by Tamar Sloan
Reign takes another step away from the couch. He can’t believe he fell asleep. With Arielle’s head on his lap…
He keeps his gaze firmly focused on Mac. “Have you heard of the Veritas Library?”
“The Truth Library? Veritas is Latin,” she says, even more smug. “And nope, never heard of it.” Her face brightens. “We’re going to a library?”
One no one has heard of, not even his nerdy best friend. Interesting.
Arielle smoothes her hair. “It was at the back of my mom’s journal. With an address.”
Mac leaps for the doorway. “Then what are we waiting for?” A cheeky sparkle glints in her eye. “Unless you two wanted to discuss anything?”
Reign strides past her, wishing he didn’t notice the way Arielle’s cheeks just turned pink. “Zip it, Mac,” he mutters under his breath.
Her chuckle follows him all the way to the door.
The ride to Argyle Street isn’t long, but there’s enough time for Reign to ruminate on what just happened. He’s glad Arielle got some sleep. In fact, that was the whole idea of getting her to rest.
It’s his own shuteye that surprises him. In fact, he feels more rested than he has in a long time. He glances at Arielle in the front seat. Her hands are clasped in her lap as if she’s nervous. She’d be totally focused on where they’re going, this Veritas Library that no one seems to have heard of even though it’s not far away. And so she should be. She doesn’t need a dropkick like him on her mind.
She flicks a glance over her shoulder as if she could sense his gaze. Reign freezes when her eyes meet his. She smiles slightly and mouths two words.
“Thank you.”
She turns away before Reign can react. In fact, he remains frozen where he is for long seconds. Two words.
And he wants to do something that he does as often as sleep. Smile.
“Sixty-seven Argyle Street,” their driver announces as the car draws to a halt.
Arielle pays the driver, something that has Reign’s teeth on edge. Right now, he has two-dollar bills in his back pocket and little else.
The driver stares at their destination. “You sure you got the right place?”
She nods, opening the door. “We’re sure.”
They climb out and as the car leaves, Reign realizes what the driver is talking about. They’re facing a stretch of brick wall, two old wooden doors chained shut in the middle. There’s a barber shop on one side, number sixty-six. A pharmacy on the other, number sixty-eight. Both have shut down, and from the looks of the dirty windows and peeling paint on the signs, they have been for some time.
“Your mom must’ve written down the wrong address,” he suggests. He steps forward and peers through the gap in the old timber doors. “It’s dark, but it looks empty.”
But Arielle shakes her head, her brow scrunched. “She wouldn’t do that.” Maybe this is like Sinclair Mansion. There must be a hidden door or something.
“Cool,” Mac breathes as she stands in front of the brick wall. She takes a step back as if she’s trying to survey the entirety of the view.
Reign joins her, noting there’s nothing exceptional about the red bricks and gray mortar. “Your latest interest is the art of bricklaying? Is there some impressive pattern we’re not seeing?”
She looks at him quizzically, indicating toward the wall. “What are you talking about?”
Reign narrows his eyes. “What are you talking about?”
Mac takes a step back, schooling her face as she averts her gaze. “Ah, nothing.”
Except, he knows Mac. Whatever’s going on is most definitely something. But before Reign can ask, another voice joins them.
“What in the world are you peeps doing here?”
They all turn to find Gabby and Colt walking toward them. Once they reach them, Gabby plants her hands on her hips.
“You two are supposed to be lying low,” she says to Reign and Mac.
Mac glances at Reign. “Do you remember agreeing to that?”
He scratches his chin. “Nope. No recollection whatsoever.”
She wrinkles her nose. “Although, in all fairness, even if we did agree, we wouldn’t have done it.”
“Also true,” Reign acknowledges.
Gabby huffs as she turns to Arielle. “I’ll go back to my original question. What are you doing here?”
“Mom had a note about Veritas Library in her journal.” Arielle indicates toward the brick wall they’re standing beside. “This is the address.”
Gabby’s eyebrows shoot up with surprise. She glances at Colt. “Should we?”
Colt crosses his arms, studying the three of them. A little part of Reign wants to move closer to Arielle. He can sense the weight in Colt’s gaze.
Finally, he nods. “Let’s tell them.”
Tell them what? Reign tenses. He’d rather know what the heck is going on before Colt goes making those sorts of decisions.
“Arielle. Reign. Mac,” Gabby says with a flourish. “I’d like to welcome you to Veritas Library.”
Reign glances at the brick wall, about to point out that this Truth Library must be for mice, only to freeze.
“What the…”
His eyes progressively widen as his mouth slowly drops open. The brick wall ages before him, some areas fading away completely. No, not fading. Morphing. Long, narrow windows appear on either side, a large ornate door coalescing in the center. A curved arch appears over it, one word etched into the ancient building that’s now before him.
Veritas.
Mac leans closer to Reign. “You see it now, don’t you?” she asks smugly.
Reign doesn’t have time to answer, because Gabby pushes open the wooden door. “Shall we?”
Mac is the first to enter, practically skipping through the door. Arielle follows, throwing a questioning look at her cousin.
“Yep, it’s a supernatural library,” Gabby says proudly. “Humans can only see or enter it with an invitation.”
Reign quickly follows Arielle, tense at what they’re going to find on the other side. Colt and Gabby look like two parents who are about to show their children a secret shortcut to the North Pole.
Reign blinks as the door closes behind them. He swallows. Then blinks again.
The area before him is colossal. Magnificent. Possibly a little pretentious. A soaring ceiling is somewhere above him, glittering chandeliers hanging in the room that seems to be holding its breath. Mahogany bookshelves line the walls, countless candles flicker in wall sconces, looking as if they stretch forever, rows upon rows of books stacked as far as the eye can see. When he finally draws in a breath, his lungs fill with the scent of aged leather and paper.
“It’s Hogwarts meets the Tardis,” Mac breathes. “But a library, which is even cooler.”
Arielle turns to Gabby. “My mother knew this was here,” she says quietly.
Gabby nods. “She must’ve. Maybe as part of her research.”
Arielle looks back toward the shelves. Hundreds and thousands of books, most leather-bound and worn, reach as far as the eye can see. “I need to find Infernal Damasicus.”
“Infernal Damasicus?” comes a strident voice from their left.
Reign spins around, his shock and awe replaced by his usual state—preparedness to fight. His gaze drops as he sees a woman coming toward them. A woman in camo pants and a white tank top, dog tags and all, in a wheelchair.
“Veritas is run by witches and seers,” Gabby whispers.
Reign almost rolls his eyes. Of course it is. What’s next, vampires in roller skates, chewing gum?
The woman’s dark eyes roam over each of them, her pageboy hair slicked back. “Who’s interested in the Infernal Damasicus?” she asks haughtily.
Reign decides he doesn’t like her. Anyone who goes all I’m-better-than-thou tends to tick him off.
Arielle steps forward. “I am. I’d like to have a look at it, please.”
“I’m afraid that’s not possible.”
&nbs
p; “Look,” Reign grinds out. “We don’t have time for supernatural red tape. All she wants to do is check it out.”
“Well, she can’t,” the woman announces, her black eyebrow raised. “It was borrowed yesterday.”
“By who?” Colt asks quietly.
“I’m afraid I can’t share that information,” she says, raising her snooty nose an inch even though she’s no taller than four shelves high.
Idly, Reign wonders whether she’s a witch or a seer. Then he decides he doesn’t really want to know.
Arielle takes another step forward. “Please, this is important.”
The woman’s mouth opens only to snap shut again. She wheels a little closer, her eyes narrowing. “You look like someone I know.” She draws back in shock. “Sierra.”
“Yes, Sierra is my mother.”
Reign moves a little closer to Arielle. “You know her?”
“Oh yes. She’s different to many others who come here. They all want the usual stuff—love potions, curses, how to kill a ghost, that sort of thing.” The witch waves a hand dismissively. “Sierra wanted something rare. Something no one has seen for centuries. The Holy Grail.” She sighs. “Never got very far, though. She told me she even found a cloaked grave once, which is impressive, but never anything about where the Grail could be located.”
Reign doesn’t point out that it’s probably because the Grail doesn’t exist.
“My name is Nim,” says the woman, smiling a little. “I like your mother. She’s determined.”
“She really is,” Arielle agrees quietly, her grief palpable in those three words.
Suddenly Nim straightens in her wheelchair, her eyes widening. “Something’s happened. Sierra would never have allowed her daughter to come here.”
Arielle’s shoulders tense. “So I’ve heard,” she says, a strange hitch in her voice. “That changed when she was kidnapped several days ago.”
Nim’s hand flutters to her throat. “Great ghosts,” she murmurs. She spins around and wheels toward a desk the size of a billiard table. There, she opens a large book, running a black fingernail down a ledger.
They follow, and Reign once again shifts closer to Arielle. No matter how cool this place looks, none of this can be easy for her to hear.
Nim glances up. “I remember now. He was a dark-haired, strong looking man.” She points to the book. “His name was Mr. Kane.”
Reign curses at the same time Gabby does. They glance at each other, spitting his name like it just joined the ranks of the first word. “Kane.”
“He must be supernatural,” Colt muses. “I doubt anyone invited him in.”
“A demon?” Reign asks pointedly.
“Possible,” Colt concedes. “The longer we spend on Earth, the more adept we become at masking ourselves.”
“A demon has the Infernal Damasicus?” Nim asks in horror.
“Why?” Reign asks, his stomach filling with dread.
“It has several references to the Grail,” she answers, her face looking as pale as her tank top.
Mac stills. “Do you think he’s had something to do with the abductions?” She blinks. “That he’s trying to raise Hell on Earth?”
“Maybe,” says Colt. “Demons want the Grail as much as angels do. Why else would he abduct Arielle and Reign and go to such lengths to learn about the crypt?”
Reign frowns. “Did Sierra ever come here with anyone?”
Nim shakes her head, then stops. “A long time ago, she did. A man called David. I believe he was a Grail Keeper.”
The final two words slam through Reign. Someone else knows the term. As if it’s a thing. He stops himself from glancing around and looking for Joseph, his stomach churning. It’s not supposed to be a thing.
“I believe he had a child,” the witch continues, unaware that Reign has just had the floor sucked out from beneath him. “He stopped coming and Sierra was doing everything she could to find him. Spent hours scouring the grimoires to find the right location spell.”
Arielle’s mom was casting spells? He shakes his head. There’s too much to process. It’s getting too hard to sort fact from fiction.
Nim’s face brightens. “Although I just received a message from Blaise.” She zips around the desk, sifting through some papers. She lifts one up triumphantly then clasps it, her eyes closing. “Yes, it’s something important.”
Reign waits, no longer caring who the heck Blaise is or that it seems Nim is a seer. All they want is a lead.
Nim unfolds the message, her eyes scanning the page. She looks up.
“It’s an address for David.”
34
Arielle
As Arielle stands in front of the address Nim gave her, she knows that even as tenuous leads go, this one is as flimsy as rice paper.
This David guy hasn’t seen her mother in over seventeen years. He could’ve moved. He may not even remember her. He may be even grouchier than Reign.
But it’s all she has.
Arielle checks the piece of paper again. “Yep, this is it.”
The house is barely distinguishable from any other house in the suburbs. Double-story, green lawn, manicured garden. Arielle tries to look for anything about it that may look special, a hint that someone called a Grail Keeper might live here.
Except it’s innocuously average.
“There’s no car in the driveway,” Reign observes.
“If we get here and there’s no one home…” Mac mutters,
Arielle frowns. “We’ll just have to come back.”
“I suppose we’ll have Gabby and Colt with us, then,” Mac offers.
Arielle nods, wishing her cousin was still with them. As they’d left the library Gabby and Colt had paused. “We’re going to look for Kane.”
Colt’s face had hardened. “I’d like to have a chat. Demon to demon.”
Those last few words had sent a shiver down Arielle’s spine.
Reign rubs his chin as he surveys the house. “What do you think a chat between two demons even looks like?”
Mac shudders. “If it’s anything like angel v angel, then it’s worse that you can imagine.”
Arielle looks away. She’s not sure she wants to start to guess at what it will involve. From what she saw when Reign was abducted, Colt is a formidable foe.
But then again, so is Kane.
“So, are we waiting for anything in particular?” Mac asks.
Arielle goes to move only to find her feet are glued to the pavement. Suddenly, the thought of going up and knocking on that door doesn’t sound like such a great idea.
Reign moves in a little closer. “Arielle?”
“What if…” She swallows, not wanting to finish the sentence.
If this lead turns out to be nothing, she has no idea how to find her mother.
Reign studies her in that intense, brooding way of his, but there’s no way she’s saying this out loud. It makes her ill to even think about it.
He glances at the door as understanding dawns across his face. “There’s no such thing as a dead end, Ari.” He shrugs. “Think of it more as narrowing down our options.”
Arielle blinks. “I like that.” She smiles, suddenly feeling lighter. “I might even put that on my boots.”
Reign glances down, raising an eyebrow. “I think I’ve ruined them enough.”
Arielle lifts her right foot, pointing to a small scrawl near the heel. “See that? It says ‘bitter trials are often blessings in disguise’. It’s an Oscar Wilde quote.”
Reign’s eyebrow hikes up even higher. “Except there’s no way to tell the difference when life’s just being a bitch.”
Arielle rolls her eyes, unwilling to buy into his grouchiness. “Well, I’m not writing that on my boot.”
Reign blinks, and it’s as if the motion is a minuscule double take.
Mac walks past them, heading to the door. “Atta girl, Ari. Don’t take his crap.”
Arielle follows her, leaving Reign muttering something a
bout being ganged up on. She wonders if traitorous Lizzie ever got one up on Mr. Push The World Away.
But as she comes to stand beside Mac, Arielle sobers. The door is before her. A door that will either provide the information she desperately seeks. Or…they’ll be narrowing down their options again.
She lifts her hand and knocks. “Please, please, be home David,” she says under her breath.
Footsteps approach from the other side. “Someone’s home!” Arielle whispers.
“I’ll get it, Mikki,” calls a female voice.
Arielle frowns as recognition jolts through her. “But that doesn’t make sense.”
“What doesn’t?” Reign mutters, suddenly tense as he glances around.
The door opens and the smile falls from Aunt Shell’s face. “Arielle?”
Arielle tries to understand what’s going on. “What are you doing here?”
Aunt Shell grabs her by the arm and drags her inside. Reign and Mac are just behind her.
“I should be asking you the same question, young lady,” Aunt Shell mutters furiously. She looks over her shoulder. “Just some kids playing a prank, Mikki,” she calls in a falsely chirpy voice.
She glances at Reign and Mac. “More studying, huh?”
Reign grins. “What else would I be doing?”
Aunt Shell frowns. “You’re lucky you’re a nice boy, Reign. Otherwise I’d be suspicious.” She turns back to Arielle. “Now, what are you doing here?”
Arielle lifts her chin. She’s not going to lie. “I’m looking for my mom.”
Although she obviously suspected it, Aunt Shell draws back as if she was slapped. “We discussed this. You can’t.” She grips Arielle’s arms “You need to leave, now. For your own good.”
“No,” Arielle says, shaking her head. “I’m not going to do that.”
Reign steps forward. “And she won’t be alone.”
Mac steps around Arielle’s other side. “No siree, she won’t.”
Aunt Shell is speechless for a second. To be honest, so is Arielle. The support from these two is…humbling. She’s not totally sure what she’s done to deserve it.
Aunt Shell steps back, releasing Arielle’s arms. “I see.” She tucks a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “I’ve been doing my own research, you know. That’s why I’m here.”
