everyonelives | the ground could open, he could still say please

Then I guess we're murdering the Inner Circle.

[Isn't shared murder projects fun?

On the caller ID is his mother. Almost as though Helene knows something is afoot (she doesn't, but isn't that spooky all the same?)

David looks at Sierra earnestly. "So you'll talk to Sierra?"]

I can't make any promises, but I'll try.

( He shows the caller ID to his sister. Next, he gets up and steps away, bringing the phone to his ear. )

Afternoon, mother.

["Mon cherie, I need you to run a small errand. I know it's beneath you, but unfortunately we do not have another free hand."

If nothing else, Helene knows how to butter up her children before cutting them down.

"We received a call from one of our contacts in the morgue. One of ours has come in, and I need you to take care of the paperwork."]

( The Gauntlet hasn't been thrown yet and yet there's a body dropped. Just what he wanted to do with his afternoon. )

Do we know who?

["Our contact didn't recognize him, but he bore our brand."

The Inner Circle and the heirs don't have them, but some of the lesser witches who are attempting to curry favor often carry signs of their loyalty. Not always on their body. Some have a card, or a pendant. But enough that the morgue knows where to direct them, should they wind up dead.

"I'm sure you'll be able to figure it out once you get there. Do keep me posted, will you?"]

( He hangs up then, returning to the table. )

I'm being taskrabbited. What did I miss?

I agreed to discuss David's proposition with Sierra.

[And then she spent of the rest of the time seeing how much she can make Ezra squirm with their murder plans.]

What did Mother want?

Some John or Jane Doe at the morgue. Someone Colony.

( He's being dispatched.

"What if you didn't off your parents. What if you just bound their magic or whatever stranglehold they have on your coven."

He's squirming! )

And give them an opportunity to get their revenge? I thought the point of this little experiment was to live.

[She reaches to grab her jacket off the back of the chair.]

I'll go with you. Maybe it will go faster.

[And it will give them a chance to get on the same page re: Sierra.]

Guess lunch isn't really lunch. Sorry to run, gaybands.

( Gay husbands, for the record. )

We should hit that Thai place after.

( "Your mother really just treats you like her secretary?" Maybe there really will be no love lost between them. )

Someone has to do it. Apparently we're the best option.

[We being Max, probably for the best that Helene doesn't know her daughter is involved.]

I'll let you know when I hear back from Sierra.

[David nods in agreement. "Good luck at the morgue." Because with witch corpses, it can get messy.]

( "We'll meet again soon. Somewhere else." And he and his husband will discuss further.

Max nods, pushing in his chair. )

Always something with you two. ( He pats David on his shoulder and stops. He leans down, looking between the husbands. ) What is it about Ezra, anyway?

( His sister's a pill but they were both groomed for that marriage. All of a sudden, David was back under the Colony umbrella with a blonde med student looking over his shoulder. )

[His sister is a pill, but that's one of the things David always liked about her, and what made the idea of marrying her tolerable. She wasn't afraid to speak her mind, to cut right to the quick of what the elders preferred to dance around, to bite back. They were the things he always was afraid to do, and he hoped that maybe in some way, as a team, they might be able to protect each other.

He wasn't old enough to see how as Inner Circle witches grew up and those edges were smoothed, replacing a carbon copy of the elder who came before. It wasn't until after he returned that he began to realize that ascension wouldn't allow for change, no matter how much he tried. How much his own father and mother changed, just by taking their place in the world.

They were never great people, to be sure. But it seemed that after his grandfather's passing, things only got worse.

But that's not the question Max asked. He asked why Ezra, because David didn't know any of this before he met him. His grandfather didn't die until after Ezra exorcised him, until after the demon and his first awakening to how broken the system truly was. David brought Ezra back to the Colony like a buoy keeping his head above water in the tumultuous sea, and Ezra was the first true act of rebellion that David ever really had.

He's not sure he could accurately put all of that into words, especially in front of an audience. He's not even sure that enough time and privacy would work either. So he puts it the only way he knows how.]

He's the only thing that made sense.

( Max has only been privy to the top layer of his parents' machinations, preferring that to anything else. He didn't need to be top dog. He could be everything they needed without needing to be anything else. Errand boy, golden son, eyes and ears. What their parents do has never made sense, but in what world did it have to? They were all born into their rolls. Their parents included.

All David had to do was play his. Instead, his parents colored outside of the lines and "David" got out.

Maybe Max wants out. He doesn't have love for his parents. He feels obligation more than anything, but that is coming from the Colony. You are what you bring. Actions and.

He will discuss this further with his sister because they are a family of sharp, jagged angles.

And then there's his sister's agenda. Sierra and whatever her angle happens to be. The Knightsbridge power would make her formidable, but it wouldn't save her.

It's the Gauntlet. It's changed everything.

But not for David. )

My condolences.

( He prefers the senseless. It feels like a world with more color. Shades of gray have always been more Maxim's taste.

"I'm not dead." )

None of us are. Yet.

[Jaqueline smirks, before making her way out with her brother.]

Talk to you later, boys.

[She waits until they get to the car, sliding into the passenger's seat, before glancing over to Max.]

How much do you want to know about Sierra and how much plausible deniability do you want to keep?

I think I need to know everything, sis.

( And from there, he'll evaluate his part in it - and after, his sister's.

He pulls out a cigarette and rolls the window down, lighting it. )

Okay.

[He said he wanted to know everything. Let's start at the beginning. Technically the beginning would probably be "Sierra and I are together" but she's not ready to expose that much of her soft belly quite yet.]

Sierra had a hand in taking out the Knightsbridge coven. It was her idea and she gently nudged Tamara Monroe into doing the job for her.

Gently nudged.

( Starting the engine, he pulls out from the small parking lot. )

So, when she gently orchestrated wiping out our rival coven, how did she maneuver herself in such a position?

Monroe was recruiting witches. Trying to convince them that she knew they were one of the good ones, which basically meant she was just going to take advantage of their power and save them to kill later.

[She rolls her eyes. Dumb human shit.]

Sierra saw an opportunity and gave Monroe a target to point at. The half-cocked hunters did the rest.

Very - every World War.

( Historical. That's a lot of maneuvering to get to that end result. )

All for the Knightsbridge power source to gain the upperhand on our parents.

( Okay. )

What went wrong?

Prague.

[She makes a face.]

I'm not sure if she ever figured out what went wrong, if she got distracted or the spell just failed, but when she tried to make a grab for it at the summer solstice, something went wrong. And when the spell failed, all her collateral died.

So, she's not just out there. She's out there with less reserves than when she went in. No wonder our parentals can't get a bead.

( He'd argue impulse. Haste. Wanting something too much is against the delicate balance of a ritual like that. )

Did she consider it rejected her? ( He taps his fingers against the steering wheel. ) You know, if the coven's not fully wiped out, if there is one survivor out there - it would have made it harder for her to take it, especially if she was on the ropes.

( But, he's spitballing. )

[Jaqueline taps her fingernail against the door, because she doesn't know. She doesn't know if Danny's presence is causing a problem, and maybe it's a problem they should solve.]

I don't know. I wasn't there. I'm getting this all from her second hand.

[But that being said:]

She got side tracked as Monroe caught on to her game, but I do think she's planning to go again on the autumn solstice.

Where is she now?

( He didn't believe her in the restaurant, but mostly because she deflected. But now that this is out in the open, he should be in the know. )

I truly don't know.

[She doesn't. She has suspicions, but she doesn't know for sure.]

She'd keep me out of the loop of certain details. Plausible deniability. But I know how to reach her.

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