Tangled Webs
“Look what I found,” Lucivar said. His mouth curved in a savage smile as he looked at Daemon. “I think it’s a little writer-mouse who’s been scurrying in the walls.”
Daemon’s golden eyes became glazed and sleepy. He purred, “Jarvis Jenkell.”
“I built this house as research for a novel,” Jenkell said, sounding belligerent. “No one was forced to go inside.”
“You sent us invitations,” Daemon said.
“But no one was required to attend,” Jenkell replied.
Surreal thought about the wording of that invitation and snorted. Then she looked at Lucivar. He looked primed to crush another skull.
“That’s true,” Daemon said mildly. “We had a choice, even if the phrasing of the invitation implied otherwise. However…” He raised one eyebrow as he looked at Lucivar. “How many dead?”
“At least twenty,” Lucivar replied.
“Twenty people were killed to provide the entertainment.” Daemon pursed his lips, looked at Jenkell, and shook his head.
“Somehow, I don’t think they were given a choice.”
Jenkell’s forehead beaded with sweat, but he looked defiant. “Among the Blood, there is no law against murder. And I’m Blood, same as you.”
Surreal stared at Jenkell.Boyo, if you think being Blood makes you the same as Sadi, then you weren’t paying attention to that little detail we call caste.
“There is no law against murder,” Daemon agreed. “But there is a price. So I think—”
“Langston man.” The words came out in a vicious snarl.
Surreal took a step to the side to get a better look at the woman moving toward them in a predatory stalk.
Hell’s fire. Itwas Tersa.
“You tried to hurt the boy,” Tersa said. “And the other children, too. You lied to me. You said it was a surprise for the children.”
It was that, Surreal thought.
“Tersa.” Daemon turned toward Tersa, blocking her direct path to Jenkell.
She had known Tersa for centuries, had seen her when she was semilucid, lost in her visions, or just raving mad. But she’d never seen her when she was filled with a cold, wild fury.
Still focused on Jenkell, Tersa shifted to move around Daemon. “You tried to hurt the children. You tried to hurt my boys!”
She lunged at Jenkell, who squealed—squealed!—and turned to run.
Daemon caught Tersa. Lucivar caught Jenkell.
“Tersa, let me handle this.” Daemon tightened his grip on Tersa’s arms.“Mother.”
Jenkell froze. Surreal wanted to slap him for being an idiot twice over. Hadn’t he bothered to find out who she wasbefore he lured Tersa into helping him?
“Mother, let me handle this.”
They stared at each other, mother and son, and Surreal saw a truth about Daemon she’d never seen before.Mother Night. What he is…Not all of it came from his father.
Then Tersa held up something between them. Surreal couldn’t see what it was, but when Daemon looked down, he smiled. A cold, cruel smile.
He stepped back and turned to face Jenkell. “There is no law against murder. But there is a price. I rule this Territory. The people you killed to fuel this entertainment? They belonged to me. The Warlord Prince who was wounded works for me. The witch who was injured is family. Not to mention the harm you’ve done to my mother by using her in a scheme to kill her own son. Everything has a price, Jenkell. It’s time for you to pay the debt.”
Daemon walked up to the front door, then looked at Jaenelle. “Lady, would you mind holding the door?”
Jaenelle followed him up the steps.She was the one who opened the door and kept her hand on the latch while he walked past her into the house. He stopped in the middle of the hallway, nothing more than a shadowy figure.
Somewhere in the house, a gong sounded. One, two, three, four.
I guess the count starts over when a new game begins,Surreal thought.
She lost count. She wasn’t sure if there were echoes in her head or if the gong was really sounding that quickly.
Daemon walked back to the door, holding a pen in his hand. “Twenty-eight?” he asked Jaenelle.
“Twenty-eight,” she agreed as he slipped the pen into a jacket pocket.
He nodded at Lucivar, who dragged Jenkell up to the door.
“According to your rules, there are thirty exits in this house. Twenty-eight have now been closed. You have seventy-two hours to find either of the remaining two. I guarantee that no matter what you meet in this house, you will live through those seventy-two hours.”
Surreal shivered, hearing the threat beneath the words.
Jenkell, the idiot, looked relieved.
Then Daemon stepped out of the house, grabbed Jenkell by the shirt, and flung him into the front hallway.
Jaenelle released the latch and skipped back.
The door slammed shut.
Jaenelle and Daemon came down the steps to join her and Lucivar, and all four of them looked at Tersa.
“Why?” Jaenelle asked, her voice gentle. “If you wanted to help with the spooky house, why didn’t you say something to Marian or me? We would have been glad to have your help. We would still like your help.”
Tersa wrung her hands, looking lost. “I saw…in a tangled web. Surprises for my boys. Not to harm, just little surprises. But there were other boys. That’s why I came to this place, this house. When the Langston man said he was building a surprise for the boys…I saw it in the web. One boy lost because I didn’t make my surprises.”
Lucivar looked back at the house, then looked at Daemon. “I think I met that boy. And he would have been lost in every way if it wasn’t for one of Tersa’s surprises.”
Daemon studied Lucivar for a moment, then nodded before he looked at the Coach across the street. “And I think Jaenelle and I found the other boy who needed help.”
“Yes,” Jaenelle said. “I think you’re right.” She smiled at Tersa.
“But you didn’t answer the question. Would you like to help Marian and me finish up our spooky house? Maybe you could put in the same surprises.”
No, no, no,Surreal thought.Not the damn beetles. “The skeleton mouse was kind of cute. Very clever.”
“The spiders were good too,” Lucivar said.
“But you can’t have them pouring out of a drawer,” Surreal said. “If you do, you’ll need to assign someone to keep mopping the floor.”
A beat of silence. Then Lucivar burst out laughing. “That explains why I smelled piss in the kitchen.”