Page 51 of Reap the Night
She shook her head. “I can’t remember his face. When I try, all I see is a blur.”
“A mind rub spell,” Hemlock said. “Only a fae or mageri could do one.”
“Or a witch,” Ordell said.
“But witches were wiped out a century ago by a mystical plague, weren’t they?”
“Not in the dome,” Hemlock said to Ordell. “Not without detection.”
Wait a second… “Are you saying witches still exist?” The dome was a protective ward that covered our city and kept the nasties from the Rim out of it. “I thought they all died.”
“Most did,” Ordell replied. “It’s complicated, but Hemlock is right: A witch wouldn’t be able to get into the dome.”
“I’m sorry,” the woman said. “I didn’t want to hurt anyone. I just want James back.” Her eyes welled. “I miss him so much.”
“No one comes back from Wormwood Prison,” Hemlock said. “Not unless the mageri council releases…” His eyes flared.
Ordell’s mouth flattened. “No, that makes no sense. Only the highest level of the council knows about this. They know how dangerous?—”
“You’re right. It can’t be,” Hemlock said. “Whoever planned this lied.”
“But they also know about the curse,” Ordell said.
Something about her story didn’t sit right, and then it hit me. “You came to Ezekiel from the House of Spirit.”
She blinked sharply. “No, I didn’t. I joined the carriage carrying the veins en route to Branwood. The driver was paid to allow me to board, and the other veins were told I was a late arrival.”
If that was true, then I could cross the House of Spirit off my list as a suspect. My scalp pricked, and I turned to the stacks for a moment as the sense that I was being watched washed over me. But there was nothing but shadow waiting between the aisles.
“There’s more,” Ariella, or whatever her name was, said. “One night I heard two men talking. The one that hired me said they needed to stop the curse from breaking but keep the vampire king awake and coherent. The other one said something then…” She chewed on her cheeks. “He said, ‘Let’s hope the hunter fools don’t reveal the truth this time. If Ezekiel finds out the Singers are his brothers, then our plan could be ruined.’”
“What?” Ezekiel stepped out from the book aisles, a tome clutched in his hands. Oh God, he’d been in here all along?
Hemlock and Ordell froze.
“What did she say? That you…” He looked from Ordell to Hemlock. “You’re my broth—” He dropped the book and clutched his head. “Oh…Oh…” He fell to his knees. His eyes rolled, and he keeled over.
“Fuck!” Hemlock rushed toward him. “Quick.”
“What’s happening?” the woman cried.
Ordell slung Ezekiel over his shoulder, and Hemlock ran for the door and yanked it open. The air fizzed with power. “Close the door behind us,” he said to me. “It’ll reactivate the ward to hold her here until we can deal with her.”
So wards could be created in Dracul territory after all. Or maybe this was a Hemlock ability?
“Wait, please!” Ariella ran toward us.
“Sit down!” I ordered before slamming the door and running after the guys. “Where are you taking him?”
“Safe cell,” Hemlock said. “For his own protection and ours. His memories have been unlocked, and he’s about to relive his past, and that includes his time with Loviator.”
I followed at a trot. “In that case, he’ll need someone with him.”
“It’s too dangerous,” Ordell snapped.
“I don’t care. I’m not fucking leaving him.”
“Fuck it,” Hemlock said. “Then we’ll all stay with him.”
