“Yes. It is strong and healthy. It is known as an Argus Wand. In principle it acts like a divining rod—the type that is used to find a source of water. But an effective Argus Wand will find anything the bearer seeks.

“The conclave had met for a solid week. They summoned clean, organic energy and filled their wands to capacity. Then they began their search—to no avail. They should have realized what was happening. Dai She was wielding incredible power, protecting himself from being found by deflecting their energy. But the conclave assumed they only needed more power. They funneled more and more energy into their wands—more than they should have dared. The result was … tragic.”

Coralis paused for a long moment before turning his eyes back on Gretchen. “Does my story frighten you?” His concern was genuine. Gretchen had been living as an invited guest in his castle for almost ten years, but they rarely discussed anything at length, let alone something as serious as this. He never told her so, but he found her presence a great comfort.

He found her … compatible.

She put up with him and all his volatile moods and all his eccentric habits. And the castle liked her as well, which was quite important in the scheme of things.

“Ja, it frightens me, but I am not afraid. You are here and the world is still in one piece, so perhaps there is a happy ending.” She spotted Willoughby the vine circling around the backside of Coralis’s chair, which promptly snorted and kicked at it, sending the vine scurrying for cover.

“Not so happy,” Coralis said darkly. “Imagine if I took your hand to help you up from the floor and suddenly let go. The motion would not affect me, because I was ready for it. You, on the other hand, would fall down hard because you didn’t expect it. That is precisely what happened with the energy from the Argus Wands. When the power struggle between Dai She and the conclave suddenly snapped, it created a whiplash of energy that ran straight to the San Andreas fault line, causing the tectonic plates to shift.

“This sort of thing had happened before, but not beneath a city so heavily populated. Between the collapse of buildings and the ensuing fires, the city was decimated. Thousands of people died.”

Coralis stroked Sallie’s reptilian head as he spoke. If it were possible for a snake to purr, she would have done it.

Suddenly, the snake snapped her head around. A small black rat, barely noticeable, poked its nose out from behind a tall vat of brown liquid. Tiny ears perked up and whiskers twitched in alarm as the air became charged with signals of predator versus prey.

Too late. The krait uncoiled and raced across the flagstone floor. In the urn, the rest of the pole snakes rattled and clanged against one another.