Page 100 of Queen of the Crimson Throne

“Good job, Sweetheart.” I placed a hand on her back as I guided her into the office, closing the door quietly behind us.

“Where do we start?” She looked around the office.

“Why don’t you begin with the shelves and I look through the desk?” My grandfather’s office was small, the only furniture in the room was his desk and the bar cart, hopefully, that would make it easier to find what we needed.

Lennox dipped her chin and headed toward one of the bookshelves that lined the wall.

My grandfather’s desk was a mess. Empty glasses and half-smoked pipes littered the counter along with papers.

I scanned the documents, looking for anything of significance as well as the Populus.

Reports from cities across the Blood Court lined the top along with general reports from his correspondents.

I moved to the drawers next, sifting through drawer after drawer of random shit: pens, scraps of paper, half-smoked pipes, and spools of thread, I was ready to give up when I came to the bottom drawer. Underneath the bottle of alcohol and shards of glass from a broken decanter was a black-bound journal, tied closed with a leather strap.

The Populus.

I let out a sigh of relief. “Lennox, I found it.” I removed the leather strap and flicked through the book as Lennox looked over my shoulder. I flipped through the sections until I came to the letter G. Her lavender scent invaded my nostrils as sheleaned over further, strands of her hair brushing against my neck.

I returned my focus back to the Populus as I continued to flip through the pages but found nothing. I flipped back to the beginning. Flipping each page carefully, making sure I didn’t miss it, but nothing.

There was no family named Galtain in the Blood Court.

“Fuck.”

Lennox stood straight again. “Well, at least we can check it off, they’re not in the Blood Court.”

I leaned back in my grandfather’s chair, running my hand through my hair. “Yeah, but now we have six other courts to search.” I reached for the Populus again, as I picked it up papers slid out from inside, falling to my feet. I reached for the scraps, my eyes scanning over the words as I shuffled through them. “Holy shit. Lennox.”

“What?”

I swallowed, looking up to meet her eyes. “I think my grandfather knew your father and brother were looking for the journals.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Because my grandfather has their research.”

39

LENNOX

My eyes scanned over the papers in Luka’s hands. Papers scrawled with a combination of Nol and my father’s handwriting. My father’s writing was nearly indecipherable, but I would recognize Nol’s perfectly printed small script anywhere.

“How?” I whispered.

“I— I don’t know.” Luka rubbed his hand over the back of his neck. “Why does my grandfather have these? Where did he get them?”

Luka’s questions echoed my own.

“Do you think—” Pressure mounted in my sternum. “Do you think your grandfather had something to do with their deaths?”

The color leached from Luka’s face.

“I mean—these had to come from my father’s study. The study—that’s where they found their bodies that night.” Luka didn’t move, his back straight as he stared at the papers with a haunted expression in his eyes as I continued, “That’s where I burned their bodies.” I blinked back the wetness forming in the corners of my eyes. “I haven’t been back in the study since, but?—”

I closed my eyes to fight back the dizzying sensation blurringmy thoughts. “But what if someone had been looking for something in his office?—”

“Like clues leading to the cure for vampirism,” Luka finished for me.

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