Page 54 of Vampire's Hearth

“It’s incredible,” I said, marveling at the world I’d only just begun to understand. “I can’t believe a place like this actually exists.”

She chuckled. “I felt the same way the first time I came here. About a year ago, I stood on the beach below us and tried breaking in.”

“You tried breaking in?” I arched an eyebrow, intrigued, setting my phone on the cushion beside me.

Isla laughed again and toyed with the handle of her cup. “Didn’t go well,” she admitted with a wry smile. “I couldn’t even budge the door to the anteroom. Runa confronted me on the beach, and to this day, I’m still surprised she didn’t kill me on the spot.”

I leaned forward. “Who is Runa?”

Isla took a sip of her tea, contemplative. “Runa is the Dearg Dur.”

I nodded. “I keep forgetting she has a name.” I sipped my coffee.

“So you know she turned Kieran?”

I nodded again and sat back for Isla to continue.

“But there was something different about the family.”

“How do you mean?” I narrowed my eyes.

“Somehow, they are all able to walk in the sun, and their blood allows other vampires to walk in the sun.”

“Isn’t that part of being a dhampir?”

Isla shook her head. “Being able to walk in the sun, yes. But not their blood being able to ward off the effects for others.” She smiled. “I saw you eyeing the flask Declan was drinking from. It is filled with O’Cillian blood, allowing him to be out in the daylight.”

“Can I ask you a question about the flask?”

“Sure,” she answered, her voice rising at the end.

“May I draw a picture?” I pointed at her notebook and pen. She slid them toward me.

I flipped past pages of notes to a blank page as I struggled to recall the design from the flask. My ring burned, a searing pain that I ignored. I drew a long breath over my lips, remembering the tongues of fire that had granted the ring its power. Beads of sweat broke on my back as though I was sitting in the midst of them again.

“Aurora, it is almost over,”rang my mother’s voice as I sketched the Celtic heart with the antlers and seal head.Fuck.I clenched my jaw against the pain as I put the final touches on the image. I looked at it, for the first time clearly seeing what I hadn’t been able to before. There was a strange pull in my chest as a barrier around my mind snapped. The pain in my hand subsided like I had thrust it into a bucket of cold water. I knew the feeling of a spell being broken. But whose magic and why?

“What is this?” I turned the picture to Isla, my spine ice cold, a shiver going through me.

She furrowed her brows as though it was something everyone knew. “It’s the O’Cillian family crest. It’s on all the flasks with their blood and almost anything associated with them.”

I studied my drawing, nausea bubbling in my stomach. A flask had been on Cormac’s plane. But of course, we had been on our way to see Conall O’Cillian, so maybe it made sense.

Isla continued her story, oblivious that something profound had happened. I forced my pounding heart to calm. “The blood aside, Runa is bound to the O’Cillians through a fragile truce. I don’t know what she gets from it, but she has vowed to erase the O’Cillian name from history.”

“How?” My insides twisted. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know. My thoughts swirled as I absorbed her words, hoping for something to guide me.

Isla took a deep breath. “Runa kills anyone who gets close to them.”

I leaned back, trying to piece together everything she said. “That’s certainly one way to deal with your enemies.”

“Except not all her victims were enemies,” Isla murmured, her gaze dropping to the floor. A shadow passed over her features as a cloud moved through the sunlight outside.

I recalled the story about the last person staying in Lyra’s room having been murdered. “Your friend stayed in our room.”

Isla nodded. “And me. It’s where we stayed when we first came here. Ash… she would have loved to see all of this, to be part of it. She always had a fascination with the paranormal.”

“I’m sure she is still here,” I offered, but Isla took a deep breath.

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