Ancient disses were the best.

“Delightful,” Ghastek said dryly.

I needed to move this along. “Do I need to sign anything?”

A group of people came around the corner, from my left, led by a woman in a light green dress that did wonders for her already spectacular figure. Her long red hair dripped on her shoulders. Rowena, one of the Masters of the Dead, the second most powerful necromancer in Atlanta. She had to be in her fifties, and she was still gorgeous. I always suspected that she and Ghastek were an item, but nobody could ever prove it.

The three men behind her wore identical outfits: dark pants, dark tunics, and heavy ceremonial cloaks, artfully draped over their shoulders. The leading man, older, with white hair and bronze skin, wore a cloak the color of jade, and the two younger men trailing him had cloaks the color of turquoise. People of the Sun.

There goes the neighborhood…

Among the Aztec cults, the People of the Sun were the strongest. Even before the Shift, twelve million Mexicans spoke the Aztec language. After magic had flooded the world, the Aztec mythology and religion came back full force. Some of it was good and some of it was horrifying.

The People of the Sun worshiped Huitzilopochtli, the god of war, sun, and sacrifice, and they controlled random spots all over the Southwest. Anyone could join. They didn’t discriminate by national origin, gender, sexual orientation, or magical abilities, as long as you prayed to their god and no other.

So far, the People of the Sun stayed away from mass human sacrifice, probably because they were powerful enough without it. We had run up against them during our time in LA, and they had been one of the factors that prompted our move to San Diego.

Rowena’s group headed straight for us.

This was planned. Ghastek meant for us to see each other. It couldn’t be for me, so it had to be for Namtur.

Rowena moved slightly to the side, and I saw the older man’s face. Tizoc. One of the tecuhtli, the lords, old, powerful, dangerous as hell. His real name was Luke O’Sullivan. Most of his family still lived in Boston, and he occasionally made trips up there for Thanksgiving. The two guys behind him were likely Jaguar warriors, elite fighters who served as tecuhtli personal bodyguards.

I turned away, so my hood blocked my face. Tizoc and Namtur had tried to negotiate before, and it was hate at first sight. Could this get any worse?

The two old men saw each other. For an instant, nobody moved.

Tizoc recovered first. “Namtur, you geriatric desert snake. I thought I smelled something foul, and there you are.”

Namtur ignored him. “We shall leave now.”

All around us, the smears of undead magic moved closer. There were six vampires right above, ready to fall through the ceiling, and more were coming. Ghastek expected a confrontation. He’d arranged it and now he was preparing to contain it.

“Running?” Tizoc mocked.

Namtur made no indication that he’d heard him. The ultimate insult—he’d decided that Tizoc was so insignificant, he was beneath notice.

“Knight woman, I do not have time to stand around.”

“Looks like we’ll be going now,” I said to Ghastek.

Tizoc flicked his fingers and the two guards moved to block the exit.

“Who is the errand girl? The best your bitch queen could send for you, a child in rags?” Tizoc reached for me.

Namtur moved so fast, he blurred. His hand knocked Tizoc’s fingers away. “You dare?”

Turquoise mist boiled out of Tizoc, like two glowing wings. His eyes shone with green.

I had to stop this, or people would die.

I put my hand on Namtur’s shoulder and moved so Tizoc could see my face. He jerked as if shocked with a live wire. Behind him, his bodyguards unsheathed their swords in unison.

“We should go, Great Uncle,” I said softly in the old language. “We aren’t among friends.”

Namtur patted my hand solemnly and turned toward the exit. The guards stepped aside, giving us a lot of room. We walked between them and kept going, through the Casino, out the doors, across the plaza. Two vampires covered in lime green sunblock discreetly followed us. I turned and looked at them to make sure the navigator knew they had been seen.

“Great Uncle,” I murmured. “How could you ruin it? You were supposed to not know me.”

He harrumphed. “Filthy dog. His hands are unworthy. If he’d sullied you with his bloodstained fingers, I’d have cut them off.”

Bloodstained? Pot, kettle. “Thank you for caring, Great Uncle. What were you doing in the Casino?”

“I’ve heard that the thin man is looking to make an alliance. I wanted to know to whom he was offering his pitiful wares.”

He’d made Ghastek sound like some peddler on the street.

“And now we know,” Namtur said.

“Did he mention why he wanted an alliance?”

“No, but he asked many questions about the Kingdom.”

Interesting.

We reached the side lot where I’d left Tulip and Lady, the horse I’d rented this morning. The vampires halted at the curb.

Namtur spun around and waved at them. “Shoo! Go home, you unnatural creatures!”

The vampires remained where they were. “We will escort you to the chapter.”

“That won’t be necessary,” I told them. “Mr. Sakkan is in the Order’s custody. I will consider any further interference from the Institute as a sign of aggression. This is your official warning.”

The vampires froze as the two navigators piloting them waited for orders. A moment passed. The undead turned and loped back toward the Casino in their odd, disjointed gait.

Namtur jumped and landed in Lady’s saddle. The hired horse startled. “Are we going home now?”

“No, Great Uncle. We’re going to the Order of Merciful Aid.”

Namtur nodded. “I see. And why would we do that?”

“Two reasons. First, your former host will have us followed. I’m posing as a knight, so I’ll need to take you where the knights are.”

“And the second?”

“I have to convince a paranoid man prone to spree-killing and snap judgements that someone isn’t a threat.”

“He’s right to be paranoid. This is a city of fools, incompetents, and madmen. I haven’t felt this young in centuries.”

“And if things don’t go well, you’ll probably get to kill a great many of them.”