Ego in pace.

I recited the mantra as I sat cross-legged in the spare room, hoping it would give me some peace. Vincent had collapsed on his bed after a long shower. I figured he would be out for a while, the lucky bastard. While here I sat, attempting to settle my own mind with benign mantras, putting Colin and his heartbreaking admission of love out of my head, but it wasn't working. I could still see his face as he brought his lips down to kiss me, and feel his hard-on where it pressed against my pelvis. I needed a stronger mantra, like the one my mother left me.

Voco proferebat flammam. Ego sum unus cum flamma.

The words rolled off my tongue like a centuries' old name passed from one generation to the next, and the effects were upon me in seconds, the tingling and the burning. I powered through the feelings of dread, and focused on the rhythm of the mantra, resting my palms on my knees to suppress some of the unpleasantness. Drat. It didn't help. Now, my knees burned.

"Reese!" Vincent's cry rang at my ear, startling me, and I opened my eyes to find him crawling onto the bed to get to me. "Your hands."

I lifted my hands to look at them and found a small, orange flame dancing in the center of each palm. "Shit!" I cried, fighting my first impulse to flick the flame away. That could be disastrous. "There's no terminus mantra. I don't know how to stop it."

"Were you reciting the mantra you practiced with Wren?" Vincent asked as he watched my hands burn.

"Yes."

"Does it hurt?"

"A little, and it's freaking me out."

"Look. The left one just died." As we watched the flame blink away, the fire in my right hand diminished into a wisp and popped out of existence. Vincent took my hands in his and inspected them for damage, shaking his head as he looked at me. "No sign of burns. That was damn impressive, Reese."

"Don't be impressed. I don't even know what I did." We both stared at my hands a bit longer, then I came up with something completely off topic to say. "I want to visit a demon named Titan."

Vincent's eyes widened, and his face adopted a look of pain. "Who told you about Titan?"

"Petula... when we talked on the phone earlier. She told me Willem was with him."

"You told me Willem was in relatively safe hands."

"You were too incoherent to offer more details than that, but now that you're here and somewhat recovered from your brawl with Colin, Petula said Willem and Titan are old friends. She said Titan was involved with the mission the night my mom died, and she thinks I should talk to him about it."

"Over my dead body."

"What? Why?"

Vincent's expression darkened, and I watched a storm roll in behind those telling eyes. "Titan is the demon responsible for my father's death... and your mother's."

Woah.

"But, Petula made it sound like he was innocent."

"Bullshit."

"Do you have proof he's the one who killed them?"

Vincent grimaced, wincing as he touched the cut on his swollen upper lip. "No. The only gollum to witness the battle was Marco. He told us Titan engaged with Roberto after taking out Gabrielle, and while Marco searched for Gabrielle's body, Titan killed Roberto and set fire to the building he was in. Titan is a rogue, Reese. The most dangerous kind of demon."

"But, Petula says he doesn't hate gollums."

Vincent answered with an eye roll.

"You're going to take the word of Marco, someone who has lied to everyone all these years, over a nun?" I crossed my arms and puffed out my chest, daring him to come up with a good argument.

"Does Petula have proof that Titan didn't kill them?" he said.

"I didn't ask, but she believes Titan will tell me the truth if I ask him to recount the story."

A loud snort escaped Vincent's nose as he pushed off the bed, still favoring his left side. "Petula is naive. She has lived in a convent for twenty some years. You can't afford to be naive."

"What are you worried about? Titan could have information that changes your whole perspective on your father's death. Wouldn't you want to know if there was a different end to his story? The true story?"

"I'm not going to get the truth from a rogue demon."

"And I have demon blood in me. Are you going to spend the rest of your life not trusting me?"

"That's a completely different thing." Vincent waved his hand in the air, dismissing my argument, and I growled as I pushed up from the bed, standing to face him.

"I'm going to visit Willem and Titan with or without your blessing, and you can hold onto the story you've lived with all these years because it's ingrained and safe. I'm very familiar with that tactic, but as far as I'm concerned, gollums are like every other flawed species. They can't all be trusted."

"What are you saying? That you believe a gollum killed your mother?"

"Don't put words into my mouth. I just want to hear Titan's story and see if it leads anywhere. Petula said he was deeply upset by the events that happened that night and refused to talk about them."

"Of course, he refused. He would have been admitting his guilt."

"Why don't we go there and make that assessment ourselves?" I raised my eyebrows at him, waiting impatiently for his obstinate reply. "So...? Are you coming with me or not? Petula said he lives in the Alleghany forest. She knows the way."

Vincent took my chin in his hands to hold my head steady. "You are one stubborn female, you know that? And to think I nearly gave my brother a concussion over you."

"You did? What happened?"

"The door to the utility closet doesn't have padding, and neither does Colin's head. He was out for a couple of minutes."

"Christ. You two are something else. Is that how the fight ended?"

"Yes. I dragged his limp body to the wall and woke him up. Then we sat and talked for a while."

"You talked? What about?"

"You."

"Oh."

Vincent offered a look I couldn't label. Was it helplessness? Frustration? Love? "He apologized for acting like an idiot and coming onto you. He still owes you that apology, but it may be in the form of a phone call. I have forbidden him from coming near you for a while."

"Forbidden? Can you do that? Is it a magister thing?"

"Yes, I can do that. It's more for physiological reasons than punishment. It has to do with pheromones. Despite the beating he took, Colin's attraction to you will not wane anytime soon. In fact, after your church project wraps up, I think we should get away from the domus for a few days."

"I have a battle with a bitch next Sunday, remember?"

"You don't have to do that." He said this as he took my hand, and I noticed his knuckles still looked raw.

"I've already accepted her challenge, and now I want to know how long I can last against her. I've gotten much better with the speedbag, and maybe I could recite that mantra and set her hair on fire."

Vincent attempted a smirk. "You've got a naughty streak in you, or maybe you're just watching too much Netflix."

"You had it right the first time." I kissed his cheek, avoiding the eggplant-shaped bruise coloring the bone. "So, Christmas is just around the corner. Maybe we could spend it at your cabin after we visit my parents. Of course, we can't forget Sylvie. She always spends Christmas with me. She could take one of the guest rooms."

Vincent nodded. "I have no problem with that."

"It's settled then, but first we visit Willem and Titan. I'll call Petula and get directions to Titan's home." I walked to the door and stopped when I realized Vincent hadn't budged. He just stood there, directing his unflinching gaze at the window.

"Do you realize you could be shaking the hand of someone who killed a member of your family?" he said. "The hand that took away the most important person in your life? What do you think that will feel like?" He turned to look at me, capturing me in his silver gaze.

"How do you know you haven't already shaken his hand?" I met Vincent's intense stare head-on, offering a shrug to let him know I wasn't looking for a fight. Wren hadn't told me to keep her hunches a secret, the ones implicating Marco as a suspect in my mother's death, but I began to wonder if there were other reasons she hadn't shared them with anyone. I left Vincent with his thoughts, finishing my trek into the living room. This time, he followed me out.

"What do you mean by that? Did you hear something?"

I stopped at the counter and picked up his phone, handing it to him. "Will you share Petula's number with me so I have it?"

"Answer my question, Reese." Vincent snatched the phone and did my bidding as his gaze flicked back and forth.

"I'm making assumptions based on something your mother said, that's all. Don't get huffy."

"What did my mother say?"

Damn. Now, I was in it. Vincent wasn't going to let this go until I provided a believable answer.

"She told me something only she and Roberto shared. A belief he had about the mission to rescue me and my mom."

"The belief that Marco made foolish choices and probably caused their ultimate demise? I know that story. What else did she tell you?"

"She and your dad believed Marco made those foolish choices on purpose. He wanted the mission to fail. He wanted me and my mom to disappear... forever."

The silence that followed dragged on for a bit, both awkward and revealing, and Vincent took my hand, holding it by the fingertips. "I'm sorry, Reese. I made that assumption too, when I learned more about the incident."

"Did you base your assumption on Marco's account?" I said. "I'd like to know what he said about it."

"He said Titan killed them both."

"You are the worst hypocrite," I huffed. "You just said you believed Titan killed my mom, now you're saying you suspect Marco might have done it."

"I suspect Marco might have had your mom killed, but I still blame Titan for committing the murder."

"Ugh," I groaned as I shook my head at the floor. "We both need to visit Titan and hear his side of the story. Then we can make a more informed judgment about what we believe is the truth."

Looking defeated, Vincent swiped the screen of his phone. "I'll call Petula and get the coordinates to Titan's hideout. We'll leave tomorrow, if that's what you want. There's a good chance we'll have to fly. Are you up for that?"

"Of course. Are you?" I said as I gestured to the bruises on his ribs.

"Of course," he snorted. "There's one other thing. You need to give Sam Martin your answer about his offer. I know you have a lot on your plate, and I wasn't sure how much thought you'd given to that position."

"To be honest, I haven't given it any thought. He was skimpy on the details. I'd love to get a job description, if he has one."

"He probably doesn't. It sounded like the position was made up on the fly. That's how Sam operates. Once you start, he'll probably have you write the job description."

"Do you think I should work for Sam? I only know the Wikipedia version of his type A personality."

"You won't be working directly under Sam. You'll be in the content production department. I can get you the name of your direct supervisor tomorrow morning." He looked at the screen of his phone as he pressed the icon to dial Petula. "Or, you can work for Valentino Enterprises in whatever capacity you choose."

Vincent left me with an eyebrow raise as he walked into his office with the phone pressed to his ear. Did he just offer me a job? I followed him into his office, listening to his conversation with Petula as he bent over the desk to write something on a notepad.

"A sulfur spring? Okay. That would be useful. Dolly with a D? Thanks. I'll let you know what we find out." Vincent hung up and started typing the information into his cellphone. "Titan lives on state game lands near a sulfur spring. This should be interesting."

"And by 'interesting' you mean...?"

Vincent quirked his swollen lips. "It's hunting season."