Tory studied Baron as if the three dragons weren’t about to destroy my VIP party. She then turned to Raego – who had been watching her – and nodded one time, giving Baron her stamp of approval. She didn’t give this stamp of approval to the other ancient dragons. Raego didn’t look pleased that only one of them might be trustworthy.

Enya didn’t look happy. Resolved to follow through with her stance, but not happy that she’d been played. I wondered how complicit she was, or if she had just been a pawn, too.

But Chu… he had returned, walking up to his sons, his head hanging low in shame. They had snorted and walked away from him without looking back. Chu slowly lifted his head and glared at Gertrude with utter hatred. Then he calmly – peacefully – took his place in the spotlight. I wasn’t sure if that made him a good guy, or if he was just accepting the price for his mistakes.

Malik… looked surprised. As if he had missed half the conversation. But I wasn’t sure I bought it, especially noticing Ivory looking so anxious behind him. I’d keep an eye on those two.

Tory then began walking back and forth before Dirty Gerty, who looked desperate for any way out of this mess, of the scheme that had collapsed around her. Any way to point a finger. Use her little old lady charm. But we all saw through it, now, too.

“Here’s where you really fucked up. You knew that I, being a Beast Master, was immune to your little mind tricks, so you thought to use the Reds against me, hinting that Raego intended to marry them off without my permission.”

She took a calming breath, and finally gave Dirty Gerty a merciless smile. “But did you know I spoke with Raego that first night? Right after our initial meeting? He told me all sorts of horrible things about you. What you would do, how you would try to get to me. Then he swore that he would never play those games with me, and that I was free to pursue the investigation as I saw fit. And that he would never use the Reds, or anyone else, against me. He even offered to let me take control of his mind and catch him in a lie. I walked away from that meeting very… troubled. Surely, I was being used somehow. I just didn’t know by whom. But then you proceeded to do everything Raego warned me about. And when you hinted that Raego intended to send off my kids, I knew the truth of the matter.” She spat on the ground.

“But to drag Nate into it? How stupid can you be? He and Raego haven’t spent much time around each other in quite a while. Every dragon knew this. Except you and your little club of out-of-towners. You might have gotten away with it if you hadn’t tried adding him to your plate.”

Then she began to laugh harshly. “You stupid thundercunt. I’m a Beast Master. I own shifters. And you are going to pay very dearly for that oversight.” And her eyes began to glow a smoky green. Callie leaned forward, not even breathing.

Dirty Gerty was panting, eyes darting back and forth for a way out.

Baron spoke up, shaking his head in awe. “I, for one, am honored to have such a devious King. How long have you been setting this up?” he asked curiously. “Letting her smear your name while you set up this house of cards against her…” Raego willing to damage his own reputation seemed to impress him the most. That he had done it for his dragons.

Raego shrugged. “Ever since she came to town. I broke ties with Nate and began building relationships across neighborhoods. I didn’t know what she would do, but I figured it would involve Nate, and since he was friends with a lot of people in town, I decided that was the first line of defense.

Baron nodded in disbelief. He finally turned to Dirty Gerty. “You fool.”

“Temple has to pay for his disrespect,” she shouted in a last-ditch effort. “He killed Alaric! Stole his throne to give to his friend! They’re working together! I only did what I had to do for all the dragons!”

I frowned. “From the sound of it, I would think you and Alaric were very close.”

“As close as family can be!” she snarled.

I nodded. “Funny, because I recently had a chat with Alaric.” Death made a noise, urging me to silence, but I waved a hand. “I was his roommate for a while. In Hell,” I clarified, pointing down. “Had to kill him. Again. Permanently, this time.” I dusted off my hands. “But you should have heard how much he loved dear old Gertrude…” I laughed wickedly. “Okay, not so much. I think he said something that rhymed with power-hungry old bitch.”

“Ancient,” Alex piped in, correcting me.

I pointed at him, silently thanking him with a nod. Everyone else was staring at me in shock, reminded of the fact that I had really been in Hell less than an hour ago. And that I had apparently killed Alaric. Again.

I jerked my chin at Yahn and the Reds.

The demons I had hired. Made a deal with.

Here’s where Tory might not be so happy with me. “They’ve been working for me ever since our meeting. I didn’t know what was going on, but I needed to know what you dragons were doing behind closed doors, because Tory is my friend, and I have a soft spot against harming kids. Extortion is abuse, in my book. I promised them my protection. From you or Raego.” I shot Raego a shrug, letting him know it hadn’t been personal. He nodded back. “And I told them I would stand to support their relationship,” I added, glancing up at Tory from under my brows, hoping she wasn’t about to pummel me. You never knew with moms. Or women. Tory blinked, and a very warm smile split her cheeks. I let out a sigh of relief, turning back to Gertrude.

“You have no soul, lady. And after my recent vacation, I believe I’m the authority on the matter of having a soul or not.”

“Your filthy parents stole from me!” she seethed.

With that, the last piece of the puzzle clicked into place as I remembered what Alaric had told me about my parents robbing her. She hadn’t done all this because I embarrassed her at the Dueling Grounds. “You set this crazy scheme up… all of it. Not just to take down Raego, but to take back what my parents allegedly stole from you years ago?” I asked in disbelief. That’s why she had wanted the Reds to plant the necklace here. To take me down and retrieve what my parents had stolen. A double win. “You set every nation on fire with fear to… get some treasure back?”

The fire in her eyes told me the answer.

Raego chortled. “I’m hurt, grandmother. We’re blood. How could you betray blood?” he said, voice dripping with false pain.

With a scream, Dirty Gerty lunged for the Reds, the weakest and closest enemy to her.