Listening to Jaz, I remembered those moments in Benicio’s panic room, where I’d been unable to comprehend that Troy’s death would be wrong. I’d wanted it. It would serve me. Therefore, it should be.

The demon in its purest form. Ego ruled by id. That was Jaz.

I remembered too my thoughts on first walking into his apartment. I’d reflected on how his cheerful, impulsive nature was kept in check by cold sense, leading him to save money while he had it. That observation, too, came back to haunt me now.

For most people, that lack of self-doubt and conscience would be their undoing. The first time their goal exceeded their reach, they’d do something foolish and die pursuing their mad dreams. But not Jaz. He was crazy enough to hatch impossibly grandiose, destructive schemes and brilliant enough to carry them through. And if he went too far? He had Sonny to pull him back in line.

This hadn’t been the slapdash plan of two brazen young supernaturals. They’d been plotting this for years, taking a job at the Cabal and studying Carlos—the brother least likely to succeed, but the one they could best impersonate. Then they’d infiltrated the gang, seducing Guy with Jaz’s wild visions, swaying them into allies and, finally, into tools to execute their plans.

Kill the most prominent members of the Cortez Cabal family, then take the place of the remaining one?

Madness.

What if Benicio hadn’t planted me in the gang? What if Karl hadn’t called in Lucas? Would Jaz and Sonny have still failed? Even in failure, they’d achieved half their goal, and had a backup plan for the remainder.

Brilliant madness.

Lucas was their new target. They’d kill him, impersonate him and find Carlos guilty of the murder of his brothers. Then they’d let Benicio hand over Cabal power to his beloved youngest son, as Lucas “saw the light” and renounced his former crusade. When the transition was solidified, the old man would die in his sleep.

Lucas was as good a target as Carlos—maybe even better. His age, coloring and physical size were closer to Jaz and Sonny’s. Add lifts in their shoes for a few weeks until people wouldn’t notice the difference. Wear looser suits until they could lose some weight—or have Lucas bulk up. An easy transformation.

Like Carlos, Lucas would be expected to know little about the inner workings of the Cabal, so no one would question his ignorance. He was even more an outsider than his brother, and far less known in the Cabal, making him easier to impersonate.

The only sticking point was Paige.