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WEARY WORKERS WERE making their way to their homes in the Night Cursed District. The sun would rise soon. They wanted to be safely tucked inside their apartments before they were rendered unconscious. A French maid shared a carriage with an FBI agent, a fortune teller, a hot doctor and an equally hot fireman.
“I think Guild Masters Reed and Latour are up to something,” Joanne said as she nervously twisted her feather duster in her hands. She wore a short black dress with a useless tiny white apron. Her black hair was swept up into a French twist. She cleaned the private homes of the Shifter, Vampire and Magic Guild Masters. Fortunately, the Guild Masters spent most of their time at their guildhalls. It gave her plenty of time to snoop through their offices in their houses.
“What have you seen?” Lyle asked. He reached over to take her hand and she entwined her fingers with his. The FBI agent soothed her nerves with his stoic calmness. Dark sunglasses hid his eyes. He only took them off when they were in bed together. They’d been sharing an apartment for a while now and she didn’t miss her old roommate at all. She still let Umbridge feed from her once a week and he was still squeamish about it.
“I saw crumpled up pieces of paper in the werebear’s wastebasket in his office,” Joanne informed them. “They were lists of names that had been crossed out.”
“Did you recognize any of the names?” Travis asked. His white lab coat covered a blue t-shirt and jeans. While he was a few inches shorter than Steve Banner, his physique was almost as well muscled as the fireman’s.
“They’re all fairly high up in the Magic Guild hierarchy,” the French maid replied.
“Did you find something similar in Latour’s house?” Quilla asked. Steve had his arm wrapped around her shoulder. She looked tiny next to his hulking size. He was as sexy as hell in his fireman uniform.
“No, but I overheard him dictating a letter to Guild Master Reed a while ago,” Joanne explained. “He was setting up a secret meeting with him.”
They reached the ten story warehouse that had been converted into apartments and climbed out. Another carriage arrived and Xiara Evora exited from it. She raced through the rain to meet them. They filed into the entertaining area where the rest of their friends were waiting for them.
“Nice weather we’re having,” Captain Jasper Shortbeard said. The handsome, bearded pirate was seated on a couch with his beloved tucked beneath his arm. A black pirate hat sat on his shoulder length curly black hair. He wore a dark blue coat and a white shirt that was open to reveal a gold chain with a cross on it. His pants were tight and black and he wore black knee high boots. They all wore crosses to avoid being possessed by demons.
“Quim!” Gip croaked sullenly. The green, red and blue parrot hated the rain just as much as his master did.
Lady Marigold leaned forward to glower at the bird, but she didn’t backhand him, since the insult hadn’t been directed at her for once. She had long, wavy blonde hair and sky blue eyes. Her emerald green dress was cinched in at the waist and made her boobs bulge upwards. The black coat she wore over the dress did nothing to hide her cleavage. “We left Pirate Cove early because of the lightning,” she said.
“My fellow knights and I left the arena in Tournament Town early for the same reason,” Sir Francis, otherwise known as Frank, said. He rapped a knuckle against his metal suit of armor and it rang loudly. “Lightning and steel don’t mix well.”
Xiara gave them a distracted smile as Travis drew her down onto his lap on an armchair. “What’s wrong, babe?” he asked.
Wrath pulsed as she rested him next to the chair and the gray mist reached out to caress her face. “I saw a pack of crows attack one of their rivals,” she said and everyone quietened down to listen when they heard how disturbed she was. “They pecked the poor thing to death and ate it, then threw up the remains.”
“Ew,” Amanda the werepanda said with her paw paused halfway to her mouth. She dumped the chips she’d been about to eat back into the bowl that rested on her huge belly. “That’s gross,” she complained.
Ivan, her gray stone gargoyle boyfriend, frowned. He was almost as hideous as a demon, but he was intelligent and caring. “There’s more,” he said intuitively.
“I saw the dead crow’s skeleton, guts and other things through the swarm of birds, but when they left, there were no remains,” Xiara said.
“Can crows eat bones?” Gertrude the witch asked dubiously. Wayne, her partner, was in his werewolf form. He crouched beside her chair, scratching his ear with his back paw. The witch leaned over absently to scratch his itch for him and he made a growling sound of pleasure.
“I’m not sure,” Steve replied and looked at the others only to receive shrugs. “I guess they must be able to,” he figured.
“There’s something else,” the Guardian of Nox said as Chesi slithered beneath the door and solidified. The air elemental flew over and settled on the executioner’s lap, purring contentedly to find everyone she loved safely at home. “The crows all had green eyes,” she added.
“All the crows and rats I’ve seen lately have had green eyes,” Travis said. His tone was just as disturbed as hers was.
“Is it some kind of weird mutation?” Fiona asked. She sat next to Sgt. Rick Malone, who was still in his police uniform. One of the fairy’s wings was tucked around him and he was stroking his hand up and down her thigh. She was beautiful and dainty, with light blue hair and eyes. Her gown was yellow, with matching yellow flecks in her wings. Rick was average height and had sandy blond hair and hazel eyes.
“It could be,” Drognar said. The small black demon was barely visible. She had tiny, useless wings, long teeth, a hideous face and glowing green eyes. Her tail was long, thin and had a deadly sharp point, not that she had enough courage to actually harm another being with it.
“It could be something else,” Umbridge said. He sat on his favorite armchair in the small library that had appeared once he’d joined the team. A book sat on his lap and he was flicking through the pages far too quickly to read them. He had a photographic memory and he tended to read the books in his head once he’d finished scanning them.
“Such as?” Jasper asked with a hint of amusement.
“It isn’t a normal mutation,” Quilla said. Her gaze went distant as she had a vision. “Whatever is happening to the crows and rats in Nox isn’t natural at all.”
“What do you see?” Xiara asked in trepidation.
“Darkness is spreading through Nox like a disease,” the mystic said. “I see plots forming and alliances being made. Most will fail, but some will succeed. They’re the ones that will impact Nox the most. They will help determine whether good or evil will ultimately rule the City of Night.”
“Do you think Guild Masters Latour and Reed are attempting to form another triumvirate?” Lyle asked Joanne.
“Possibly,” the French maid replied, but she sounded uncertain.
“What makes you think they’re planning to forge a new trinity?” Steve asked, tightening his arm around Quilla’s frail shoulders when she shivered.
Joanne explained about the Vampire Guild Master arranging a meeting with the alpha werebear. Then she mentioned the crumpled notes in the Shifter Guild Master’s office. “It feels like they’re up to something and that they’re working together,” she said in summary.
“You have good instincts,” Lyle said. She flashed him a grateful smile that he didn’t doubt her.
“I see a trio of trinities,” Quilla said, seeing another flash of the future that lay in store for Nox. “Only three alliances will hold. The others will fail, or will be destroyed. On Halloween, the war between the triumvirates will unfold.”
“So, I guess we won’t be having a nice, quiet evening on All Hallows’ Eve, then?” Amanda said dourly.
Xiara snickered, then Lady Marigold giggled and the werepanda snorted out a laugh. They received long-suffering looks from their partners, who were used to their inappropriate senses of humor.
Madam Quilla didn’t join their mirth for once. The visions she’d just witnessed had been too grim for her to describe. Sebastian, Kade and Raum already only had a slim chance of succeeding at overthrowing the Immortal Triumvirate. Now there was going to be a third triad in the mix and she didn’t know who the main players were. All she knew was that the darkness that threatened the city was growing nightly.
