Page 196 of Serpent and Shadow

Sergius Calvarius was also dead, reputedly from a duel with Blackstone.

No one knew what happened to Sirena, but she was believed to be on the run. With multiple warrants out for her arrest, most believed she wouldn’t be she was on the run, with a warrant out for her arrest, so most believed it would only be a matter of time.

As for the Resurrected, I think their plight disturbed me the most.

“The spell was tied to Malefic’s blood,” Luc said, matter of fact. “I’m not sure even they knew this, or most of Dark Cathedral, or they might’ve protected him better. As it was, the Resurrecteds all collapsed when he died. It was what ended the fight around the Black Tower, when most of them fled back there, using mirrors they’d placed in several areas around the school.” His mouth curled in disgust.

“I’m told there were corpses everywhere,” he finished sourly. “And apparently they began to rot immediately, and at vastly accelerated speeds…”

“You’re going to need to hire an army of a cleaning team, mate,” Darragh said, aiming his fork at Bones. “Your house has got to smell absolutely godawful right now…”

Bones only swallowed though, and looked at Bones.

“Has there been any news about…” He paused, and cleared his throat. “My mother,” he clarified. “Have you heard anything about her? I should’ve asked Forsooth, but we were discussing other matters.”

Luc looked surprised.

“You weren’t told?” he asked, astonished.

At Bones’s harder glare, Luc waved a hand, subduing his voice.

“She’s fine, mate,” he said reassuringly. “She’s totally fine. You and Leda were right. Malefic was keeping her in the house. I overheard some of the G.O.R.E. agents talking about it at the hospital. They were getting reports from law enforcement operations going on all over England and even in Europe. Most of what they told us had to do with the raid at your family estate, as that’s where the largest number were sent. A huge team is still there, apparently, combing through the entire house to make sure they’ve not missed anything.”

Bones continued to glare at Luc.

“And?” he growled. “My mother. Where is she?”

Luc swallowed a mouthful of potatoes.

“They found her locked in her bedroom in one of the upper floors,” he said apologetically. “She hadn’t been outside of that room for months, and it didn’t appear Malefic was visiting her there, either. Which is maybe the good news.”

Gauging Bones’s face, he added, “He said they took her to a hospital somewhere in Exmoor. I’m sure she’s fine, Bones. They seemed to think Malefic was keeping her there for the same reason he’d been keeping you… to make sure no one could claim he’d stolen your inheritance, or illegally claimed authority over the estate.”

I felt my lips twitch.

When Luc gave me a passing, warning look, my suspicion was confirmed.

He’d clearly gotten the same talk Bones and I did, from either Forsooth or Blackstone or both. He’d gotten the talk about Bones, anyway. Thinking about that, I reached out tentatively with my lower primal, now that I had one again.

I’d never tried to talk to Luc that way before, but I knew I’d reached him when I saw him flinch.

Do they know? I asked softly, shielding my thoughts from the rest of the table. I nudged his mind meaningfully, glancing around at our friends. Did they get the same story you did? About Malefic? And Bones?

Luc hesitated, meeting my gaze.

Not everyone, no, he thought back at me, enunciating his thoughts carefully. Alaric, yes. Jolie and Nyx, yes. Miranda, Draken, Darragh, and Reena all think the masked mage turned out to be Malefic. They believe he was after Bones’s money, and only made it look like Caelum did it so no one would try to rescue him.

He hesitated, meeting my gaze.

Essentially, they got the same story the authorities and newspapers will be told, he added, softer. They all feel horribly guilty for doubting you, by the way, and for believing it was Bones, so maybe go easy on them when it comes up. I know Miranda feels absolutely awful. She keeps saying she should have believed you about Bones from the beginning.

I winced, but still felt a lot of the tension in my neck and face relax.

Elysia? I asked quietly, glancing at the blonde witch, who was grimacing delicately at something Alaric had just said to her. What was she told?

No idea. Luc shrugged. That might be a question for Alaric.

He paused, his mind going temporarily silent.