by L. J. Red
She blinked her bleary eyes and stared down at the page. “This is a pranking spell,” she said after a moment, checking the cover.
“Yup,” I said. “You know how I asked you whether or not you had been stealing the books? Well turns out someone really has been taking books from the library, and we are going to catch the thief red-handed.”
With Raven reading the spell out behind me, I spun the sticky strands of spiderweb across the front of the bookshelves that stood out black and thick for a moment before sinking into the wood. Then we spread sparkling, jagged shards across the floor and reaching grabby tendrils from the ceiling.
After a few minutes, Raven started getting into it, flicking back and forth through the book, picking even more clever traps.
“This book is awesome,” she said. “Where is it from?”
I smiled. “That’s always been one of my favorites too,” I said. “A witch traded it to me when I got her son out of a spot of trouble with the fae.”
She looked at me wide-eyed. “You’ve dealt with the fae?” she asked.
“Yup,” I said. That was not an experience I would be repeating anytime soon. I stretched, feeling the stiffness in my back from the wound that had never healed straight. Those fae bastards could be mean.
“Okay,” I said, stepping back and surveying the bookshelf. To anyone else’s eyes it would look exactly the same as before. But to Raven and I, as the casters of the spells, it glowed like the entire room was bound up in an intricate, shining web.
“You see it?” I asked, seeing her eyes go half-mast. She opened them again and swayed slightly.
“Yes,” she said, a little breathless. “I see it.”
“Good,” I said. “You extended a lot today. I wouldn’t dip into your magics for a couple of days. Just like physical exercise, you don’t want to strain anything.”
She nodded.
“Book, please.”
She handed it over and I slid it back into its place.
We left the office and walked slowly out of the center. The orchestra had finished at some point during our lesson and the center was quiet.
“How are you getting home? I asked.
“Dr. Allister said he’d pick me up,” she said. “I told my foster parents I’m staying with friends.” She glanced up at me, then away. So that was confirmation on the foster situation, and I was willing to bet Raven hadn’t told them anything about the coven or her lessons. She seemed to have a handle on it for now but I reminded myself to look into it later.
“There he is now,” she said, pointing. I looked up and saw Rufus approaching.
“I come bearing gifts,” he said, and handed me a coffee and Raven some kind of sugary nightmare.
“How can you touch that stuff?” I said.
She peered over the rim at my inky black coffee. “How can you touch that?” she asked.
“Raven,” Rufus interrupted, “would you mind waiting in the car for a moment? There is something I need to say to Tiana.”
Oh shit. I thought I had gotten away too easily last night. Raven’s eyes went wide and she glanced between us both, hesitating for a second. I realized she was waiting for me and I nodded for her to go. We both watched her walk across the lot.
“Seems you’ve gained yourself a fan,” Rufus said.
I shrugged. “For now. It won’t last, trust me. Give it a couple more sessions and I’ll be that hard-ass teacher.”
He laughed. “Well, as someone who has made a career out of being a hard-ass teacher, I can tell you it isn’t so bad.”
“Talking about teaching, I wanted to ask you something, as a professor I mean.”
He turned to me. “Of course.”
“I’ve noticed my magic expanding, I mean. It feels like it’s growing, only I know that’s not really possible. Magic isn’t really something you have, it’s something you channel through you from one world to the next but… it’s like I’ve suddenly gained the ability to channel more than I could before. And it’s not just magic; it’s my connection with the dead as well, to the spirits, to the whole of the half world.”
Rufus hummed. “It could be because you have been spending more time with the dead lately,” he said.
I blushed without meaning to, thinking of Valerian and the moment in the kitchen last night, his thumb, the sweetness of sugar. My lips tingled. “I, yeah… I guess so. For the case, you know.”
“Perhaps it’s that,” he said, his voice determinedly level. “Perhaps it is merely the proximity of the dead to your magic that is stirring it up. If you leave them alone it may settle again, or perhaps it will settle of its own accord.”
“Maybe,” I said. It sounded right, but I wasn’t convinced. I’d encountered dead spirits before, some cases took me right into the half world, communing with ghosts of all kinds. This felt different. It felt like something deeper, something in me changing. I could feel it in my very bones.
“Tiana,” he said, his voice dropping, “I know I can’t persuade you to walk away from this case. But you must be careful of the vampires. You of all people know what they are capable of.”
“I do,” I said, feeling defensive. What was with everybody trying to warn me away from this case? I was the one who had suffered. I knew exactly what I was risking.
“You can’t trust them,” he said, and I heard once more the hatred in his voice.
“I don’t trust them,” I said. “I’m not taking the case for them; I’m taking it to prove it was them. Do you understand?” His eyes widened. “I know what they’re doing. They’re killing people just like before. I can prove it was them. I can make sure they pay for what they’ve done.”
“Oh,” he said.
“What? Did you think I was working for them? They may have brought me onto this case, but trust me, they are going to regret it. I know who the real culprit is.”
“The real culprit?”
“Yeah, they are trying to pin it on some outsider, a vampire from another city. Someone framing them. It’s bullshit.”
For a second, I couldn’t read the look in his eyes, but after a moment he nodded decisively. “Good,” he said, finally. “They should pay. They should pay for what they did to you, to your sister, to—” He broke off and was silent for a moment, looking down at the coffee cup in his hands. The wind picked up, whistling through the trees around us. It sounded mournful. “I never told you,” he said suddenly. “I had a daughter.” I stared at him in surprise. “It was a long time ago, she was younger than you, seventeen. Her whole life ahead of her. He looked at me, his eyes pale with memories. “Vampires killed her.”
My breath caught. “My God, Rufus, I’m so sorry.” Now that I knew, I saw his grief clearly. It explained his hatred of vampires, that was what I had heard in his voice last night. Was that why he had been willing to take me in four years ago? Was saving me an attempt to make up for not saving his daughter?
Was I doing the exact same thing with Oliver and Sevda? Trying to find justice for them when there was no hope for justice for my sister.
“I hate them,” he said, and I could hear it clear in his voice. “I hate them like nothing else in this world. They are a danger to us all. They prey on humanity and use us like playthings. They feel no emotion; they understand no love or friendship. They only want power and they will destroy anyone who stands in their way.”
I gripped my coffee cup, feeling a chill in the air. He was right. The vampires of the city had only caused pain. I needed to remember that. And yet I couldn’t help but think of Valerian last night. I wanted so much to believe he was different.
Rufus didn’t say anything else, just gave me a brief hug, a promise to keep an eye on Raven, and he walked across the lot to the car. I watched them drive away, raising my hand in a wave as they turned the corner. It didn’t matter what I felt for Valerian. I needed to focus on what was right in front of me. On the dead I was supposed to be avenging. They didn’t have anyone else. I owed it to them. I needed to work the
only lead I had. Sevda and the strange fear that had fallen over her in the last days of her life. I needed to go back to the vampire court.
Chapter 26
The weather had turned even colder, so I swung by my apartment to grab a scarf. I’d ripped my old one leaping over a wire fence while chasing after an escaped poodle. Don’t ask. Michelle had taken pity on me shivering at the coven meeting and given me hers. It was a warm red knit with a white zigzag pattern running along it. The wool was soft and silky, much nicer than anything I owned.
I’d had enough of rattling around without answers. I was afraid time had already run out for Michelle. The gaping void in the half world preyed on me. I had to find out more. I knew Sevda had been tense for the last days of her life. I needed to find out what it was that had spooked her so badly. She had to have an office or a room, at the very least a desk at the vampire court. Perhaps she had left something there that might lead me to her killer. I didn’t trust that the vampires had released everything to the police; centuries of secret keeping wasn’t an easy habit to break. But they would give them to me or there would be hell to pay.
I arrived at the court in late afternoon, the tail end of the day. Vampires would be up soon. I had spent much longer than I anticipated with Raven, and in my rush to reach the court before sunset I’d forgotten to eat anything again. Damn.
The doors to the court were wide open but I picked out discreet security cameras in the corners. The vampires would be asleep but their human employees would be monitoring the feed. I ignored them. Either they had put me on the guest list or they hadn’t and I would soon be dealing with unwelcome company.
I took the stairs two at a time, remembering the route up to the human dormitories. The hallway was quiet, with the vampires asleep. I guess the humans were either catching up on sleep themselves or taking care of their own business outside the court. I walked to the first door and placed my hand upon it, sending my mind into the half world. Instantly I got the strong presence of a human within, a gentle rise and fall to the pulse that said she was sleeping.
I moved on to the next room, empty but with the lingering imprint of the man who lived there. The next room I recognized before touching it and I felt Eve’s presence. She was sitting inside, alert and awake, studying perhaps. I tiptoed away from her door, not wanting to deal with her, and moved to the next, slowly making my way down the corridor. Just under half were being used, but only a handful were occupied at the moment.
The next room I tapped, I felt the total lack of presence that was the signature of whoever had killed Oliver and Sevda. I tried the door. It was locked. I crouched down and pressed my eye to the keyhole. I could see the room inside was pretty basic, like the others. A man’s jacket lay on the bed and I could see a couple of books on the desk, one with the spine facing me. Looked like textbooks. Oliver’s room?
I straightened, tapping my fingers against the door handle. I’d forgotten my lock picks. I could come back and see if I could find a way in, but Sevda’s room was the priority. I kept checking doors until they reached the end of the corridor. Only one door left. I pressed my hand against it and the door clicked open. I pushed it wide and looked around the room. It looked a lot like Eve’s, only a mirror image since it was on the other side of the corridor. But this room was empty. No flowers, no rug, no blanket. Even the mattress was stripped from the bed. Just the wooden bed frame left, the desk in the corner empty. Whoever had lived in this room, someone had made very sure there was no trace of them anymore. I knew without trying to look into the half world that this was it.
I walked into the center of the room. Even without using my magic it felt empty, a void. A dark space in the middle of the bright world. If Sevda had lived here, her presence was erased just like everywhere else. Only this time the vampires had cleared out her physical possessions as well.
I ducked to look under the bed, searching between the slats. Nothing, nothing at all. I looked around, tracing my eyes over the skirting, kicking it to see if there were any loose panels. I tapped the floorboards with my feet. Nothing creaked, nothing bent out of shape.
I went to the window, running my fingers over the frame, opening it and tucking my hand underneath the sill to see if I could find anything taped there. Nothing.
Finally, I went to the desk and pulled every drawer out completely, placing them on the bed so I could look at the backs and the undersides. I shoved my head into the cavity and tried to see if there was anything stuck underneath. Nothing. I pulled the entire desk away from the wall. The space between was full of dust and pencil shavings but nothing useful. Nothing that could hint at why Sevda was so afraid.
Except of course for the fact that this place had been cleared out so completely. I very much doubted Mrs. Sahin had been down here and anyway, she wouldn’t have taken the mattress. No, this was the vampires. For some reason, they had cleared Sevda’s room out top to bottom. But not Oliver’s. That was telling. Sevda really had found something. Something related to the vampires.
I sighed in frustration. I didn’t know what the fuck it was that was so dangerous they had killed her over it. I frowned deeply, and why had they decided to kill Oliver as well? A cover-up? But it had only served to bring more attention to them. The opposite of what a cover-up should do.
It didn’t make any sense. I had all these different parts but nothing was coming together. I walked over to Sevda’s window and stared out. The sun was starting to set and its golden orange rays were reflected over the water. A beautiful view, I thought. Had she looked at it one last time before going to her death?
I closed my eyes and leaned my head against the cold windowpane. I was tired and hungry and no closer to finding the truth.
Was I kidding myself thinking I could get justice for the dead? I hadn’t been able to find justice for Violet. “Tiana?” I jerked back from the window and turned around abruptly to see Eve at the door. Shit, I had forgotten to close it properly. I straightened and tried to wipe the exhaustion from my expression. “Eve,” I said. “What are you doing here?”
She frowned. “I was going to ask you the same question.”
I gestured to the room. “This is Sevda’s room, isn’t it?”
She blinked. “Yeah, I guess they cleared it out?”
“This doesn’t seem unusual to you?” I asked skeptically, pointing at the bed.
“I don’t know,” she shrugged, “I mean, I guess?”
I sighed. She wasn’t going to be any help.
I went to move past her but she made a surprised inhale when I came close. I looked at her inquiringly.
“No, it’s just that scarf…” She reached out hesitantly and pulled it free from my jacket. “Yeah, I thought I recognized the pattern.”
“Recognized it? What, you have one just like it?”
“Oh no,” she said. “I mean, I wanted to, but Michelle didn’t tell me where she got it from.”
Goosebumps broke out over my skin. “Michelle?” I said, turning to face her and shoving her back until she was pressed against the doorjamb. “How the fuck do you know Michelle?”
Chapter 27
“I didn’t know her,” Eve said, cringing back from me.
I knew I needed to tone down my anger but I was just too shocked. What the hell had Michelle been doing here in the court? My fear for her rose sharply.
“I didn’t know her, not really,” Eve said.
“That’s what you said about Oliver,” I snapped.
“I know. I mean it this time,” she said desperately. “Honestly, I only saw her a couple of times. It was the scarf that I remembered.”
“Did she have a room here?” I asked, but I already knew the answer.
“No,” Eve said.
I hadn’t felt the void in any of the rooms except for Oliver and Sevda’s.
Suddenly a ripple went through the air, a shivering magical sense beneath my feet in the half world. I looked sharply out the window. The sun had finally sunk below the water. Shi
t. I had wanted to get out of here before sunset. Deep down in the basements, I could feel the vampires waking up, my sense of them, muted while they slept, blooming into sharp relief. And there in the center, Valerian, almost directly beneath my feet. I felt him wake, felt him become aware of me and reach out through the half world. I brutally cut off my sense of magic and forced myself back into the real world, stepping away from Eve.
“You better not be lying to me, Eve. I’m sick of this.”
“I’m not,” she said. “I swear. I didn’t even know you knew Michelle. I would have said if I’d known anything.”
“Was she with anyone, when you saw her? What was she doing here?”
Eve shook her head. “It was just a normal night. I think some people were dancing and Michelle came in. I noticed the scarf because—”
“Who was there?”
“I didn’t keep track, the usual crowd.”
“Who was she dancing with?”
“I can’t remember.”
“Well fucking try harder.”
“I wasn’t paying attention. We weren’t friends.”
“Come on, Eve. Think. Was Valerian there?” I asked, dreading the answer.
“No.” She frowned. “No, I don’t think so. He doesn’t really come to the parties. They were always more Kyran’s thing.”
“Kyran,” I said grimly. “He was there?”
“Well, yes,” she said. “He’s almost always at the parties.”
“Perfect,” I bit out, and strode away from her. Maybe I would be sticking around to meet the vampires after all.
Despite the fact that I had tried to erase every shred of memory I had of this place it all came back to me as I descended into the lower rooms, striding down familiar hallways until I reached the section of the court that belonged exclusively to the vampires. No windows down here, no chance for a stray beam of sunlight to catch them unawares while they slept.
I could sense the vampires all around me through the half world but they kept their distance, not a single footfall breaking the silence around me. Valerian? Or had Alexandra put a warning out? Whatever. I didn’t care. I honed in on one of the presences, the vampire I wanted to speak to, and knocked sharply on Kyran’s door. I could feel him inside, but he took his time coming to answer.