Page 57 of Blood Currents
My eyes met Keane’s with renewed respect.
“How soon?”Elio asked.
“Days.A week at most.”Levon’s composure cracked again, revealing the desperation underneath.“The longer she’s in their custody, the more damage they’ll do.And once they extract the location of the evidence…”
“They’ll destroy it,” I finished.
“And anyone who knows about it.”Levon met my eyes directly.“Including all of you.”
The threat was clear.We weren’t just rescuing Parker.We were racing against our own discovery and execution.
“What do you need us to do?”Marigold asked.
Levon began gathering materials from around his library—copies of evidence, magical communication devices, detailed plans.“Return to the academy.Act normal.You’re students returning from winter break research, nothing more.One moment of suspicion, one sign that you know too much, and your window closes forever.”
He handed us a collection of files and devices.“This is everything I can give you without compromising the larger archive.Guard it carefully.”
We spent hours going over everything that he had, looking through the files and understanding the research.
“And Parker?”I asked as he wound down.
Levon’s gaze swept over all of us.“Her rescue will require precision, courage, and probably more luck than any of us deserve.”
I studied the vampire who was asking us to risk everything to save the human woman he loved.Twenty years of isolation had made him awkward, desperate, and tactless.But it had also made him devoted to the only person who’d connected him to the world beyond this impossible library.
“We’ll get her back,” I said, surprised by my own certainty.
Levon nodded, something like relief flickering across his ancient features.“Then we have work to do.”
My fire burned steady and blue as we planned a rescue that could either save the magical world or get us all killed trying.
26
Marigold
We materialized in the mountainclearing where we’d summoned the silver bell, but the magic that had made the place feel otherworldly was gone.Now just trees and snow and the bitter December cold immediately set us all shivering.
“Well,” Elio said, his breath visible in the morning air, “that was educational.”
Educational.That was one way to put it.Six hours in Levon’s impossible library, learning the true scope of the conspiracy that threatened to destroy magic itself.Six hours of revelations that had fundamentally changed how I viewed everything—the council, the academy, even my own place in the magical world.
And underneath it all lay the constant awareness that Parker was trapped somewhere in the academy’s depths, being subjected to interrogation techniques that could break even her formidable will.
“We should get back,” Cyrus said, his blue flames flickering around his hands from agitation rather than cold.“The longer we’re gone, the more questions there’ll be.”
“Questions we need to be ready to answer,” I agreed.But I felt reluctant to return to the world of careful lies and performed normalcy.Here in this clearing, with the residual magic of our working still clinging to the air, we could be honest about what we’d learned.
“Levon gave us a lot to process,” Elio said carefully.He’d been quiet since we left the library, his usual composure seemingly cracked by the revelations about his mother’s involvement.
But there was something else in his expression—something that looked like guilt.
“Your mother’s not evil,” I said, reading the conflict in his face.“Levon said it himself.Some of the council members don’t know the full scope of what they’re supporting.”
Elio went very still.“Mari—”
“She’s developed methods to break people’s minds,” Cyrus said flatly, not noticing Elio’s reaction.
“And my father’s convinced he’s protecting the magical world,” Cyrus added.“Even though everyprotectivemeasure he implements makes us more vulnerable to the corruption.”
