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“Part of The Assembly in Sweden is actually palace guards. The tried to stop The Summoner’s people, but failed. The rest of the group is still in hiding.” Jeff claimed the glass with Superman on it and handed the one with Batman to Benchley.

“The Assembly is falling apart.” Benchley stared into his tea, then poked the ice with one finger. “It’s all going to hell.”

Returning the jug of tea to the fridge, Samantha sighed. Austin felt like an enclave surrounded by chaos. They weren’t foolish enough to believe The Summoner would not come for them. He was taking his time for his own nefarious reasons. That truth made Samantha very scared.

“The Assembly was never that strong to begin with,” Aimee chimed in. She was adding pinches of various herbs to her cauldron. “Most of them were having fun playing researcher and historian. There weren’t that many real warriors in the mix. Cass and I figured that out right away.”

“There are a few teams of actual fighters that are in hiding.” Jeff sounded annoyed. Samantha knew he was a huge supporter of The Assembly but she didn’t think they had done much to help other than to constantly report bad news.

“Waiting for the last big battle to help?” Aimee rolled her eyes. “Lovely.”

“We’ll need them.” Benchley sipped his ice tea. His big shoulders sagged and he looked depressed. Samantha hadn’t heard him rattle on about gaming in weeks. She supposed imagining fighting bad guys was very different from actually doing it.

Picking up the Wonder Woman glass, Samantha sipped the sweet liquid, then wandered over to the bubbling food. The spicy food made her stomach rumble. “Chili?”

“My own recipe.” Baptiste sauntered into the kitchen dressed in jeans and a black t-shirt. Not only was he a powerful magus, he was the most amazing cook.

“Not as good as Texas chili,” Samantha said, lifting her chin haughtily, teasing him.

“Oh, I’m sure it is,” Baptiste answered with absolute confidence. “It’s ready. Take a bowl. Fresh cornbread is in the covered pan.”

“It really is good,” Aimee said to Samantha. “It’s scary good. I think he’s cheating and using magic.”

“Ha, ha.” Baptiste walked over to the white board and started making a notation. “I just heard from my cousin. We have a confirmation on another child of The Summoner.”

“Let me guess. No one has seen them since July?” Benchley shook his head. “Same old story.”

In the last few weeks it had been confirmed that three of The Summoner’s children had still been alive, but had disappeared soon after The Summoner had revealed himself at the graveyard in Fenton.

“That makes four, but there is serious doubt there are any more surviving. He did tend to kill them after all.” Baptiste finished writing down the information.

“So why are these four alive?” Aimee asked.

Samantha spooned some chili into a bowl. “I betcha they got the rings for him.” Lifting the cover on the cornbread, she felt her mouth start to water. The coarse yellow bread was already dripping with melted butter.

“That would explain how they got favor with him,” Baptiste said, sounding impressed.

Jeff gave her a proud smile. She beamed back at him. “That’s my girlfriend. Always seeing the obvious stuff we miss. Those four get him his rings, then go to him when he summons them.”

Samantha slid into a chair at the table and set her meal in front of her. “I bet they’re not alive anymore.”

Benchley raised his head. “Why would you say that?”

“Because he’s a dick?” Samantha said. “Just a thought, that’s all.”

“Why keep them alive? They’re not necromancers.” Baptiste folded his arms over his chest and shrugged. “It sorta makes sense. He was ready to kill Rachon.”

“But he has Etzli on his side,” Benchley said, pointing at the chart on the white board. “She’s not even his creation.”

“But she’s a vampire with unique abilities.” Aimee continued to measure herbs just by pinching a bit with her fingers or piling them on her palm. Samantha wasn’t too sure how accurate that method was compared to measuring cups and spoons. “She can call blood out of people once she wounds them with her daggers.”

Jeff rocked back and forth on the back two legs of his chair. “Well, if you think about it, he’ll want to have a lot of minions, but very few top dogs. He’ll want to sit on the top tier, but have someone that can keep the others in line. I’ve been reading up on what we know about his history and that’s his pattern.”

“And he’s so old he’s going to stick with what he knows,” Samantha agreed. “Hell, my grandma can barely use her iPhone, and he’s way older than her.”

“You’re missing something very important,” Benchley said. He picked up a napkin and blotted his sweaty forehead. “If those four vampires all had a ring, that means he has nine rings. Meanwhile, we’re just sitting here like a bunch of morons guessing what he’s up to with our thumbs stuck up our asses ...” Benchley’s voice trailed off.

“We still have one,” Samantha said. That was their mantra now. It was the only real solace they had as the situation became increasingly dire.