Tonya Reimonenq

Tonya, a character from the Nightbound book, is "Lady Smoke", New Orleans' big-time mob boss. Although she is first mentioned in Chapter 4 by her criminal alias, she makes her first appearance in Chapter 7.

Appearance
Tonya has dark brown skin, brown eyes and short black hair with white strands. She wears a black dress with a black capelet fastened to her shoulders by a gold-leaf and crest pattern. She wears gold opera gloves with black detailing.

Personality
She isn't known for her forgiving nature. People who get on her bad side have a habit of disappearing or dying horribly. It is mentioned that she covers everything in gold.

Background
Generations ago, Derek Reimonenq, a nighthunter and her great grandfather, murdered most of the members of a coven of witches and their families. The survivors cursed him and his descendants with "The Reimonenq Touch", where touching anyone with their bare hands would result in death. This was evident when he accidentally killed his wife by embracing her.

Tonya does not consider "The Reimonenq Touch" to be a curse; she uses it as a tool, a gift, and has used it to become one of the deadliest, most feared assassins in the country. They call her "Smoke" because she kills without weapons and when she's done, she leaves no bodies. With her power, she rose to become the leader of the criminal underground in New Orleans.

Series/Book: Nightbound

 * Chapter 4: In the Lair of Luxury (Mentioned)
 * Chapter 5: Into the Bayou (Mentioned)
 * Chapter 7: Secrets of the Blood
 * Chapter 13: The Jealous Boy (Mentioned)
 * Chapter 16: What Comes After (Mentioned)

Vera Reimonenq
Vera is her daughter, whom she had been grooming to follow in her footsteps before Vera left. In Chapter 7, if you touch her Monster Tear, you find out that Vera ran away from home after her mother tricked her into murdering a drug dealer named Aaron.

Cal Lowell
Tonya holds the gambling debt that Donny incurred. When Cal fought the Minotaur, the debt was paid.

Powers and Abilities

 * The Reimonenq Touch: By touching someone with her bare hands, the basic outcome is death. However, because she has lived with the curse longer and does not appear afraid of it, she has honed it. She can control how much damage it does, killing cells or body portions (which amounts to torture) instead of out-right killing an entire body.
 * Telesomatic Connection: Vera says the "curse" binds them psychically, as when one uses it, the other can feel it. The closer they are in distance, the stronger the feeling is.

Trivia

 * The name Tonya is of Greek origin and means: Priceless, flower, inestimable worth. It's the short version of the name Antonia, the female variant of the name Anthony.
 * The surname Reimonenq is of French origin and means: Counselor, protector, mighty. It's an uncommon variant of the German name Raymond.
 * Her character model resembles Janis from Across the Void.
 * Her crimes include torture, murder, running an illegal casino and hosting illegal fighting matches.
 * She is similar to The Baron given that she has supernatural abilities and has a lot of influence in the criminal underworld.
 * In Chapter 7, she foreshadows what happened to Thomas by telling Vera about a family of a husband, wife, and daughter being killed by a monster and thrown off a bridge and into the river. However, there is a slight discrepancy: Tonya mentions that the family was found together under the bridge, whereas Thomas was washed downstream and found by Cassiopeia without his family. In addition, there is no mention of the other bodies when Thomas tells the story, although they might have been thrown over the bridge after he was knocked into the river.