Gug had signed and returned the contract that Bain drew up for me. We had our deal, and so I’d filled Fenton and her in on Maligni’s whereabouts.
“Thanks to Lerome, we have our blueprints of the Dethnels’ estate,” the vampire said.
The griffin tapped his ever-present laptop. “Barely broke a sweat getting it, but the plans are a century old.”
Yikes. I peered down at the blueprints and tried to make sense of the wiggling lines. “Where’s the entrance?”
“Here,” Devereaux answered, pointing to one end.
My brow cleared. “Got it.”
“Where did you see the bubbles?” Gug asked in a rush.
I jabbed a finger close to the entrance. “Right here. But I can’t be sure that was him. The krakens had left me and Devereaux a message close by, so the bubbles could have been a tentacle under the surface.”
Soleil grunted. “The Dethnels wouldn’t keep a prisoner next to the entrance. They’re not bold in their strategy. They also won’t keep Maligni in the heart of their estate because that is what everyone would expect them to do.”
Bain was watching her, and she was soundly ignoring him. They still hadn’t made peace. This had to be their longest fight ever.
One of them—probably both—had seriously screwed up.
I blinked at the thick rope of Venus’s power connecting them, a braid of white, purple, and pink as thick as my forearm. I couldn’t see the connection between me and Devereaux, but that had to be what true love looked like.
I’d figured out that the single pink thread from a person was their love line. The others I thought must be friendship as a purple line connected me to Bain and Soleil to Devereaux. I’d seen the third type of thread, white ones, that stretched between parents and their children. I had a feeling that was a line for familial love. I’d also spotted a thin weave of purple and white between a woman and her dog the other day too—a mixture of friendship and family. Soleil and I had a thick purple and white braid connecting us.
I looked around the present company as they brainstormed ideas to pinpoint Maligni’s location.
Fenton’s love line was withered and drooping—no surprises there, but my nose wrinkled at the sight.
Lerome had one that wrapped around him tightly, and when I looked at it, a sadness filled me. He had to be a widower.
I glanced at Gug.
Her pink thread was thick. The thickest thread I’d seen yet that wasn’t true love. And it shot out the metal door, disappearing.
Juno’s ambrosia.
“I have an idea,” I blurted, cutting Fenton off. That time, it wasn’t on purpose. But I still enjoyed his glare and Soleil’s snort.
Gug clenched the armrests of her seat. “What?”
I stared at the blueprints, wondering if I could come up with any way to conceal my new Venus power. I hadn’t had time to tell Soleil or Devereaux. “I can see the love connecting you to Maligni.”
Soleil stilled. Devereaux did the same, though he’d likely connect what was happening after seeing my new arrow.
Fenton’s glare vanished. “That’s how you girls do it.”
Well, no. But he could believe that if he wanted. “But I might be able to follow the connection to find him on the estate.”
“No,” Devereaux said.
Everyone looked his way.
“Why?” I challenged him. “It’s a sound plan.”
“It’s too dangerous. Assuming you’re a cupid, even a strong one, you have no way to physically protect yourself.”
I huffed. “Feel free to come along, Angry Man, if you feel you can handle the heat.”