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WHEN EDEN WOKE UP THE night after the trickster god’s epic treachery, she lay in bed and stared up at the ceiling. She had a bad feeling about Crowmon’s stunt, but she had no idea why. He was now powerless, but he was still a god. As long as he had worshippers, his magic could become replenished. Lord Dallinar had seemed to think he’d rendered the deity helpless forever. He was so arrogant and sure of himself that he believed he’d put a stop to the jester’s nefarious plans.
The assassin replayed everything she’d seen last night and lingered on what had happened on the rooftop of the asylum. Sorcha had felt the residue of a strong spell that had been cast, but she had no idea what it had been. They assumed rebels were behind it, but it was puzzling why Efrem Prager had been murdered. It wasn’t exactly a secret that he’d hated the Immortal Triumvirate. Had the rebels turned on him? If so, why? She didn’t have an answer to that question and she doubted she ever would.
Eden got up, dressed in jeans and a sweater and ambled into the kitchen. She took the time to cook herself some pasta, since it was doubtful she would be sent out to murder anyone tonight. When she’d devoured her meal, the dishes were automatically cleaned and were sent back to the cupboards and drawers.
Only Crowmon and his people had been drained of their magic last night. Everyone else had been given a reprieve. Eden felt restless and headed outside to see how the populace were reacting to dodging the bullet for a year.
The City Square remained largely untouched by the slaughter. A few bodies lay here and there, along with piles of sand that had been the stone hounds. Eden walked through the square and crossed a bridge to the Shifter District to see devastation everywhere. Survivors were mourning their dead and were gathering up the bodies to be buried.
A few skeletons shambled around, dragging away the corpses that weren’t being claimed by anyone. The shapeshifters were shellshocked by the unexpected attack. They huddled together and stared suspiciously at Eden. A roar in the distance sounded as a rogue werelion vented its fury. The assassin figured it would be wiser to stay out of the District until things settled down. She turned the corner and headed back towards the City Square.
Her exploration had taken several hours, but she wasn’t the least bit tired when she entered her home through the back door. Malachi stuck his head out of the living room and gestured at her. “Sorcha and I have both been scouting the city,” he said as his half-sister joined them. A glass of wine appeared on the coffee table as she took a seat next to Sorcha on the tan couch.
“So was I,” Eden admitted. “Things are bad in the Shifter District. I heard a lot of alphas and influential shifters were killed.”
“The same thing happened in the Vampire District,” Sorcha reported. “Hundreds of masters were killed by the hounds and their kisses don’t have leaders now.”
“I took a look in the Fae District,” Malachi said. “Thousands of vampires, witches and wizards were killed during their private war. The hounds targeted important and powerful fae beings. All three Districts are still in chaos.”
“I can’t feel Crowmon’s olde-worlde magic at all now,” the sorceress said. “There’s no trace of it left.” She’d worn an illusion to hide her real identity when she’d ventured out. She’d been trained to remain as unobtrusive as possible and it was ingrained into her by now.
“It seems the Demon District and the Night Cursed District were left untouched,” Eden mused, then took a sip of wine.
“Only an idiot would target the demons,” Malachi said with a shake of his head. “Not even Crowmon was arrogant enough to go to war with them.”
“Nox was bad before, but it’s going to become even more unstable now,” Sorcha said in a worried tone. “The shifters need alphas to keep them under control and the leeches needs masters to keep them in check.”
“I’ve heard fledglings go as insane as rogue shifters when they don’t have someone to rule them,” Eden said. “There were already too many rogue shifters before. Now there’s going to be a lot more of them. The bloodsuckers will start losing their ability to control their thirst. It’ll be another bloodbath.”
“I’m sure the Immortal Triumvirate will do something about it,” Malachi said without much confidence.
“What can they do?” Sorcha asked. “It’s not like they can conjure up more master vampires and alpha shifters.”
“Lord Kreaton is a master vamp and Lord Graham is an alpha,” Eden pointed out. “Can’t they just assume control of their people?”
“If they could, wouldn’t they have done that already?” her half-brother figured.
“You have a point,” the succubus conceded.
During the next few nights, it became obvious that the war that had been started between the vampires and the witches was over. They’d both lost too many people to continue with their feud. The only good thing that had come of Crowmon’s betrayal was that everyone else had been spared from the Energy Tax. As harsh as it was to contemplate, fewer civilians meant there was more magic to go around. For the next year, there would be more magic to feed the starving population.
While she was performing her missions, Eden heard whispers that the rebels were even more restless than ever. Being spared having their energy drained had given them hope that they might be able to topple their leaders. Personally, if she’d been planning on trying to kill three highly powerful beings, she would have been more circumspect about it.
“I heard the Immortal Triumvirate met with the Guild Masters to discuss the trickster’s betrayal,” Malachi said during one of their nightly meetings they’d been having since the disaster. “They determined that nothing could have been done to prevent it and no one had seen it coming.”
“Onvier has settled into the position of Magic Guild Master,” Sorcha reported. “He’s introducing new rules to assert his dominance and the guildmembers apparently aren’t happy about it.” She hadn’t heard exactly what the new rules were, since she wasn’t a member of the guild herself.
“I heard Lord Kreaton decided that new leaders would need to be decided on by each kiss who had lost their leaders,” Eden told them. “Lord Graham decreed that the few remaining alphas would have to take control of the shifters. They’ll apparently be punished if the rogues get out of hand and attack the civilians. The same goes for the vamps.”
“As if that’s going to stop them,” Malachi said with an eye roll.
Hiding in the dark and listening to the rumors as they stalked their prey gave them an insight into what was going on in the Districts. The solutions Lord Kreaton and Lord Graham had offered weren’t going to be enough. Appointing fledglings to be in charge didn’t make them masters. It took time and experience to gain power as a leech. Alphas were born, not made and they could only control their own species effectively. It was obvious that things were only going to get worse in Nox. Unrest had always been bubbling beneath the surface. Things had become so unstable that it wouldn’t take much to cause another catastrophe.
