Sebastian wasn’t very good at distinguishing individual features among ghouls, but he thought this one was female, and she wore the uniform of a captain. The ghoul prowled forward, followed by the other Nightkind, closing in on Phaedra and Julian.
The Djinn’s eyes went supernova, blazing as bright as any other beacon in the night. She said, “You would be wise to listen to me. My grandfather is Soren, first generation Djinn and head of the Elder tribunal. My father is Khalil, prince of the House Marid, the strongest of all five of the Djinn Houses. Do you really want to make war upon me and my associations?”
Sebastian almost wished he had a bowl of popcorn. He could watch the shit they threw down all night. But Olivia’s distress was deep and genuine, and nothing of what had just happened had anything to do with the job he had promised Carling that he would do.
He rubbed Olivia’s arms as he raised his voice. “Phaedra, back down.”
The Djinn’s attention snapped to him, her eyes glowing like lampposts. Clearly not happy at the order, she scowled. Then she snapped open the fingers she had closed around Julian’s throat, displayed her flattened hand in front of Julian’s face and pulled it away.
She had no shortage of attitude. Sebastian would give her that. Phaedra was definitely a loose cannon and, as Olivia said, she was clearly not housebroken, but he liked her more now than he had before.
He turned his attention to Julian. “Please unhand my Djinn.”
Julian cocked his head to one side as he contemplated Phaedra. “I’ll get my hands on you again one day.”
She smiled at him. The expression was a remarkably nasty one, a mere widening of the lips on a very cold face. “When that happens,” she said, “I will not be bound by my word to obey someone else. Then we will see what comes next, Vampyre.”
Julian did not just let go of Phaedra. He shoved her hard. Her physical form flew back in the air, but before she could impact the hull of the yacht, she dissipated in a swirl of black smoke.
When Julian turned to look up at them again, Olivia flinched away, averting her head to focus her attention on the body of the yacht. Sebastian felt again that wild, violent upsurge of emotion, a combination of fury at Julian for frightening her so much and the very real desire to do him damage.
He said through his teeth, “I take it that you had some point in coming here tonight.”
“Yes, I did,” said Julian. “I know that most of your crew are enjoying the many fine things my city has to offer, at places like the Rockit Room, the Red Devil Lounge, the Club Deluxe and the Hemlock Tavern.”
Sebastian went rigid. Julian had specific locations on every one in his crew. When the Nightkind had arrived, Sebastian had taken note that Xavier del Torro, Julian’s second, was absent from the group. Now he thought he knew why. Julian had his crew followed.
Bailey, he said. Did you get through to everyone?
Just finished calling, she said. They said they would return ASAP.
They would, if Julian allowed them to.
“What do you want?” he snapped.
Once Phaedra had dematerialized, the Nightkind King’s attendants had relaxed. Julian slipped his hands into his pockets and turned to stroll along the slip closer to Sebastian and Olivia.
Julian said, “Usually the Elder tribunal is careful to close loopholes and contain all contingencies, but occasionally their edicts hold certain omissions. Here is a case in point. If your crew does not make the initial crossover within three—well, now it is nearing two—days Carling loses all rights to any of her property on the island. That deadline is non-negotiable. There is no provision for you being unavoidably detained. For example, the police can take your crew in for questioning in relation to various crimes that have occurred in the city this evening. They can detain them for up to forty-eight hours without booking them.”
Sebastian very gently let go of Olivia to face Julian. He gripped the railing with both hands, struggling with the desire to throttle the Nightkind King himself. He growled, “Why the fuck would you do that? Are you that petty?”
At his angry words, a couple of the ghouls snarled and stepped forward.
Julian waved them back, and said, “Actually, I have no desire to do that.” He stood in a casual stance, hands still in his pockets as he tilted his head back to stare up at Sebastian. “Carling has invested a lot of time and energy into collecting that library over the centuries, and I don’t care if she retrieves it. I do care about making sure she hasn’t used retrieving the library as an excuse to implement some other agenda in my demesne.”
“For God’s sake, like what?”