LITMIR.BIZ

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Ronan replied. “As far as I know, and this comes from two of the oldest Benders I know in Switzerland, Cartesians don’t even have sex organs. Not only do they not procreate, they don’t even have genders.”

      “That’s fucked up,” Gavril said. “No wonder those things are always out hunting, killing, destroying shit. I’d probably be that way, too, if I never had sex.”

      “But if they’re genderless, why are they usually referred to as male?” Lucien asked.

      “Probably because they’re big sonsabitches,” Nikoli chimed in.

      Gavril shook his head. “Well, all I’ve gotta say is whoever or whatever did the punishing sure screwed up. Bet they didn’t count on the bastard wanting and working toward ruling the entire universe.”

      “Did everyone get the info on why so many suddenly hit New Orleans?” Ronan asked.

      “One of the Triads,” Nikoli said.

      “You mean those witches we’re supposed to meet out there?” Lucien asked.

      “Yes,” Nikoli said, then signaled for the steward standing at the back of the plane to bring drinks to the table.

      “Why are they called Triads?” Lucien asked.

      Nikoli waited for the steward to place four glasses of cold, sparkling water on the table then head back to his station before he responded. “Because they’re triplets.”

      “Oh, man, sweet!” Gavril said, twitching in his seat.

      “Down, boy,” Nikoli warned. “Remember the code. No funny business while on a mission.”

      Gavril groaned and tossed his head back against his seat. “Spoil sport.”

      “Do these triplets run their own coven?” Ronan asked.

      Nikoli shook his head, then took a long, much-needed drink of water. “Triads belong to a sect of witches called the Circle of Sisters. They don’t have covens like other witches. The Circle of Sisters is small, comparatively. Maybe fifteen hundred worldwide.”

      “All of them sets of triplets?” Lucien asked.

      “No. There’s only one full set of Triads per generation, and each triplet has a specific duty.”

      “I’d like to give one a specific duty,” Gavril said, then turned his head quickly when Nikoli scowled at him.

      “One of them is responsible for the Loup Garou, another for the Nosferatu and the third the Chenilles.”

      “Wow,” Gavril said. “You’re talking original breeds there, cuz. Before vampires, werewolves and zombies and shit.”

      “I know,” Nikoli said. “That’s why this mission was put together so quickly. Those breeds have never been hit by Cartesians. The Triads always kept a tight rein on them.”

      “So what happened,” Lucien asked. “Who screwed up and how?”

      Nikoli shrugged. “No idea. Guess we’ll find out when we get there.”

      Lucien whistled through his teeth. “Must have been a pretty huge screw-up to cause a rift big enough to let that many Cartesians through.”

      “Not necessarily,” Nikoli countered. “All it takes is a miniscule tear. Once one gets through, any number that want to follow can.”

      “How many of the Originals have been destroyed so far?” Ronan asked.

      “By the time we land and get to the Triads, over a hundred Loup Garous.”

      “Since they’re witches,” Lucien said, “can’t they just cast some hoodoo spell and close the rift themselves?”

      “Nobody can mess with a Cartesian except a Bender,” Gavril said proudly.

      “True, but they don’t even know what’s about to hit them,” Nikoli said. “The tear hasn’t been completed yet.”

      Ronan leaned back in his seat. “Are they ever in for a surprise.”

      “Sadly, yes,” Nikoli agreed. He felt bad for the Triad he’d yet to meet. Chances were she’d created the rift by accident. Probably didn’t even know that rifts existed—or Cartesians for that matter.

      As they closed in on New Orleans, Nikoli sensed a circling of sorts. Like the four of them were pioneers, traveling out west by wagon and surrounded by a massive tribe of banshees they could not yet see.

      Nikoli sensed something big was about to break loose. He feared this fight might be bigger than any Bender generation had encountered before, and there had been many.

      He looked over at his cousins, who were talking softly among themselves. Except for Ronan, of course. Mr. Sole Man was staring out the window, probably thinking about the quest ahead.

      The four cousins couldn’t have been closer if they’d been brothers. And in his heart of hearts, Nikoli trusted each one with his life. They were equally strong, talented and vicious warriors against the Cartesians.

      Regardless, a small nagging voice inside his gut warned that four of them were heading to New Orleans ready to fight, but only three would be returning home.

       Chapter 3

      By the time Viv had ferried to the opposite side of the river, it was almost ten o’clock in the morning. She smelled coffee and beignets from nearby cafes, and it made her stomach rumble. What she wouldn’t give for one of Evette’s special hickory-blend coffees and chocolate-drizzled beignets right about now. But food had to wait, she realized as she hurried to her home in the Garden District.

      She shared the Victorian with her sisters. It sat on the corner of St. Charles and Washington Avenue. The house had belonged to their mother, who’d died in an airplane accident when they were nineteen.

      They never knew their father, as was often the case with Triads. For some odd reason, the fathers of each generation of Triads took to the hills as soon as they discovered their wife was pregnant. Wrong men? Wrong timing? Who knew. Not that it made any difference to Viv.

      Although she was definitely heterosexual and struggled with raging hormones from times to time, she didn’t need a man to make her life complete. She had enough on her plate. Maybe her ancestors had felt the same way for none of them had remarried, which was why the François name still held strong today. Although exhausted, Viv picked up her pace, anxious to get home. Each sister had a floor with a bedroom and bath to call her own. Evette, whom they called Evee, had the first floor; Viv, the second; and Abigail, whom they called Gilly, had the third.

      Evee owned a café off Royal Street called Bon Appétit. She opened at eight o’clock in the morning and closed at two o’clock, right after the lunch crowd dispersed so there was a good chance she wouldn’t be home.

      Gilly, on the other hand, would be home. She owned a bar-and-grill off Iberville Street called Snaps. It opened at two o’clock in the afternoon and closed at two o’clock the following morning. Those long hours gave Viv some confidence that Gilly would still be sleeping right now, which meant she had a good shot at getting into the house and into her bedroom undetected.

      Thinking about her sisters and the broods they were responsible for made the twinge of guilt Viv carried for her Loup Garous grow stronger.

      She’d left without tending to those who worked during the day at construction jobs or city maintenance. Certainly by now, especially at this hour, many would be wondering when they would be released from the compound to go about their chores. The only good thing was that Loups were infamously resilient. If no one released them for duty, they’d make use of the day by napping, prowling or watching Stratus get her fill of Warden.

      It seemed to take forever for Viv to finally make it home. Just as she pushed open

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