Everyone shouted at the same time and I could make sense of nothing. The man, whose arms I held, laughed as his body bled out. Bloodlust had completely taken over. Not even my children were safe.

I screamed at Dawn, “Give her back to me!”

My daughter had been able to see and interact with Leon when he was riding her; I hoped she would understand that I meant Sally. She must have—Sally’s soothing presence slammed into my consciousness. It took a few moments for our psyche to sync.

“What have you done, Mama,” Dawn asked, staring at the amputee across the room, but it wasn’t really a question. She knew what my actions meant even if I did not.

My son rushed to the side of the dying man. He tried to stop the bleeding, attempting to hold the severed limbs against their stumps, but his small body was too weak.

“What are you doing?” I demanded of him. It didn’t matter. It was too late to save that body, whatever his reasons.

Ambrose spoke to Dawn. “He will force me to walk the path and then he will be able to follow.”

Dawn shook her head no.

Looking to the man missing his arms, slouched against a wall, clearly very close to death, I was surprised to find his face not only looked peaceful, but he seemed in the throes of ecstasy. He was enjoying death.

“What is going on? Ambrose, what are you talking about?” I knelt, looking from daughter to son.

“It is the only way to stop him,” he said to Dawn. He turned to me, sadness, repentance in his eyes. “Your son is evil. Perhaps it is because he was born with an ancient inside him. Maybe he would have been this way even if I hadn’t possessed his body while it floated in your womb. We will never know. Ambrose is beyond saving. Please believe me, I have given him ample opportunity. He repaid me through murder and chaos.” He took my face in his tiny hands, sticky with blood, and kissed my lips in a less than familial fashion.

I recoiled.

I could not grasp the events. In my moment of confusion, Sally explained, Archelaos speaks from inside our son, where he has lived Ambrose’s whole life. When we pushed him from our mind, he had nowhere else to go. The fetus was the only avenue available to him.

I looked at my son’s baby face. Gone were the loving and apologetic looks, replaced by cold selfish ones. Ambrose was back at the helm of his own body since his Carrier had finally died from the wounds I’d inflicted. “Archelaos belongs to me. His blood is mine.”

I recognized that. Ambrose had been the one to write those words on the medium’s table lip, meaning that my son, not my ex-husband, was her murderer. His message was to Archelaos, not me. Suddenly the statement, “I will not allow you to choose other men above me,” made sense. Archelaos had been trying to get away. Ambrose destroyed every vessel he managed to gain control of. Ambrose was our mystery Incola, not Archelaos.

Dawn began to shake and mumble to herself.

“Oh, shut up, will you!” Ambrose shouted at her.

“Why do you hate us so?” I asked.

“I don’t hate you, Mama. I love you, but you have made mistakes.”

He thinks you need a strong Incola to help you. Your son wants to be worshiped. He wants all the power. He wants to sit on the throne with you at his side, a lovely ornament. He has never thought of you the way a boy should his mother. When he is older, his body capable, his desires toward you will be twisted to match.

Ambrose stood as tall as his short frame would allow. “I told you I did not like Leonus.”

Only then did I realize that my son had been the Incola that tried to kill my husband.

Shaking his head in disbelief, Ambrose’s hate-filled eyes turned to his sister, though his comments were directed at me. “And her…you always loved her more.”

“No.” If anything, I loved him more. Ambrose was mine, born of my body while I stood at the helm. Dawn, beloved and special, belonged to Sally.

“You threw her a big party, spending my birthday planning it!” Spittle flew from his mouth when he yelled.

I attempted to defend myself. Using my calmest voice, I said, “That was Paetus’ doing. He didn’t know it was your special day.”

“You should have told him! Paetus should be my ally, as he’d been Archelaos’, but no, he was infected by this girl.” He pointed behind him. Clearly at the breaking point, Ambrose spoke more to himself than to me. “Females corrupt, cause rot in a man’s mind…their sinful bodies and decadent lives. I will never be ruled by one.”

“Why did you do it? Why did they all have to die?” I could remember hearing those questions from my son’s mouth when that man killed himself in the street. Why, why did he have to die? That had been Archelaos, questioning my son’s actions. How could I have been so blind?

My son’s voice broke me from my musings. “I like killing. Birds are so easy, so trusting, and you just blamed it on their flights into the glass. But then Moira caught me. She made me mad. She set them free.” He smiled, placing his hands on his hips. “I am so strong. Killing her was not much different than killing a bird. Then Archelaos left me and I discovered Carriers. Dying in their skin is the most exquisite sensation, Mama. Thank you for that one.” He lifted his chin to indicate the corpse in the corner. The look of ecstasy on his little face was disturbing. He must have noticed my disgust. “You’re such a prude, Mama. You should feel it. I cannot wait to ride them to the fights. When I rule the club, we will have gladiator-type fights—to the death—and battle exotic beasts. I will bring back the execution methods I have seen in Archelaos’ memories.” He seemed very pleased by his idea.

“How did the mind of my baby become so warped?”

“I am not a baby!” he screamed.

My men burst into the room but kept their distance. From where they were standing, the danger was gone. Only my children, I, and a corpse occupied the room.

“I will be Lord of my house,” Ambrose mumbled to himself, fists balled at his sides, almost as if he were using the mantra to calm himself. “Do you know what my very earliest memory is? As soon as we were born, Archelaos plotted to get away. He saw Dawn and loved her instantly, wanted her instead of me. Have you any idea what that feels like? To be rejected by a part of yourself?” He didn’t wait for me to answer or soothe him. “He should be done by now. Enough, Archelaos, come back.”

“No,” Dawn answered.

Ambrose sighed. “This will end the same as the others, Archelaos.”

“You don’t have to do this. We can work it out so that no one else has to die,” she argued.

“You have no loyalty.” He shrugged, obviously still believing he spoke to Archelaos. They must have carried on many conversations in this manner. “You are mine. Your blood belongs to me.” Dropping the little space it took to get to the floor, Ambrose sat and, lying back, closed his eyes.

I knelt beside my son’s tiny body. Separating his lids to look into his eyes, Sally declared, “He’s alive, but out of his body.”

Ambrose began to convulse and I cradled him so that he didn’t injure himself. I had seen this before. Leon had similar fits when he tried to ride Dawn. My heart hurt when I thought of my husband but Sally pushed it down to a dark corner of our mind to be dealt with later.

“His body will die when she kills his spirit.” Sally spoke aloud calmly, resolved at the events that must take place.

“Sally, please,” I pleaded. “Show her how, as you did with Leon. Don’t let her kill my son.”

“No,” she replied aloud again. We were under great duress and completely forgot to hide our dual nature, oblivious to our men observing our argument. “Dawn is doing the right thing. He is set on killing her out of sheer jealousy. It would not have been an easy death, either. He planned to torture her first.”

“But why would he do that?” I asked.

“As a lesson to Archelaos, and because he wanted to. Ambrose enjoyed ruining, destroying beautiful things. How many times did we hear that from him? He is sick with an illness of the mind that has no cure. I am sorry, Ramillia, but this is the only way.”

The sound of my own name from my own mouth startled me into remembering that we were not alone. I looked up to find everyone staring. Our secret was out.