Page 90 of Love & Heart Braking

Sighing, I glowered at the book next to me. Maybe I should accidentally leave it in the carriage. The book likely contained recipes where the main ingredient was cupid bones.

Something about the matted dullness of the metal clasping nudged at my mind.

Bracing myself, I heaved the tome onto my lap. Then, careful not to accidentally scrape my burn on the metal binding, I worked the clasp free and pulled the weighty cover back. Unlike the binding, the first page showed me just how old this title was. The edges had disintegrated and curled. The ink was faded, and in some places, the black words had disappeared entirely. Suddenly the butler wasn’t the only one feeling aghast at how I’d thrown it around. This thing had to be ancient. Centuries old.

Tilting the page toward the lantern light, I squinted to make out two lines inscribed in looping calligraphy.

A Manual of Venus’s Power:

A Collaborative Work of Her Line

I sat back as my mouth dried. “Well, shit.”

20

I finished my drawing, tongue sticking out of my mouth. “Done!”

I presented my sketch to the alliance.

We’d met in Bain’s house tonight, and silence filled it now. No one in their right mind would call me an artist. But they wouldn’t call our random alliance of disorganized descendants a rebellion either.

We sucked on the anonymity front most of all. Soleil had ditched her blur charm tonight too. Only Devereaux, Austin, and I wore one now. A fact Bain seemed furious about even though he didn’t like the charms.

Soleil’s glee at his anger was almost tangible.

Fenton eyed my drawing, breaking the silence. “What’s that?”

I pointed to the largest semicircle. “This one would be red. The medium one, yellow. And the smallest half-circle is blue.”

“That was the symbol on the packets?” Gug asked.

Couldn’t blame her for the rampant doubt. I wasn’t totally sure this was what I saw either. “I’m over 50 percent sure.”

Austin grimaced.

“I don’t have good eyes like you guys.” I sighed. “I’m certain on the colors. If there was more detail on the logo, then I couldn’t see.”

Lerome took the drawing. “Looks like the Doquu logo if you ask me. Minus the sunbeams through it and the slogan.

“Food makers you can trust,” I chorused with Soleil.

Lerome grunted.

“They’re assholes, but they have a catchy theme song.” I lifted a shoulder.

Fenton had been standing at the unlit fireplace, but he started to circle the room now. “You said these conveyor belts were in a separate area?”

“Biohazard, yeah. When the healer thought something had gone wrong, he went pale. And whatever they’re doing in there takes priority over what they want to do to me.”

“Which has to mean that the stuff in those packets makes them money,” Devereaux repeated.

He’d said the same earlier. I’d asked him to meet me at Yearning Hearts. He had an extra emotional tie to what I’d seen in the lab and telling him with everyone else would’ve been cruel. “My thought exactly.”

“If we pretend the Doquus are receiving the packages, then I would assume it means their industry is involved,” Gug mused.

Lerome glanced at her. “You think they’re putting it in food?”

Soleil and I had come to the same conclusion.

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