“That doesn’t make my job any easier.” Vernadetto sipped his coffee. “I’ll need you to provide me with a list of names of anyone who worked on the preparations and those on security.”

Doc nodded. “I’ll get that for you as soon as I get back to my office.” He leaned in. “What’s your take on all this?”

“I can’t comment on an ongoing investigation.” He tapped his tablet, darkening the screen. “But off the record, the evidence is gone, the site’s been cleaned, and the suspect list includes everyone in the pride. Right now it’s Remo’s word against everyone else’s.” He looked at the door for a moment. “I like Fiona. She doesn’t seem like the type to hurt anyone.”

“She’s not.” Thank Bast for that cocktail party. Whatever impression Fi had made on Vernadetto that night, it had been a good one.

“I’m going to handle this case personally and while it will be a by-the-book investigation, I’ll do what I can to wrap it up quickly and without a lot of noise.”

“I appreciate that more than I can tell you.”

Vernadetto nodded slowly. “I’ll need to talk to Fiona, though, so wherever you’re hiding her, get her unhidden fast.”

Chrysabelle’s mouth went dry. “H-how do you know I’m pregnant?”

Olivia swallowed a bite of Eggs Benedict. “When I touched you outside. Felt that new life in you like a kick to my gut.”

“No one’s supposed to know,” Fi whispered, looking horrified.

“Too late,” Augustine chimed. “You spend much time with Livie, you figure out real fast secrets don’t stay secrets long. She’s got enough haerbinger blood in her to make her dangerously interesting.” He winked at her. “My kind of woman.” Then he arrowed his gaze at Chrysabelle and leaned back in his chair. “So, who’s the daddy?”

“The vampire,” Olivia answered.

Augustine’s chair thumped to the carpet. “How the hell is that possible?”

“He bit her while they were doing it,” Fi said around a mouthful of sausage.

“Fi.” Chrysabelle glared at her, instantly regretting letting her come. Why did Fi always have to say everything that came into her head?

“Sorry.” She shrugged. “But it’s true.”

Augustine whistled long and low. “I bet that does have something to do with why you’re here.”

Chrysabelle set her fork down, not that she’d touched much of her food. Even the smell of things cooking made her queasy these days. “Let me explain.” And so she did, for nearly twenty minutes, telling them about her visit to Khell and answering their questions as best she could without using Mortalis’s or Amery’s names.

Augustine threw his napkin onto his plate. “Let me get this straight. You want me to get you into the Claustrum?”

“Please. With Khell out of the picture, I have no one else to turn to and it’s my only hope of making things right.”

“You know what the consequences are for me if anyone finds out?”

“I do. And I’m sorry. I wouldn’t ask if this wasn’t so important.” She exhaled, staring at her lap. “I really have no one else to turn to.”

He stared at his plate for a while. “There is one person who could grant permission.”

“I told you, Khell said if I asked again, he’d have me thrown out of the city.”

“Not him.”

She looked up. “Who?”

“The elektos Prime. If he okays it, and he might, considering the circumstances, I won’t have to get involved.”

Which she knew he preferred. Mortalis had made it clear his brother wasn’t big on putting himself out there. “Who is the Prime?”

“We have a new one since you were here last. The shift in Guardian really shook things up.” He pursed his mouth for a moment, making her dread his answer. “The Prime is Hugo Loudreux.”

Every shred of hope she had dissolved. “He won’t help me.”

“Why not?”

“The last time I saw him, I threatened to kill him.”

Chapter Twenty-one

Creek waited until Annika slid the door to the machine shop closed. “There’s no way Mal’s the killer.”

“How do you know? Is this related to your recon on Tatiana last night?” She made herself at home in one of the easy chairs, kicking her feet up onto the cable spool table.

“Yes.” He took the other chair, setting his bottle of water on the spool. His stomach growled in protest that he wasn’t filling it with more. After his early-morning jog with Mal, he’d slept in and missed breakfast. “She brought at least one Nothos with her, but I took care of it as soon as I got there, then set up on the roof of the warehouse across from the freighter. Not sure how long she was inside, but she left a few hours before dawn. I thought she’d gone in to kill him, and was about to go in and check when he came out.”

Annika’s brows rose. “Unexpected.”

“Absolutely. I trailed him, we had a run-in, and I ended up shooting him in the leg.” No reason to tip off the KM about Mal not being himself until Chrysabelle had her shot at fixing him. “I’ve been tipping my bolts with a sedative, so he passed out right after. I carried him back to the freighter and as I was leaving, ran into a new vampire.”

He sat back in his chair and stared into Annika’s dark shades. “He’s Paole. And he told me he was the one who sired the mayor, but that he did it in exchange for her lifting the curfew.”