At the table, with Jac watching, Fen played the part of the obedient elemental strictly bound by her contract, standing quietly behind Junior’s chair. I trust my cousin, now more than ever, but I still won’t share my more important secrets with her. The less she knows the better, for her and for me.

While I never thought I had to be wary of the crown, one of the reasons I was so reticent about sharing secrets is I feared they would be ripped from the vulnerable minds of the people I’d dare to trust. That horrible possibility has come to pass and my paranoia has paid off. My enemies, for that is what the king and that interrogator who I will track down have made themselves through their callous disregard for my family, know more than I like but nothing truly important.

After several minutes of walking, Fen’s demure act melts away like snow under the spring sun. She quickens her pace, overtaking Junior who scampers out of her way like a frightened mouse. She comes up alongside me and keeps pace but holds her silence. Normally, she would have already looped our arms and started flirting with batting eyes with a coy voice. Instead, she is solemn. Does she not want to risk having my anger directed toward her? Or is she preparing to deliver more bad news?

I stop at the treeline that divides Kierra’s garden from Gajin’s, leaning against one of the wide trunks. Fen stops in front of me while Junior stands off to the side, shoulders hunched and eyes fixed to the ground. Everything about his body language screams he doesn’t want to be here, but I could care less. Watching him squirm improves my mood the slightest bit. He and his family deserve a lifetime of pain. Whatever indignities he’s made to suffer aren’t enough to absolve his sins against me, let alone the countless people the Grimoires hurt.

Now, the royal family, the most powerful nobles in Harvest, are about to walk the same path. The damage they could inflict…there are no words. I don’t want to see what this kingdom becomes with succubi at the helm. That’s why I gave Geneva limitations. Knowing someone else is about to make a similar and just as obvious mistake, while targeting my family in the process, is enough to make my head hurt and my chest burn with a vague murderous intent.

“You came without giving notice,” I say, deciding to start with something simple, lest I lose track of important details while blinded by anger. The succubi keep in regular contact with Geneva. How else could the don direct her subordinates? Fen should have easily been able to send a letter ahead of herself. Even if they were rushed out of the capital, any town, saints a decent village too, would have a way of sending a message. It would have been considerate and the succubi are nothing if not considerate of me. Which makes me wonder why she wasn’t this time.

“It is rude to show up unannounced but the news I carry is best delivered in person.”

“Hm.” A flimsy excuse. What happened to Jac is…infuriating, but having it told to me in person doesn’t mean I’m less angry. Is there something else? “Jac’s story. I assume you investigated?”

“Everything she spoke was true and said without exaggeration. She was picked up after working a shift at the Guiness Company and escorted to the palace. When she refused to be interrogated, they used the mental affinity against her will before her father drove her out of the city. I intercepted her carriage and offered to deliver her to you. She accepted.”

“Did my uncle have anything to say about the treatment of his daughter?”

“He was more concerned about my presence. I can also confirm that he has become the king’s man. He is meant to be the head of a new organization that will monitor and restrict the summoners of the kingdom.”

“Of course he is,” I mutter with disgust. If he thinks he’s going to profit off selling out his family, he better think again. “We’re getting ahead of ourselves. Start at the beginning. Specifically the nonsense about my father allying with independent summoners to contract a drakkon.”

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“After the king’s decrees, the Tome brothers were approached by an independent summoner by the name of Everett. He and his cohorts had an ambitious plan to secure the future of all summoners. The drakkon was meant to remind the crown of the danger that summoners can be when provoked. Then, a respected member of the nobility would quell the situation. Someone that would hold back the dangerous summoners and the rest of the community could unite around.”

“I presume that was uncle’s role.”

“Unfortunately, there was none better suited, though he would have been a figurehead for a few years at most before we replaced him. That hasn’t changed. Believe me, Lou. Whatever power he has is fleeting at best and imagined in most cases.”

That, I do believe.

“The true goal of Everett and the cabal he gathered had nothing to do with the king. They hoped that they could stop the creature from rampaging in the city entirely. They planned to retreat to the south and hide away. There, the succubi of the Mason family would work to subvert the creature’s will.”

I stare at her in disbelief. When her expression remains sober, I turn to Gordon, but he doesn’t offer a denial either. “You…wanted to domesticate drakkons?”

“It’s feasible.”

“It’s insane,” I snap at the succubus. “The records say they are highly aggressive and highly intelligent. Don’t you think they would notice something messing around with their minds?”

“Bringing a creature under control doesn’t necessitate the use of the mental affinity, though it does present a significant advantage. Do you truly think it beyond our ability?”

Saints…no. If any creature in this realm could do it, it’s the succubi. And I’m not the only one who should know that. “So, you domesticate the drakkon. Then what?”

“Then we sire more drakkons and train them.”

My jaw drops as I stare at Fen in disbelief. Sire more? Train them? Again, the idea isn’t completely impossible. It would be a hell of a strain taking on such a large shape but, with enough time to study the creatures, I’m sure a higher circle succubus could pull it off. At least circle five, like Bell. I imagine a young drakkon would be infinitely easier to subvert. At best, they might have been able to pacify the original but raising its children from birth? They would be anything Fen wanted them to be.

But there’s one glaring issue with this so-called plan. “They trusted you with all that power?”

“To be clear, they trusted me,” Junior mutters unhappily. “The deal was that the cabal would keep the summoner of the original drakkon in their custody as a precaution. After the first litter was born, they would be raised by my family until they were adolescents, then distributed to the other members of the cabal.”

“Then what? You all ride drakkons into the sunset?”

He sneers. “Something like that. There was talk of a new kingdom of summoners, with the members of our little team each being the dukes of their own territories. Or kings of their cities.” He waves dismissively. “I didn’t pay much attention—"

“Since they all would have been under the control of the succubi anyway.”

“Yeah. Idiots had no idea what they were doing. They were confident because they thought they could outsmart me or assassinate me. They thought they would be competing against a human using a succubus—"

“Not a succubus using a human as a cover.” Saints’ blessed asses. Those people were about to gift Geneva an army of drakkons. When I told her she was free to scheme to grasp power within the kingdom, I didn’t think we’d reach this point in less than a year. I almost want to laugh. “But something went wrong and my father went missing. I assume you know where he is?”

“I do.” Fen pauses. Then she drops to her knees and presses her head to the ground. My brows furrow at the unprompted show of submission. “Your father’s circle worked beautifully, summoning the perfect drakkon for our plans. What happened couldn’t have been foreseen. A creature of the void came through the doorway between realms.”

“A lurker,” I whisper, stomach twisting with dread. Rolly mentioned them in passing. There are beings out there that live in the void of space. Creatures that can travel in the dark between realms, drawn to places of light and warmth. When doors are opened through summoning, they instinctively search them out, motivated by a primal hunger.

They are dangerous, as they are highly aggressive and incredibly strong. Also, because they are not bound by the rules of summoning, they can move beyond the boundaries of a circle. Any summoning has the chance of luring one of the lurkers, making them an inherent danger of building bridges between realms. A negligible one.

According to Rolly, the chances of one appearing is about the same as a commoner with a basic affinity born on a pig farm becoming a high noble. It could and has happened, maybe, but the odds are so low it may as well be impossible.

It should have been impossible…

“I’m so sorry, Lou. The brief moment the creature crossed into this realm was enough to launch an attack. There was no hope of me stopping it. The summoners…your father is dead.”