for a better bodyguard.
“Thank you,” I said. “Leon, I’ve handed the Cabera investigation to Agent Wahl. I’d like you to shadow him. Watch him, let me know what he’s doing, and keep him safe in case Arkan makes a run at him.”
“Will do.” Leon glanced at Runa. “Have fun bodyguarding the nerd, while I babysit the FBI.”
She snorted.
I texted him the address of the warehouse and looked at Connor and Nevada. “It would really help if we had some cover story for why Linus isn’t available.”
“No problem,” Nevada said.
Connor looked at me. “Let me know the moment you see Xavier.”
As soon as this meeting ended, he would unleash Bug, his surveillance specialist, onto the city of Houston. Bug was relentless and he processed visual information at superhuman speed. Xavier didn’t know it, but the moment he found himself in Bug’s crosshairs, his little outing would be over.
“We have another problem,” Alessandro said. “For reasons unknown as of now, the Russian Imperium has taken an interest in this situation.”
I tapped my tablet and Konstantin popped onto the screen in all of his uniformed glory.
Grandma Frida sat up straighter. “Well!”
“Mother . . .” Mom growled.
“I’m old, Penelope. Not dead or blind.” Grandma Frida grinned. “Besides, I always loved a man in uniform.”
“For the love of God,” Mom muttered.
“Who is he?” Leon wanted to know.
“Prince Konstantin Leonidovich Berezin, of Blood Imperial,” I said. “Nephew of Emperor Mikhail II. Son of Grand Duke Leonid Sergeyevich Berezin, who is the Director of the Imperial Security Service.”
Nobody said anything. We all just stared at Konstantin’s image for a long moment.
“This is not good,” Connor said.
My brother-in-law, master of the gentle understatement.