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“I was standing there minding my own business when I heard screaming and gunfire. He apparently attacked the woman unprovoked. I got us a penthouse suite, by the way.” He dug into his jacket pocket and took out a couple of card keys.

Thank gods. Now he shouldn’t have to challenge Malakai and Max to a rock, paper, scissors duel again.

“It’s like what happened at the hospital,” said a female voice.

They turned and found a teenaged venefican girl smoking by the building, one foot propped against the wall at her back. The black liner on her eyes was smudged, her limp brown hair hanging over her shoulder in a messy braid.

“Pardon?” Max asked sharply. AKA: why are you eavesdropping?

“Didn’t you guys hear?” She puffed on the cigarette she was too young to have purchased on her own. “Same thing happened at the hospital. A bunch of staff and patients were murdered.”

Travis said, “I thought that was a monster.” They had been there when it happened. He remembered hearing a roar.

A look of amusement flitted across her gaunt face. “Was it?” She lifted the cigarette to her chapped lips.

Max turned fully to face her. “What all do you know?” he demanded.

She was unfazed by his tone. “I have an aunt who works there as a laundry attendant. She said two of the patients and one member of the staff—all hellsehers—went loopy during one ofthe power outages and just started attacking. Their eyes went all black and crazy?—”

Travis interrupted. “You do realize you’re talking to hellsehers right now, right? I’m a hellseher, our eyes alwaysgo black and crazy.”Who did this chick think she was?

She shrugged. “I’m just telling you what I heard.” She puffed on the cigarette that smelled like it was laced with something highly illegal.

The bodies they’d found in the hospital—ripped open as if an animal had attacked them. The blood all over the walls.

A wave of cold dread washed through Travis.

He looked over his shoulder at the hotel entrance. Two ambulances had pulled up along the curb, paramedics unloading stretchers—with police escorts.

Travis’s frown deepened. The city was collapsing, and they could spare police escorts for something like this?

Max said, “What exactly do you mean byblack and crazy?Did they look any different than this?” He blinked the Sight into place.

The witch tapped the ash off her cigarette. “My aunt said they had a fan of black lines around their eyes.”

Travis shared a loaded glance with the others.

Black lines…

Like Venom users?

Max burstinto the hotel room, startling Maya and Magenta, the girls watching television on one of the beds. Malakai and Aspen were lounging on the other.

“What’s up?” Malakai drawled, scanning their group with a bored expression.

Blue sat in the chair by the window. Upon seeing the looks on their faces—in particular Dominic’s—she unfurled to her feet.

But Max turned his focus on his sister. “I need you to tell me everything that happened with Onyx,” he said. “Right.Now.”

61

The Duchess

YVESWICH, STATE OF KER

It tookMaya a while to explain everything. Max drilled her with questions for over an hour while the others listened intently, all of them sprawled across the beds, the floor, the chairs. They would move up to the penthouse later, once the crime scene in the lobby was cleared.

According to Maya, Onyx was a genetically modified hellseher with shadow powers similar to Darien, Roman, Malakai, and Travis. He could control shadow—bend it to his will. He could even black out an entire room or street if he so desired. He was extremely powerful.