Page 38 of Blood Currents
We waited until Parker disappeared inside before following.The tunnels were narrower here, carved from raw stone.Our footsteps echoed faintly despite our care, but Parker didn’t look back.The charms were working.
The tunnel opened into a small chamber set up like a makeshift office—papers on a table, magical devices humming softly.Parker pulled out an ornate mirror.
“Communication device,” I breathed, recognizing it.They weren’t commonly used these days, as cell phones were easier.
She traced runes around the frame, whispering something we couldn’t hear.The surface rippled and then cleared, and a vampire stared back.
Fangs.Eyes too dark to be human.That chill I’d carried since my mother’s death burned into anger so hot it almost broke my control.My fire flared involuntarily, blue threads sparking through the gold.
“Cyrus—” Marigold’s hand pressed to my arm again, grounding me.“Wait.We don’t know what this is.She could be spying.”
“No,” I said, keeping my voice low but firm.“That’s not what this looks like.”
The vampire spoke—silent to us—but Parker nodded as she pulled out documents to show him.Her posture wasn’t cautious.It was familiar.
“She’s working with them, just like Keane’s uncle,” I said, the words bitter.“The same monsters who killed my mother.”
Marigold didn’t argue, but she didn’t agree either.“I don’t know what to believe anymore,” she said softly.“Not about anyone.”
I looked at her then—really looked.This wasn’t just about Parker.She hadn’t looked at Elio the same way since word of that dinner got out.Whatever they’d had, the trust was gone.And I got it.More than I wanted to.
The mirror conversation ended, and Parker packed her things with efficient precision.
“We go,” I said, my voice tight with controlled fire.“Before she knows we were here.”
“And then?”
“Then we watch her.Gather proof.Find out exactly who she’s loyal to.”
Marigold nodded, but I caught the flicker of doubt in her eyes.She wanted to believe Parker wasn’t the enemy.She wanted to believe someone wasn’t lying to her.
We slipped back into the tunnels, silent but for the hum of Elio’s illusions.My anger simmered just beneath my skin, heat waiting for somewhere to go.
“Could she really be bad?”Marigold asked as we climbed the narrow stairs to the surface.
I wanted to tell her yes, to burn away every uncertainty for her, but that wasn’t my place.“Maybe.Maybe not.We assume nothing.”
Her eyes found mine.“Except each other.”
Something shifted in my chest at the words.She still trusted me—still chose me, here, now.
“Except each other,” I agreed quietly.
But even as I said it, I knew this was only getting more complicated.Parker’s betrayal—or her secret mission—was only one more thread in a knot we might never untangle.
And as much as I hated Elio’s masks, a part of me finally understood why he wore them.
Because when she looked at me like that—like I was still safe—I didn’t want to let her down.And that scared me more than any vampire ever could.
17
Keane
The portal held.
I stood in the center of my suite, watching the silver-edged window suspended between my hands like captured starlight.Its edges shimmered with clean energy.No flickers of corruption.No dark residue bleeding into the air.Just magic—mine—flowing through stable channels like water through polished stone.
For the first time in months, it felt like I was whole.
