“It must’ve been a concession to David,” Rogan said. “It’s unlikely that this is the first time he killed for them.”

Augustine nodded. “Richard’s sister is married to a different House. With Richard out of the picture, David becomes the only viable choice as the head of the Howling House. Like I said, dark horses never turn out well. They tend to hate their handlers.”

“Everything was going well,” I continued. “Except Olivia and David didn’t know that Forsberg had Garza under surveillance. When Forsberg realized what was on the recording, he tried to use it to his advantage. He turned it over to his legal team with instructions to make a deal either with Garza’s people, with Howling, or with someone else. Olivia found out, and she and David Howling killed everyone involved to keep the recording from getting out. Why would Forsberg have Garza followed?”

“Because Forsberg was a Steward,” Rogan said. “There are a number of factions within the Assembly, but the two largest are the Civil Majority and the Stewards. The Stewards are pro-mage and the Civil Majority is pro-people.”

“That’s an oversimplification,” Augustine said. “The Stewards see themselves and the Houses as the primary guiding force of human society. They reject the current democratic model and advocate for greater power and influence of the Houses. Simply put, they want to rule. The Civil Majority takes its root from the quote by Johanna Hemlock, a nineteenth-century philosopher and Prime. The Civil Majority seeks to limit House involvement in politics.”

“What’s the quote?” I asked.

“In a country ruled by a civil majority even the smallest minority enjoys greater protection than a majority living in a country where power is hoarded by select few,” Cornelius said.

“That sounds almost altruistic,” I said. “Don’t take it the wrong way, but Houses are not known for giving up power.”

Augustine sighed. “No, it’s not altruism. It’s self-interest. Our policy of noninvolvement has been working really well so far. We’re wealthy and secure, and we have a lot to lose. Garza was the darling of the Civil Majority. Matthias Forsberg was an active member of the Stewards. The Stewards likely conspired to torpedo Garza’s rise to power, so Forsberg must’ve put him under surveillance, hoping for some dirt from which the Stewards could’ve manufactured a scandal.”

I rubbed my face, trying to brush the drowsiness off.

“So Olivia and her people obtained the recording,” Rogan said, “and now it’s an unexpected bonus. What do they do with it?”

“Blackmail is an obvious choice,” Augustine said. “Howling controls the Moderates, the third-largest faction within the Assembly. This might be about Assembly elections.”

“No.” Rogan pushed from his seat and began stalking back and forth like a caged tiger. “These people want destabilization. Chaos. The surveillance recording wasn’t supposed to exist, but it does and they have a copy of it. If we hide the recording and they choose to sit on their copy, Richard Howling becomes their puppet. If we forward the recording to Lenora, she will have to arrest Richard Howling. There would be a public outcry over Garza being murdered by a head of a House. David still gets what he wants. If they release their copy ahead of us, David again gets his House and the DA’s office will look incompetent. There will be a huge wave of public outrage.”

“Doesn’t matter what we do, they win,” Augustine said. “This isn’t just usual House politics. This feels like a seismic shift within the power structure, one I’m not sure we have the combined power to oppose. Rogan, are we on the wrong side of this?”

Rogan pivoted to him. “They murdered civilians and nearly demolished downtown, which would’ve killed thousands more. They will never be the right side. I intend to win this war.”

“I know that.” Augustine’s face was tired. “I just wonder if history will view us as heroes or villains.”

“Depends on who writes it,” I told him. “We have to take it to Lenora.”

Rogan studied me. “Why?”

He knew perfectly well why. “You said yourself, these people are interested in chaos. You can’t create chaos unless you rile up the public. They will release the video, they will do it somewhere it can’t be contained—like the social networks—and they will stoke the outrage. It will look like the DA’s office deliberately hid the fact that a beloved senator and champion of the people was murdered by a Prime. I don’t understand why they haven’t released it already.”

“They’re waiting for the right moment,” Rogan said.

“And that’s exactly why the more time Lenora has with the video, the better.”

“We’ll talk to Lenora’s office in the morning,” Rogan said. “I’ll need time to pull together paperwork.”

He knew I was right so why the hell was he stalling?

“Are you going to apply for a Verona Exception?” Augustine said, a calculating look in his eyes.

“Yes.”

“You will require the cooperation of House Harrison.” Augustine turned to Cornelius.

“What is the Verona Exception?” I could look it up on my phone but I was too tired.

“It’s named after the Capulet and Montague feud,” Cornelius explained. “Romeo and Juliet begins with the Prince of Verona issuing an ultimatum to both families promising to put to death the next person who rekindles the feud. Then he walks off stage and washes his hands of it until their actions force him to return.”

“A Verona Exception means filing a claim against House Howling with the DA’s office,” Rogan said. “Troy is my employee and so are you by virtue of my agreement with Cornelius. Howling attacked you both, made no effort to offer any reparations, and can’t be reached by normal means.”

“But you don’t know that.” My brain was so slow and tired, and when I pushed it to make rational thoughts, it threatened to collapse. “You haven’t called the head of his House.”

“I’ll call Richard in the morning,” Rogan said. “He’ll disavow any knowledge of the incident. He doesn’t want to be involved, which is why he made David into a dark horse in the first place.”

“A Verona Exception effectively states that this now becomes a matter of open warfare among specific members of these three Houses,” Augustine said. “By granting the Verona Exception, the DA’s office will acknowledge that enough evidence exists to warrant retribution from House Rogan and House Harrison and empower them to enact this retribution, provided they don’t demonstrate gross disregard for civilian welfare.”

“So it allows them to wash their hands of it and let us fight it out?” I asked.

“Yes,” Rogan said.

It made sense. The DA’s office had some magic users on staff, of whom Lenora Jordan was the most dangerous, but if they got involved every time two Primes fought, the result would be catastrophic for police personnel.

“It’s standard procedure,” Rogan said. “The DA gets involved when the safety of the public is at stake. I’ll need a sworn affidavit from you and dispensation from House Harrison stating that they allow Cornelius to engage.”