by Elle Adams
“Probably because you don’t have one,” I said. “Um, it doesn’t, does it?”
“It doesn’t,” confirmed Xavier. “If it did, I’d be able to sense it.”
Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to have a key, either. Xavier and I spent fifteen minutes trying to open it before the book started another screaming fit, at which point we left the room and closed the door.
Luckily, someone had soundproofed the room, and the noise didn’t follow us into the library.
I rubbed my temples. “I have no idea if the book was just messing with me again then, or if it really could arrange my death if it wanted to.” As if I needed another reason to be paranoid.
Xavier gave the closed door a dark look. “Your family are the ones who purchased the book, are they not? They wouldn’t have done so if it posed a real threat to them.”
“I’m starting to think someone dumped it on them, to be honest.” I shook my head. “Well, it’s worth telling my Aunt Adelaide that the book might require a password to activate. I would have thought Aunt Candace might have already tried it, but she tends to go for the complicated solution rather than the easy one.”
With nothing left to try, we walked to the front desk to find Cass sitting there alone.
“You’re too late,” said Cass, in sullen tones. “My mum’s gone to speak to the police. So has Estelle.”
“Why?” I said. “About the murder?”
“No, about her bad leg. Of course it’s about the bloody murder. Or murders. Does everyone you talk to drop dead?”
“You tell me,” I said.
Xavier gave a stifled laugh, hastily cut off at the expression on Cass’s face. “Some of us don’t need her help.”
Now I was the one to laugh. I’d like to set her against the Grim Reaper. That would be interesting to watch. Or terrifying.
“Hilarious,” said Cass. “What do you want with my mum?”
“I was going to ask her to convince Edwin to let us look at Mr Spencer’s possessions, assuming they were removed from his room,” I explained. “That way, we might be able to see if he knew how to open the book. If there was a secret password, he must have written that down, too.”
“A password?” Cass’s brow furrowed. “The book has a password?”
“The book acted shady when we brought up the subject, and it’s one of the few things we haven’t tried yet,” I said. “Has Aunt Candace tried, do you know?”
“I guess not, but I can ask her. Anything that gets the bloody thing out of our hair by this point.”
She walked out from behind the desk and headed for the family living quarters, leaving me blinking after her. “You’re welcome,” she said over her shoulder.
Since when did Cass volunteer to do anything? Maybe Estelle had given her a stern talking-to after their earlier arguments. That, or she was as keen to get rid of the book as the rest of us.
“She’s being even more Jekyll and Hyde than usual,” I said to Xavier. “Earlier, she was giving me endless grief about our getting tangled in another murder case, and now she’s being nice instead.”
“You mean, I got you tangled in the murder case,” he said. “Occupational hazard of spending time with a Reaper, I’m afraid.”
“Nah, Mr Spencer is the one who kicked this off,” I said. “I doubt I’ll ever find out what it is he wanted to tell me when he called me. Now we’re stuck with a screaming book for the long haul.”
“That explains why there aren’t any patrons around,” Xavier commented.
Now I looked around, Xavier and I were alone in the reception area. The air thickened with tension as the memory of dancing with him right here in the lobby infiltrated my mind. I remembered kissing him, thinking I couldn’t possibly be happier—right before the Grim Reaper showed up and ruined everything.
“Rory?” he said. “You look like you have a lot on your mind, aside from the obvious.”
I’d never been good at hiding my thoughts, but it wouldn’t do any good to remind either of us of what we couldn’t have. I cast my gaze around for a distraction and spotted the translator spell sitting on the desk. “Ah. I asked my aunt to put my dad’s journal in here to see if we could get a translation.”
The box glowed faintly green around the edges, and it sprang open when I picked it up. The journal was intact, thankfully, but the lone blank page that came out along with it was covered in indecipherable markings.
“Oh.” My shoulders slumped. “It didn’t work.”
“What is that?” Xavier peered at the box.
“A translator spell my Aunt Adelaide was working on.” I slipped my dad’s journal back into my bag. “I guess it doesn’t work if there’s no translation available. Which is bad news for me, but also bad news for the vampires who want to steal it, too.”
“The vampires,” he repeated. “Do you think there might be a link between that group of vampires and this case?”
“My aunt didn’t seem to think so,” I said. “But if there is a rogue vampire in town, they’re still at large, and either Evangeline doesn’t know, or she doesn’t care.”
“If she knew, she’d care,” he said, with certainty. “Did she drop any hints when you spoke to her?”
“Nope, but she did want to borrow the book,” I said. “I said no, because it was screaming. She wouldn’t say why she was interested in it, but I haven’t heard her mention vampires or rogues or anything. Even when I went to see her, all she did was point me towards Mr Spencer’s ex-wife.”
“Yes, you went to see her,” he said. “You must know that was risky, whether she was involved or not.”
“She’s the one who showed up on my doorstep asking to borrow the book,” I said. “I know she’s dangerous. The only vampire I’ve met who wasn’t a manipulator is Dominic and he wound up dead. Oh, and the guy sleeping in the basement, but he doesn’t count.”
“I forgot about him,” said Xavier. “Believe it or not, I’ve met plenty of amiable vampires.”
“Guess I haven’t been part of the paranormal world that long,” I said. “Sometimes it feels like I have, but I haven’t.”
“It does to me,” said Xavier. “It feels like you’ve been here forever.”
My heart seized. Why did he have to say things like that? Maybe it was for the best that he stuck around town, because his absence had somehow only amplified my attraction to him, whatever the Grim Reaper did to keep the two of us apart.
“I guess I’ve run into more trouble than most people encounter in a lifetime,” I said. “And now we’re about to go nosing around Mr Blake’s room to see if he left any clues behind that that relic hunter didn’t find.”
“Do you want to talk to him?” he asked.
“The only other people we can talk to who aren’t being questioned by police are Mrs Peterson and the vampires,” I said. “Not sure I want to try my luck with Evangeline again.”
“I think we should speak to Mr Dreyer first, just to cover all the bases,” he said. “Perhaps the murderer is a rogue, though, which means Evangeline’s on our side, whether she knows or not.”
“Then why would she tell me about Mrs Peterson and not about potential rogue vampires?” I said. “That makes no sense. By everything I’ve heard, Mr Spencer’s ex-wife seems the least likely to have bumped off the two hunters. She didn’t even know Mr Blake that well, and she wasn’t involved in her ex-husband’s lifestyle.”
“Perhaps not, but we should tell her about Mr Blake’s death and find out if there’s anything else she knew about his friendship with her ex-husband,” he said.
I nodded. “All right. We’ll speak to her first, since her shop is closer than the hotel. Then we’ll go to see Mr Dreyer and see what else he’s hiding.”
Once again, we made our way to Mrs Peterson’s shop. When we entered, she looked up at us with a mildly irritated expression on her face. “You again?”
“Hey,” I said to her. “I don’t know if you heard—but Mr Blake is dead.”
“We were on our way to talk to him when they found his body,” Xavier explained. “He appeared to have jumped, or been pushed, out of his third-floor hotel bedroom window.”
“He’s dead? Really?” Her brows rose. “Do the police think it wasn’t an accident?”
“Not sure yet,” I said, “but another guest was spotted sneaking around his room earlier. Do you know Mr Dreyer?”
She gave me a blank look. “Should I?”
“He’s some kind of relic collector, visiting town. I would have thought he might be interested in some of your wares.”
“Oh, him,” she said. “He tried to buy some of my best relics and offered me a pittance for them, as though I don’t know my own trade. Then I caught him trying to slip one of those knives into his pocket. I’d keep an eye on those books of yours.”
“He hasn’t come to the library,” I said. “Did he look like the type of person who’d go to extreme lengths to get his hands on rare objects?”
Extreme lengths… like committing murder, for instance?
“I can see it, but don’t quote me on that,” she said. “As for the vampire hunters, I never meant to get involved with those people to begin with. I haven’t seen this Mr Blake since his arrival in town.”
She sounded sincere enough, even without Blair’s ability to confirm her words.
“So aside from Mr Dreyer, the only other possible suspect is someone who they both made an enemy of,” I said. “Considering they were vampire hunters, and a vampire was spotted outside the hotel—”
“Evangeline’s the one you need to speak to, not me,” she said. “I’ve washed my hands of any connection with them and the vampires they used to hunt.”
“We did talk to her,” I said. “That is—before Mr Blake died. I’ve no doubt she’d know if there were any rogues in town, but she’s not exactly looking out for my family’s safety. And considering the book is now in my family’s possession…”
“I’m afraid Mr Bennet would know more about cursed books than I would,” she said. “I prefer to deal with ancient things that can’t speak or communicate.”
Or with fangs, I’d bet. “Thanks for talking to us anyway.”
I doubted the book would talk to a stranger when it wouldn’t even communicate with my family. Maybe the curse-breaker would know how to crack it open, but I wasn’t sure the book was cursed. Just under a sentience spell.
As for Mr Dreyer? His unscrupulous antics didn’t paint him in a favourable light, but snooping around Mr Blake’s room wasn’t the same as murdering someone. We needed more proof before we asked the police to question him again.
“Do you think he did it? Mr Dreyer?”
Xavier was silent for a long moment. “I think it was most likely a vampire. But it’s worth having a closer look to see if any other relics may have fallen into his hands?”
I arched a brow. “You want to break into his room?”
“My Reaper powers will ensure he doesn’t see me,” he said. “What my boss doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”
“Are you sure you should be pushing your luck?” I said. “I mean, there might still be a rogue vampire hanging around looking for trouble.”
The instant the words left my mouth, I realised how ridiculous I sounded. I mean, Xavier was immortal, and even the living dead couldn’t harm him.
His mouth curled up at the side. “Are you worried about me?”
“Nope.” He didn’t need to have Blair’s lie-sensing ability to know that for a lie. “I just forgot you were superhuman for a second there. Anyway, there is a vampire around.”
“I doubt he’ll be near the hotel,” he said. “That Mr Dreyer strikes me as unscrupulous at best, but if a rogue vampire is the killer, they’d have no reason to stick around now the two hunters are dead.”
“Unless that’s not all they came here for.” The image of the book appeared in my mind’s eye. “Evangeline would know. She must do. But whether she’s involved or not, I wouldn’t trust her to warn my family of the danger. Not without forcing us to strike a deal with her, at any rate.”
“There’s one person Evangeline is afraid of,” he said. “My boss.”
Hmm. “Is she really? I mean, he can’t reap her soul.”
“I’ve never been clear on that one, to tell you the truth,” he said. “If I tell him I suspect she might be connected to the case and to arrange a meeting with her, then he’ll do so. And she’ll have to accept.”
My throat closed up even thinking about what she’d say if she suspected I’d set the Grim Reaper on her. “Let’s put that in the ‘last resort’ category. My aunts are trying to wrangle information from Edwin on whether or not any of the guests knew the secret to unlocking the book. If we get proof from the book itself, we won’t need to involve your boss. Hopefully, Aunt Adelaide and Estelle will be back in the library by now.”
“Sure,” said Xavier. “I’ll have to tell my boss about Mr Blake, but he doesn’t insert himself in human affairs unless there’s a threat to our own kind. I’ll drop by the relic hunter’s room tonight and see if I can find anything. Don’t worry about me, Rory—I promise I’ll be fine.”
He took my hand and pulled me into a hug. For a heart-stopping instant, I thought he was going to kiss me, but he released me, leaving my hands tingling.
I am so screwed.
When I got back to the library, it was to find that Aunt Adelaide and Estelle still weren’t back yet. Instead, Cass occupied the front desk, looking bored. “You’re back. Is nobody going to come and take over from me?”
“It doesn’t look like we’ve had many visitors,” I said. “Did you tell Aunt Candace she might need a password to get into the book?”
“Yes,” said Cass. “Now she’s locked up in that room yelling nonsense words at the book. I put three soundproof spells on the door, and nobody’s come here to thank me for it.”
“Thank you,” I said. “Better?”
“I’ve had bloody enough of that book,” said Cass through clenched teeth. “It’s scaring off our customers, it’s terrifying my pets, and now my mum and sister are off dealing with the police instead of this stack of returns.” She indicated a towering pile of books that had popped up beside the desk.
“Isn’t Sylvester around?” I asked.
“He got it into his head that he needed to help out with the passwords. So did that familiar of yours.” She glared at the book pile. “This has gone on for way too long. We need to lock that book away or throw it out.”
Now I knew where she was coming from. For Cass, anger was a defence mechanism, and given her concern over her animals, it was no wonder she was being snappier than usual with everyone today.
“We owned the book to begin with, though.” I moved around the desk to where the logbook lay. “If more than one book is activated via a password, isn’t there a list?”
“There is,” she said. “I can’t find it. I assume Aunt Candace borrowed the damned thing for a book and then lost it. I found the list of passwords for the doors that require special access, but not the ones for actual books.”
“Hmm.” I pulled out my Biblio-Witch Inventory. One of the prominent words in there was find. It was intended so that I’d be able to find my way out if I ever got lost, but it had multiple uses.
“It won’t work if you don’t know what the password list looks like,” Cass said. “If you want to make yourself useful, return some of those books, since nobody else is going to bother to help me.”
Cass and I had almost finished with the mountain of returns by the time Estelle returned, and Aunt Adelaide didn’t get back until dinner was already in the oven. We were loading our plates when she walked in, looking frazzled.
“Finally,” Aunt Candace said, taking a huge bite of mashed potato. “I was starting to think you and Edwin had hooked up.”
Estelle choked on a sip of juice. “Really, Aunt Candace.”
“I was delayed at the police station,” said Aunt Adelaide, levitating her plate ont
o the table. “Edwin and his people insisted on me telling them everything about the book, which led to me having to explain all our confidentiality policies.”
“We had better luck back here,” Cass said. “We found out the book is activated with a password, but someone lost the list.”
Aunt Adelaide sat down and turned to her sister. “What did you do with the paper? Borrowed it for a book?”
Aunt Candace took a long time chewing her mouthful. “I won’t say I didn’t, but I thought I put it back.”
Aunt Adelaide picked up her fork. “Well, Edwin’s being unhelpful. Supposedly, everything is in the police’s hands now and we’re not to touch the case, unless we’re prepared to hand over the book.”
I looked up. “We were wondering if either victim had a personal record of how to open the book. Mr Spencer must have known, right?”
“If he did, the police don’t have it,” said Aunt Adelaide. “According to Edwin, both men were both minimalist travellers and carried nothing but clothes.”
“That can’t be right,” I said. “If they were here to hunt down a vampire, wouldn’t they have brought… I don’t know, weapons?”
“Edwin didn’t say,” said Estelle. “I wondered the same. Perhaps the police confiscated them, but it’s not in their interests to spread rumours that rogue vampire hunters are in town. They aren’t well thought-of generally, and everyone knows not to cross Evangeline.”
“True, but you’d think they’d have something. Like stakes or garlic…”
Cass snorted. “Garlic?”
“It’s a normal world legend,” I said. “They say vampires are allergic to garlic. Then again, the legends also say they burst into flames in sunlight, which isn’t true either.”
“Or sparkle,” said Aunt Candace. “In my books, some of them turn into spiders. Keeps things interesting.”
Aunt Adelaide pressed her lips together. “Perhaps the police need to conduct a more thorough search of their rooms.”
Yeah. Or Xavier. I wished I could go with him, but I didn’t have that handy Reaper ability to walk through walls when it suited me.
