Library

Chapter 33

CHAPTER33

Iwipe a towel across the bathroom mirror and look at myself for a long moment in the muted light of a storming dawn. I’ve been shafted of a fucking hairdryer yet again, and outside of our room the castle will be cold as fuck with the fierce snow squall brewing outside.

I lean forward and look at my new chest ink. It’s pretty badass, I have to admit. The gold and blue details shimmer as though lit from within. Out of the two of us, I definitely got the cooler tattoo, and I can’t wait to push Ashen’s buttons with it. Like I told him, I’ve never seen mated marks like ours, but then I seriously doubt a vampire and a demon of the Shadow Realm have ever mated before. Immortal enemies, questionable morals, mutual distrust… basically all the things that typically don’t make for sustainable relationships. Ashen and I didn’t get that memo, I guess. Thank fuck.

I know there’s probably more to our odd markings than just our unusual union. And yeah, I realize I’m simplifying things for the sake of my sanity. But, like, come on. I’ve had a pretty shit go of things recently. It’s been a roller coaster, and aside from the interlude with Eryx at the amusement park, not of the fun variety. So wouldn’t you just go with it for a bit? I mean, what am I really able to change about fate or destiny if those greater forces are at play? I’m just one person. I might as well hang on and see where this takes me.

Unsurprisingly, my c’est la vie approach is not really Ashen’s cup of tea.

I step out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around my hair to find Ashen sitting in the center of the bed surrounded by dusty, leather-bound books and smelly sheafs of parchment.

“I see you found the library,” I say as Ashen looks up from the book that lies open in his lap. His eyes dart down to the mark on my chest and they narrow just a fraction before meeting mine again.

“Yes... Valentina has quite the collection,” he says, his voice distant with thought as he turns his gaze back down to the pages in his hands.

I pull a gray merino sweater and jeans from the wardrobe. “I guess she would. It’s not like she gets out and about much. Gotta have something to entertain herself with, aside from her little human plaything.” I pull on my clothes and then turn back to the bed, picking up a volume on Sumerian mythology. It’s not a human text attempting to interpret early civilization, but one of our own, a record of city states made by immortals who were actually there. “Find anything?”

Ashen takes in a deep breath and sighs. “Nothing that we don’t already know about the meaning of the symbols, no. There’s no record of them appearing on any immortals or what that could possibly mean.”

I feel the frustration in him for coming up empty. His emotions are like a ripple beneath my skin. It’s like water finding the boundaries of a lake and drifting back toward you with tales of the opposite shore.

I climb the edge of the bed and pull the book from Ashen’s fingers, placing it face down next to us. “It’s okay,” I say, crawling into his lap. His brows twitch with suspicion as I trail my fingers down his shirt to where his new tattoo lies beneath the dark blue cotton. “I know you’re jealous since my mark is so much cooler than yours. Fear not, mighty Reaper. Modern human technology will save you. We can take you to get it lasered.”

Ashen rolls his eyes and huffs a laugh.

“Or maybe we can book you with a tattoo artist and they can blast over it. Add a couple circles down at the bottom, a curve at the top, a few lines here and there… wouldn’t take much to make it look like a dick and balls.”

“Christ,” he groans.

“No, no, I know. I’ve got it,” I say as I squirm away to swipe his dagger from the nightstand before straddling him once more. “I’ll stab you again. I bet that will work.” Ashen tries to grab the blade from my hand as I wave it around just out of his reach. “Just… hold… still… you don’t want it to end up looking like Alberto’s dick…”

“I am already questioning my life choices,” he says as he yanks the blade from my hand and tosses it across the room. I smile and lay my hands to Ashen’s face and press a kiss to his lips. When I pull away and look into his cognac gaze, I know he feels me as much as I feel him. I see the worry and frustration soften in his eyes as he locks his arms around my back.

“Did you see Valentina when you went to get the books?” I ask, running my fingers over the mark beneath his shirt.

Ashen shakes his head. “No. Nor Florin. But we should find them and make our plans to leave here safely.”

I nod and press one last, lingering kiss to Ashen’s lips before we leave the bed and the books behind.

Our mission is largely futile. We find Florin downstairs in an office, hovering over some paperwork. According to Valentina’s mate, the vampire left for Câmpulung last night after we were settled to hunt down the witch that sold us out to Ember’s group. Ashen lets out an irritated sigh at the news that she won’t be back until noon, maybe later with the snow that’s been falling all morning in heavy, wet flakes.

We leave Florin to his work and drift through the house like wraiths, checking out some of the rooms as we go. It reminds me of when I was first getting to know Ashen and he was poking around the Swan Hotel, scoping out security cameras and testing emergency doors. I smile to myself at the memory of him reporting back to me at the end of every day about his findings on the Swan and the town of Sanford. I brush my fingers along my mated mark that’s hidden beneath the strands of soft wool, thinking how those days seem like a lifetime ago.

After a few hours in the library, we eventually give up the pursuit of knowledge to fuck against a bookcase (because, why not), then make our way to the living room where the others have congregated. Eryx and Cole sit next to the fire around another game of chess. Davina sits in a wingback chair near a tall window with a book in her lap. She glances up at us as we enter, the light of the window highlighting the dark circles beneath her eyes and red rims above her lashes. She holds my gaze for just a moment before a sorrowful smile fleets across her lips, then turns her attention back to her book.

I hear the sound of ice colliding in a shaker and look to a small bar at the other end of the room. Ediye is there, mixing drinks. If she can’t make potions, she makes cocktails. I smile and head toward her, both eager to tell her everything that happened last night and too nervous to actually say a word about it.

“Hey babe,” she says as she hears me approach. “You okay?”

I nod and give her a kiss on the cheek as she pours a drink into a coupe glass and taps a tiny spoonful of edible glitter across the top. “What have you made this time?”

Ediye’s smile widens as she passes it to me to try. “Well, it doesn’t have any blood, but it still reminds me of you, so I’m calling it The Siren. Calvados, cognac, lemon juice and maple syrup.”

I take a little sip. It’s sweet but packs a punch. “It’s fucking delicious.”

Ediye beams with the success of finding a new concoction. “Take it. I’ll make another.”

I move to the couch where Ashen has settled himself with a glass of Eryx and Cole’s wine. As I sit to his right, his arm drapes over the back of the couch behind me and his hand rests on my shoulder as though this is the most natural thing in the world. It’s such a small thing, and yet it means as much to me as last night did. To not be hidden. To be loved among others. It’s been so long that it feels unfamiliar. Ediye sees it too. Maybe she doesn’t know the extent of things, or maybe she does. But the way she smiles, despite everything else that’s happening around us, I know she’s happy for me.

Valentina enters the room just as Eryx and Cole join us at the sofas for a game of whist. She seems serene on the surface but stressed beneath, like her heart is a little too erratic and her breath comes too fast. She glances from Ashen to me with her tight smile and I try not to sigh with dismay. Immortals always make assumptions about the Reaper in their midst. I know I have. And I can almost feel the stone walls of his fortress rebuilding around him.

I thread my fingers through Ashen’s where they rest by my neck and fidget with his hand, keeping his thoughts away from the lack of sincerity in Valentina’s smile when she tops up his glass of wine.

“I apologize for leaving abruptly last night,” Valentina says, keeping her eyes on me as her smile warms. “I felt it best to take care of the rogue witch in Câmpulung immediately. I value our safety here, particularly when we have guests.”

I take a sip of my drink and keep my unblinking gaze locked to Valentina’s until she balks and looks down at the next glass she fills. “That’s kind of you to go to the effort, but we have other problems closing in around us if Semyon Abdulov is in the area. He has a pack of significant size and strength, and he’s coming for the both of us.”

Valentina gives me a look that fills in all the gaps between her words. “Werewolves are a threat my home has weathered before. We have nothing to worry about here. There are layers of enchantments and I’ve recruited the best of the local covens to protect the perimeter. They can’t get through.”

“Semyon is not just your average werewolf,” I say as I level her with a fierce stare, fighting to keep the aggressive red gleam from my eyes. “He’s been amassing allies beyond just werewolves. He’s in league with shapeshifting witches. With angels. He’s successfully made hybrids. He burned my voice right out of my throat. And he’s not even our only problem if we have a faction of rogue Reapers on our tail. We need to get out of here and find a safe place where we can regroup and plan how we can gain the upper hand.”

Valentina gives me a hard look and sighs. She’s really hell-bent on making a stand in this castle of a home. And I get it, running is hard. Once you start, you might never stop. But it’s worth it to take the chance. I feel like an authority on the merits of doing whatever it takes to not get caught.

Ashen squeezes my fingers as I take a long sip of my cocktail. “I think it’s wise to take my wife’s advice.”

I snort my drink right up my nose. Jesus H. Christ it burns like someone fired napalm up there.

“Par… pardon me?” Ediye says, her voice saccharine as a grin erupts on her face. I narrow my watering eyes at her as I try to control a sputtering cough. My cheeks burn as hot as lava. “Did… did you just say wife?”

All thoughts of Semyon and werewolves and deranged angels and hybrids with giant dicks flee from my mind as I turn my glare toward Ashen.

“Your what? I’m not your wife.”

“No?” he asks with feigned innocence.

“No. Do you recall a wedding ceremony? Because I don’t, and I’m a vampire. I remember fucking ev-er-y-thing. And we vampires are melodramatic creatures that take shit like romantic betrothals seriously,” I say as I flick him hard, right on the nipple. “So no, Reaper. I am not your fucking wife.”

Ashen scoffs as he rubs his chest. “What then, my girlfriend? That sounds ridiculous.”

“We’re not-”

“Life partner? That’s even worse.”

“Ashen-” I hiss.

“What, vampire, I’m merely abiding by your own rules.”

“Ashen-”

“You said in the restaurant that ‘mating’ was very ‘last century’. Is ‘spouse’ more appropriate? I’m unfamiliar with modern vampire relationship nomenclature.”

“That was in reference to sex with Andy Cartwright, not mates.”

Ediye barks a laugh. “You had sex with Andy Cartwright?”

“Oh my God no. What the fuck?”

“Regardless of the preferred terminology, this delightful creature and I are mated,” Ashen says as I drag a hand down my face. I feel an overwhelming wave of his smug satisfaction pull at the fibers beneath my skin as Ediye gloats with a chorus of I knew it, totally called that and magics up a mini firework display above the coffee table.

“Fucksakes. You’re as subtle as a brick,” I whisper in his ear over the crackle of the tiny light display. I try to smile in thanks to Cole for his warm congratulations as Eryx happy-claps next to him with glitterball eyes.

“Payback is such a bitch, isn’t it, vampire,” he whispers back before placing a kiss on my cheekbone.

“Payback for what?”

“Trying to make my mated mark into a dick is probably a good place to start.”

I snort a laugh that dies quickly as Davina crosses my mind. I try to keep my cringe on the inside as I look toward her, but she returns my gaze with a brief and gentle smile. I can see the pain still etched in her face from our loss of Cassian yesterday, but this at least seems more like a weight lifted than one further burdening her shoulders. Part of me wishes I could pull her away and ask her a thousand questions about Aglaope and the body she harvested, but I shelve it for now. She’s clearly suffering enough that centuries old wounds don’t need to be opened, at least not tonight.

“Congratulations on your union,” Valentina says, pulling my thoughts away from Davina as she bows her head. “We should celebrate at dinner.”

Florin enters the living room and casts a welcoming smile to us all. “Did I hear ‘celebrate’? We’ll bring out the Château Margaux from the cellar if so.”

“I appreciate the gesture, but we need to leave.” Ashen’s voice is polite but firm, with no room for argument. “We need to do it as soon as possible. If Semyon is already here, we are not safe.”

Thoughts of everything we need to do to get out of here kick off a headache that climbs from the base of my neck, spidering though my skull and scuttling toward my eyes. It bursts into my face and I press my fingertips to the center of my forehead.

“Elixir?” Ashen whispers. I nod, realizing I forgot to take it this morning. Maybe it was the process of mating and the quantity of blood that I took, but I felt better than usual when I woke up. It must have slipped my mind.

I down my cocktail and tap my pockets, looking for a vial. Valentina takes my empty glass from my hand before I can set it on the coffee table.

My fingers graze hers.

In an instant of touch I see. I see who she really is.

Valentina turns away with my glass, unaware of my ability.

Ediye meets my eyes. I speak to her with no more than a look. By the time I turn my gaze to Ashen, he’s already laying the handle of his dagger in my palm.

The blade flies from my hand and Valentina falls to the floor. In the moment of her death, the illusion slips away.

She transforms into Mila Karras, the shapeshifting witch.

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