I walked into the main house and nearly collided with one of our guards.
“Prime Tremaine is asking for you,” she reported.
At the worst possible time. I girded my loins and went upstairs.
Victoria Tremaine stood in the middle of a ridiculously complex arcane circle. Technically it wasn’t a circle, it was an array, or rather a constellation encompassing two separate arrays with six power sinks and an off flow. It covered the entirety of the large suite, the bathroom, and the closet. I had utilized the walls and the ceiling. It took me two months to draw it and I had left it unfinished specifically so I could complete it fast. Once activated, the circle would eventually lose power and need to be redrawn, but I would get another week or so out of it.
The chalk lines pulsed with angry white. My grandmother was not pleased.
Victoria crossed her arms. “I suppose you think you’re quite clever.”
“Not at all, Grandmother. I’m only an amateur. I still have a lot to learn. Your example inspires me to try harder.”
Victoria glared at me. I wondered if her head would explode.
“And now you’re mocking me.”
“I’m not. That is a true statement.”
“You took Trevor.”
There was no point in lying. “Yes.”
“What else have you done? Out with it.”
“The Empyrean Holdings. Also, House Belfair and the Finch, LTD.”
Victoria’s eyes narrowed. “How did you get to Albion Finch?”
“He has a daughter he’s hiding.”
Her eyebrows crept up. “Alesia? His niece?”
“That’s the one.”
“I should have replaced him five years ago.”
“But you didn’t, and now I have access to a third of your investments. Also, Bern loaded a fun little virus into your House network. You can’t issue payroll to your people unless I authorize it.”
“I’m so angry with you,” she snarled.
“Of course. But you’re also proud.” I held my fingers close together. “Just a little bit.”
She paced inside the circle. It flashed with white like a strobe show. Wow, she was mad.
I would’ve loved another three years or so to complete and adjust my elaborate trap. I had her temporarily contained but it wasn’t enough. The plan had been to shift all of the moving parts into place, so if she ever crossed the line, I could neutralize her with a single blow. Instead, I’d had to resort to this half-baked arrangement, and now she was aware that I posed a serious threat.
“How long do you intend to imprison me here?”
“That depends entirely on you, Grandmother. Arkan is coming, and we could use your help.”
Her gaze bored into me. “You never answered my question.”
Here we go. “No, I didn’t.”
“Why is Arkan fixated on you?”
“You know why. He killed Alessandro’s father. Alessandro has been annoying him for the last decade. He wants to remove him once and for all.”
“You’re lying.”
“Your magic doesn’t work past the circle boundary.”
“I don’t need my magic, you stupid girl. You’re my granddaughter. I can see it in your eyes. Also, I have a brain. I know what that Russian butcher is capable of and how he thinks. He is risk averse. Your pretty boyfriend isn’t enough to draw him out.”
You know what, screw it. “You got me. I’m lying to you. But your lies are bigger, Grandmother. They’re worse.”
Her eyes narrowed. “What lies?”
“Linus Duncan is my grandfather.”
She took a step back as if I’d punched her.
“You knew and didn’t tell me. You allowed me to continue thinking he was just an inexplicably altruistic family friend. You, who always talked about how important family is and how vital the family ties are, how could you?”
She inhaled. “He told you, the sonovabitch.”
“It doesn’t matter who told me. I know.”
She struggled with it for a few moments and raised her chin, her face defiant. “He doesn’t deserve it!”
“What?”
“He left me and James. He abandoned us when we needed him and when James ran away, he helped him hide from me.”
“Maybe it had something to do with the way my father was born.”
She clenched her teeth.
“Grandmother, you implanted an embryo into a woman who couldn’t consent to it and forced her to carry it to term. She was catatonic! I don’t even know what that is. Is it rape, is it a kidnapping, is it human trafficking . . . ? You did something so horrible, there isn’t a name for it.”