Breathe in. Breathe out.

  This…this wasn’t relevant. Outside of a reason for her not to hear the whisper. Something to be ignored. For now at least. Later, there would be time to think about it.

  “You could be lying,” I noted. “About not hearing the whisper. Or even just being another spawn of that thing. There are other reasons you might not have heard it.”

  “That thing is our parent,” Melissa said reproachfully. “They gave us life, and they-“

  “Abandoned is in a try that hates us from birth, only bothers unig when we advaheir goals, and never shows the slightest sign of g for us outside of it,” I tered. “All we got from it is Diabolism and a bloodlihat more often makes us foes than friends. And even that fift? It is only a gift if you use it right.”

  “It’s a gift,” she snapped. “Just as much as divine magic used by priests is a gift from the other side.”

  “Divine magic doesn’t iionally leak corruption and portals out of an intense desire to break into the world,” I said. “But we’re skipping a crucial step. Why should I believe you’re my half-sister?”

  “Do I gain anything from admitting it?” she said, staring defiantly up at me.

  Yes, even if she might not know it. Versalicci did, damn him.

  “Okay,” I said quietly. “I might not believe you, but it’s…not relevant to the immediate situation. What happened regarding this deal offered?”

  She hesitated.

  “I already know enough to guess some of it,” I said. “Some of the diabolists decided to take this deal? Got in a fight with Versalicci over it?”

  “Almost all of them,” she admitted. “I only knew because some of the ringleaders, Mitchell and Frawks, started talking to me about it. They don’t know about the bloodlihey were trying to recruit, said they’d talked to Daver aold them off, said the boss would decide. They just said they wanted as many as possible to talk to the boss.”

  “Not the case?” I ventured.

  “Daver died,” she told me, the words spilling out, nearly talking over herself. “Because of this. I…I ’t say for sure, but I ’t think what else it might have been. Gio was furious, and it didn’t take long to figure out who did it. Issue is, they were all gone.”

  I breathed in. Daver dead. I wouldn’t miss the drunken diabolist a lot, but he had taught me, and helped me. Even if help took the form of talking a young girl into sawing off the head of her friend’s corpse.

  That could be dwelt ohe other thing was more important.

  “So,” I said quietly. “We have how many Diabolists roaming around, trying to enae deal with an archduke of the Hells?”

  Melissa cmmed up some, drawing ba on herself after the sudden outp of information.

  “Keeping quiet on this isn’t helping anyone,” I told her. “I knew he still had diabolists from the time he had me summon the Duke. Pieces of demooo fresh. And it’s not like it’s hard for new diabolists to e about, it’s just hard for us to keep hidden. At this point, limiting the damage this causes is going to help the most, especially if it’s taken as a sign of Versalicci help in good faith.”

  “He already did,” she said quietly.

  “He seer a rumour that he provided little information on,” I said. “There’s a good ce it could have ended in me fighting Holmsteader, or poking around for a week before I found anything leading to Donald Tyler. And then? I haven’t looked through what I grabbed from his house, but how was I supposed to put together that several of his diabolist had gue?”

  “How did you you realize there was a deal going on so fast?” Melissa asked in response, getting a little fire ba her eyes.

  “Alice Skall,” I told her. “Here at Versalicci’s invitation who decided to break into my house and hold me at gunpoint.”

  “Oh, that must have been so distressing,” Melissa deadpanned, staring at the revolver still in my hand.

  “Oh shush, only people with guns are allowed to be snarky,” I told her. “Still, another Diabolist, here at our brother’s request. Alice breaks in because her dragged into the shape-ger mess, she ends up talking to me trying to find out if it was my idea, and then ter she mentions having a little whisper in her ear tempting her. Donald Tyler was w on something that demanded a lot of souls that he was colleg. Not necessarily the deal, but now I wish I’d dragged the summoning circle he fed them to out of that house.”

  “Seems way too many corpses to have been gathered that fast,” Melissa said soberly.

  “Depends on if he had help,” I hinking ba it. “When did Versaliotice people missing?”

  “No idea, I first heard about that wheried setting you on his trail. Although he and Daver mentioyler buying diabolic supplies a few weeks back. And twelve.”

  “Twelve Diabolists?” I asked. That was a fair few more than I expected, with Quarter under more scrutiny than it had endured in decades. Still nowhere he number in the Fme at it’s height. “Powerful?”

  “Not something many share openly,” Melissa said, lips quirking a little. “And the ones who did share openly were just the ones most fident in their ability to lie.”

  That sounded abht, but still. “You should still have an idea if they could desecrate a church with the corruptive effects of a spell, right?”

  She blinked, disbelief pin on her face. “The corruptive effects?”

  “Murder was done using a modified ritual for transf a soul and body into that of a devil’s,” I told her. “Modified for pain and to make sure the subject died. And castable with a touch. The leakage from that was suffit to desecrate the church.”

  Silence reigned in my practice chamber as she tried to digest that.

  “No one,” she said. “And if Daver didn’t lie to me, what you’re describing is…powerful. More powerful than him. More powerful than you?”

  “If I could, usefulness or no I’m pretty sure the Imperial Gover would have cut my head off,” I said. “Could I get there? Maybe. We share a powerful bloodline Melissa. Which is part of why I’m being watched. But right now? No. And I doubt any of them were trusted enough by Father Reginald he let them in. Does Versalicci have any is ion?”

  The question surprised her, then she pursed her lips as she thought. “I don’t think so, holy you mentioning it a few minutes ago was the first time I’d heard the name in a long time.”

  “There’s been a string of robberies tely,” I said. “Not initiations? Tests? Training?”

  “No,” she said firmly. “Belton is too sleepy of a neighborhood to do that. Notable enough it would draw attention.”

  That was true. It had been notable enough that we’d all suspected a e as soon as it was reported.

  “I’ll have more questions ter,” I said, getting up and moving towards the door as her eyes widened.

  “You’re not letting me go?” She protested.

  “Melissa,” I said. “I will let you go, if only because I don’t want an angry and desperate Diabolist in my basement. But Holmteader was here earlier, and definitely left people behind to watch. If they see Bck Fme members leaving? Well, they might try something. And that’s assuming it’s only Holmsteader. And I’m not letting you have free reign of my house either. We wait til there are fewer watchers, and I help you out?”

  It would keep her out of Versalicci’s hands just a little longer. Damn me, what the hells was I trying to pull here?

  The relut nod I got iurn wasn’t the most ving gesture, but for now, it would have to do. If she made a serious effort to escape? Well, with enough ford willio break bones, one could do it.

  ***

  “She’s staying down there for a while,” I told Gregory after talking about what had been discussed after he left. Minus the fact she was my half-sister. “Letting her go back to Versalicci isn’t worth the risk. ’t be certain he’s not involved in this beyond some of his people going rogue.”

  “Is it possible it’s fake?” Gregory said with a pensive frown. “Feed a false story to this one, let her loose in the hopes it gets back to us?”

  “No,” I said. “Far too many variables, no if he wao do that he’d do something he’d be sure would reach us, even if the message itself is obscured. Me eventually finding Tyler? That was iional, but Melissa was not. Hells, even if none of his other Diabolists actually left, sacrifig one for something like that would be sidered a waste.”

  Especially if it was one of the few Diabolists capable of reag the Duke without their heads popping like a grape.

  “I’ll have te for someoo watch her while I’m out,” I said. “Or maybe to keep her somewhere else. I don’t want to seo the Watch, and especially not Halspus’ church. Or anyone else.”

  “Why not?”

  Because she’s probably my sister, wasn’t going to leave my lips anytime soon, and the alternative of because I said so wasn’t what I would call ving.

  “Who do you think are the two biggest colles of Diabolists outside of the dozen from the Fme?” I asked Gregory.

  He raised an eyebrow, and then as he thought on it his face fell more and more.

  “One is defihe program,” he said. “The details I was given were sparse, deliberately so, but they hi a dozen churches having had one member start studying and colleg power.”

  “That’s why no churches,” I told him. “As for why no Watch, I’m betting the sed is the list of Imperial Intelligence agents or sultants who know Diabolism.”

  Gregory’s frown deepened. “So all of the iigators who are diabolists are-”

  “Maybe not,” I said. “Takes a lot of effort to punch through a message from the Hells past the barriers set up around Anglea. For every diabolist not excluded by blood or some other reason? They’d hear it just because of that, but that doesn’t mean other ears known to be willing aren’t the target.”

  I despised the church of Halpsus, but they wereirely wrong in all things. Devils could be tricky, and ving, but most importantly they knew precisely the right targets to whisper honeyed words to when needed.

  The barriers they’d put around A great expeo keep the hells from iing with the mortal pne except when a Diabolist mao carve their own hole? They kept that from being anything but a rarity.

  The issue is those rarities were beings of great power deg to waste their energy doing it. What might have in the past been something some imp trying to tempt a single mortal would now require efforts by an archdevil, at least.

  And would mean whatever the end goal was matched an archdevil’s ambitions.

  “So,” Gregory said quietly. “Anyone could be w on the devil’s pns then.”

  “Yeah,” I replied. “There’s exceptions to that, probably. Going forward not trusting anyone involved is a recipe for disaster. Especially when sharing information is the key to figuring out who is behind this. But tell the wrong person we’re onto them? They py us like a fiddle.”

  “And you chose to tell me,” he noted. “I’m…touched but a little surprised?”

  “I didn’t really know where that versation was going to lead,” I said, and his face fell. “But in truth? Whatever else, I don’t think you’re part of this.”

  Not that I could erust him, no that was of course out of the question. The real answer was closer to what I’d first said, I hadn’t knowhat versation would lead when I started it.

  “Anyone else on that list?” Gregory asked.

  “Voltar,” I said, before frowning. “As far as I tell, which is the issue isn’t it? I’ve known him for about a month closely, the rest of the time being a minion of one of his on targets. Same with Doctor Dawes. And Barnes. And the church people on your side you’ve known for eveime?”

  “Well, I knew Father Reginald rather well, but he’s…dead.”

  “So, fht now, Voltar?” I asked. “We ’t keep it just betweewo of us, her of us really has the authority to a it.”

  Gregory frowned. “My uanding was Voltar occasionally worked for Intelligenot that he actually art of it?”

  Well, yes, even if he had a brother who art of it. Probably not something I should be spreading around.

  “Ihe iigation,” I crified. “He has leverage i that her of us have without expining why.”

  “True,” Gregory said. “I suppose it’s a risk worth taking. But with that out of the way, why did you send me upstairs?”

  I settled oruest-sounding ahat didn’t give aecifics.

  “Family issues,” I told Gregory bitterly. “In my experience, with few exceptions, they are some of the worst issues one enter. You ever had an evil brother?”

  He chuckled. “William be a bit of a brat, and Edward be a bit of a suck-up, but her I’d call….”

  Gregory trailed off at the mention of his older brother. Awkwardly, I sidered what the Hells to say to that.

  In the end, Gregory spoke the silence first.

  “Although speaking of family, I have talked to some of yours retly,” Gregory said, and I froze.

  Couldn’t be Versalicci, couldn’t be the devil, which meant.

  “Really?” I asked coldly. “Sing stories with the Xangs retly?”

  “They have quite a few,” he said. “A lot of them about what Lily Xang was like as a child.”

  “Lily Xang is dead,” I told him. “In spirit if not in flesh quite yet. Digging up that grave is going to end with the usual respoo digging up a corpse- disfort, anger, and sorrow for everyone involved.”

  “Wasn’t you digging up a corpse the start of your involve-”

  “Do not try to ge the topic!” I yelled at him. “Lily Xang is dead! If my st versation with my uncle was erue, it came very close to her literally dying, instead of being tossed with her mother to fend for themselves in the Quarter! They sat around, aually decided that tossing me in there was a fair alternative to cutting my Hells-damned head off Gregory!”

  He had paled by that st bit, all the color faded. “I didn’t know-”

  “Of course you didn’t,” I snapped. “I’ve told you about things like this before, when you ered me, exhausted and tired, and none of it seems to sink through. I deal with you hating me for what I’ve done Gregory, but I am tired of this. You seem to flip-flop between sidering me a monster for what I’ve done, and some charming i waif because of either what you thought of me or what others tell you. Do I seriously o expin the cept that people ge to you?”

  He actually seemed irritated at that, lips pursing in anger. “Yes, I know what that is, Malvia, but-”

  “No buts,” I snapped. “This is not a topic for discussion. Do me a favor, a out of my store. Now.”

  He opened his mouth, then seemed to actually thier of what he was saying and headed towards the door.

  I stalked off towards my rooms upstairs, hoping to find something up there to calm the ahat felt like it was throttling my brain.

  I was half the stairs when the bell above my d.

  Why do I even put up a sign? I thought as I went back dowairs, only to see Gregory Montague awkwardly peering inside, about to say something.

  “I am going to shoot you,” I said before he could even form a word. “Out of my store.”

  I was already heading to the gun under my ter. Just to reiterate my point, not to actually shoot him. He quickly opened my door the rest of the way, revealing three others on my doorstep.

  Voltar, Dawes, and Tagashin in her guise as Rebecca Barnes. And from the slight bemusement on Voltar’s face, worry on Dawes’, and face-splitting grin on Tagashin’s, all three had heard that st ents.

  “Miss Harrow,” Voltar said calmly, and I could only hope I did not look as embarrassed as Gregory did currently. “Sorry for the interruption, but there’s been another murder. Another priest is dead.”