Loki made his way up the grand stairs of the Maison de Devereaux to Josanna’s room. He rapped his knuckles on the door, which caused the door to fall open. He entered to see Josanna sitting across the room at a tea table.

The first time Loki was in that room, it was dark and foreboding with a feral girl in the corner, scratching ravines into her flesh with her own overgrown nails. Now the room was light and airy. The lace curtains, that had before cast spiderweb shadows, now graced the room with a palpable innocence.

“How are you, Josanna?” He closed the door behind him.

She gazed at him with dark eyes, holding many secrets. She stirred her tea and smiled. “Better than you...”

“You fresh little tart.” Loki pulled out the chair opposite her and sat down.

“Tea?”

“Don’t mind if I do.”

She reached across the table and poured thick red liquid out of the tea pot into his cup. Josanna began to giggle at the face Loki made, but then the giggle turned into a laugh that wracked through her whole body.

The stench of blood rose up and pulled at the back of Loki’s throat. “What’s so funny?”

She ceased laughing immediately. “Nothing.” She sipped her tea meekly and whispered, “It wasn’t that funny. ”

Loki smiled, picked up his cup, and pretended to sip his tea.

“Oh!” She sat erect. “Do you want to meet my Bunnie?”

Loki merely studied her with curiosity as she stood and zoomed to the other side of the room with supernatural speed. She appeared next to an empty rocking chair. Loki had to twist in his seat to see her.

“Bunnie was Victor’s gal.” Josanna gazed with sympathy at an invisible person sitting in the stationary rocking chair. “He promised her eternity.”

Loki stood and approached the chair. “And the eternity of which you speak is Death. Just to clarify... She’s dead? You’re referring to a ghost right now?”

“Mmhm.” Josanna gave an affirmative nod.

“I see.” He chewed on his lip and stowed this information away for later use. “Is Victor taking you to the Yuletide ball this evening?”

She smiled. “Will you dance with me?”

“At the ball? I’d be delighted. There is no one else I’d rather dance with.”

She scrutinized him and circled a finger in his face. “Except for your lover.”

Loki sat down on the edge of the four poster bed. “I’d love to dance with him, but,” he pondered, “...I don’t know if he likes to dance. We tried it once.”

“He dances like a prince.” Josanna began to waltz around the room. “And the boy dances too.”

His brow scrunched in concern before changing the subject. “How is Victor treating you?”

She stopped her waltz to spin slowly round and round. “I miss Alec.”

Loki leaned forward, setting his elbows onto his knees, hands folded in front of him. “Alec has a bit of a bad reputation...”

“For killing me?”

“To be frank.”

“So, I’ve been told.”

He nodded, and Josanna appeared right in front of him, her hands on his knees leaning towards his face.

“But, Bunnie says that’s a rabbit hole.” Her large dark eyes looked steady on.

Loki tilted his head slightly. “Meaning?”

“You know how Alec made me?”

“Only what I’ve been told.”

“But- Who. Made. Alec?” She tutted and backed away. “No one wants to know how the sausage is made.” Her jaw fell open to show a mouthful of white teeth as she began to laugh.

***

Her laugh rolled around in his head. She had posed an integral question, and her maniacal reaction to her own question filled in the cracks of his Devereaux puzzle in ways he wished it didn’t. It was validating his own assumptions. The evidence was piling up like dirt beside an exhumed grave.

This was the Netherworlds, and everyone had secrets, but Victor Devereaux made himself look so utterly immaculate. He gave vampires credibility and honor, but it appeared as if Alec, Victor’s oldest spawn, would be his undoing. With Alec’s blood bars and scandal, he threatened to dismantle everything the Devereaux name stood for, which may presumably be why Alec decided to take back his birth name Van Garrett.

Loki popped back into the study on his way out of the mansion. Devereaux sat poised in a luxurious chair, reading one of his many romantic poetry books.

“I’m off,” Loki said.

“So soon?” Devereaux stood. “How was she today, Doctor Laufey?”

Loki was aware his Royal Highness was under the assumption that he was acting as Josanna’s therapy and council, rather than a detective. “Her madness has moments of clarity. Sometimes she speaks of truths she has no way of knowing about.”

Devereaux said, “Well, her mother did have visions and moments of psychic intuition. But, also, the deadman’s blood Josanna was suckled on in her first weeks of being undead will have lasting effects.”

Loki replied, “I’m afraid I still find that incredibly puzzling, because the Moon Flower of Mount Meru, which she was given, is said to cure all ails... Which is why it’s critical to keep examining her. Perhaps she suffered from madness before her transition? And, the Moon Flower didn’t cure her of her vampirism so-”

“Vampirism isn’t an ailment. It is a cure. The cure to life itself. But, again, her first weeks as a vampire were-” He looked down at the ground and swallowed a lump forming in his throat, a tight fist pressed against his lips. He cleared his throat. “Excuse me, but the thought of what Alec did, just-”

Loki gave him his space. If this was all a ruse, it was a convincing one. Much more convincing than Loki’s psychologist-ruse.

Victor struggled to compose himself. “Forgive me-”

“No. No forgiveness needed. I’ll show myself out.” Loki turned to leave, but Josanna’s laugh echoed in his head. He sucked in a breath through his teeth and about-faced towards Victor. “Who’s Bunnie?”

“Bunnie?” The king’s brow creased, “Do you mean Bonnie?”

Loki smiled. “Yes. Of course. I misspoke. Bonnie. Who was she?”

Victor took in a shaking breath. “She was my first love. Why do you ask?”

“No reason. Oh! But, actually! I know why I must’ve said Bunnie!” Loki smiled like a fox with a rabbit in its teeth. “Josanna has an imaginary friend named Bunnie. We were just talking about her as a matter of fact.”

Victor was taken aback. “An imaginary friend? That’s incredibly strange-”

“Well, like you said, your Highness, the deadman’s blood must have done some irreversible damage. I really must be off. Cinderella can’t be late for the ball. See you there. And tell your family I said Happy Yule.”

Loki hurried off the premises, but took his time walking home. He liked the cold, and it helped to clear his head. Perhaps this was a rabbit hole he shouldn’t go down. It was a private family affair after all. But, that never stopped him from meddling before.