“Finally,” Leo said, “Someone who sees my point of view.”
“I do,” Madeline said, “But even though I see your point of view, that doesn’t give you a reason to be rude or disrespectful to your peers—because these people here are your peers. It’s time you started acting like it. Now, if everyone could please go up to their rooms; I wouldn’t want this commotion to be seen by the other students in this facility.”
I started carrying the notebooks over to Vik, but Madeline called out to me and I turned my head. “Yes?” I asked.
“Except you,” she said, “I would like for us to have that talk I promised we would have.”
“Now?”
“Yes, please.”
I looked at the notebooks I was carrying, then looked up at Vikram. “Take them,” I said, “I found them at Henry and Covell’s place. If Henry is anything like you, there might be something in here that you can use. I’ll come and see you after I’m done here.”
Vik took the notebooks. “Where did you find them?” he asked.
“On a table in the middle of the room. I also found this.” I handed him Pandora’s business card. “I think they were trying to tell us something. That may well be a place we need to go and check out. But I want to know if there’s anything in these books first, anything we can use.”
“Alright, I’ll look through them.”
Raph came over, patted him on the back, and the two men headed upstairs. Dante lingered, watching me, trying to figure out if I was okay or not. I nodded, and he left. When Madeline and I were alone, she gestured down the hall and I started walking with her. I almost couldn’t believe how she had been able to diffuse an otherwise explosive situation as easily as she had. Was it because she had authority, and a commanding presence, or did Leo in particular respond to her the way that he did because of a shared past I wasn’t aware of?
She led me into her study, then sat down at a small table on the side of the room. There, breakfast had been served; a combination of eggs, sausages, bacon, and fried tomatoes, as well as freshly squeezed orange juice, and a pot of tea. I sat down on the chair opposite Madeline, pulled myself in, and tried not to touch the plate of food, despite the grumbling in my stomach. I had left the house this morning without eating, and hadn’t realized how hungry I was until now.
“I should probably say thank you,” I said.
“For what?” she asked, picking up the pot of tea. “Would you like some?” she asked.
I offered her my coffee cup. “Please. What I mean is, what you did out there was incredible. You just shut everyone down, including Leo.”
She filled the cup and I set it down beside my plate, then I tucked into a piece of bacon. “I wish I could say it comes from my many years of experience, but the truth is I don’t know. I guess I just have a way with men.”
“Maybe that’s got something to do with the notable lack of women in this world we live in.”
“Maybe there’s truth to that. We are rare, supernatural women I mean. I’m shocked it’s taken us this long to realize the reason why we’re rare is because there are people hunting us down, and probably have been doing so for a very long time.”
I struggled to finish my mouthful before speaking, but Madeline put her palm up toward me and smiled. “There will be time for talking later—right now, eat, enjoy your breakfast.”
She didn’t need to tell me twice. I started on my plate of food, bringing my best manners to the table. We didn’t talk, we just ate, and in the silence, I had a lot of time to consider the women I was having breakfast with; she was beautiful, and intelligent, and stern, but also, I thought, possessed of a great warmth, and an ability to be compassionate, and caring. In other words, everything I had wanted in a mother.
I, on the other hand, probably held none of the qualities she would have wanted in a daughter. I had a feeling this conversation wouldn’t go well.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“Tell me about yourself,” Medline said. We had finished breakfast and were sitting on the sofa. The morning was cold, but the room we were in seemed to be perpetually warm, and the air carried the smoky aroma of burned wood.
“Tell you about me?” I asked, “What do you want to know?”
“As much as you’re willing to tell me. I want to know how it is a succubus has emerged after a century of them being missing.”
“I don’t know what to tell you. I’ve never known my family history and I doubt my mom was even aware of supernaturals. I lived by myself, and never knew there was anything special about me until Dante showed up that night.”
“Nothing special?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I worked at a mall, and before that I worked at a bar. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with that kind of work, but I was destined to be stuck there forever. I just… I’ve always been unimpressive. Below average. The wrong people like me, the right people dislike me.”
“There must be a reason for that.”
“No drive, no ambition. I had always been told that aiming high for something would be a waste of time, and I believed it. You can probably see that there’s some sort of pattern there.”
Madeline smiled, softly and kindly, but knowingly. “Maybe I can. Would it surprise you to know I was very much like you at your age?”
“It would.”
“And why’s that?”
I eyed her up and down. “Without meaning any disrespect, you look like you’ve had a ton of privileges afforded to you in life, more than most people would get. Probably because you had parents who were loaded—maybe not loaded, but at least well off—although it’s just as likely that you’ve always been gifted with some tradable talent, maybe two.”
“You’re right on both counts. Now let me try you… your parents bad example followed you throughout your young life. You made bad decisions about friends, maybe got into trouble with the authorities; nothing major, but enough that there’s a criminal record on you somewhere. Knowing that, you gave up and dropped out of school thinking you would land the first job that came your way and climb the ladder onto bigger, better things, but the ladder never showed itself. How am I doing?”
Oddly accurate. “Did you run a background check on me?”
“No, I’m just intuitive… and like I said, I see a lot of myself in you.”
I arched my eyebrows. “Really?”
“Really. I also couldn’t care less about authority when I was your age. My father was a lawyer, my mother a domestic goddess. They made good decisions about me when I was young, encouraged me to learn to play the violin, dance, paint. They also made sure my academic career was strong, and promising. I was set to become anything I wanted to become, but everything changed one night.”
“What happened?”
“I burned my parents’ house down.”
“You… what?”
She nodded, her dark wavy hair bobbing over her shoulders. “I’ll never forget that day. My parents and I were arguing. I was thirteen, I wanted to dance more than study, but the dance lessons clashed with my schoolwork. My father decided I was to stop going to dance lessons and focus on my academic work, but I fought him on it, screamed at him, and when he’d had enough, he threw me across his lap and showed me the belt. The first fire erupted as I lay there, over his knee, receiving lash after lash. He didn’t notice it at first, but by the time he did, the fire had already swallowed the curtains in my room and was crawling along the entire wall, consuming the wallpaper and using it for fuel. The fire spread too fast, and too violently. The house burned.”
“That sounds terrible…”
“It wasn’t long after that I was discovered and brought here. One life ended, and another began. I was the youngest person in recent history to become a mage. My powers were volatile and difficult to control, but I learned over time and I adjusted to my new life. Now I’m Keeper of the Alexandria. I don’t think I’m ready, but the responsibility is mine and mine alone, so I want to see it through and do a
good job.”
“Was your mother a mage?”
She shook her head. “The mother-gene often skips generations. My mother, unfortunately, wasn’t a mage, and didn’t understand what had happened to me when I came into my power. She thought she was going crazy. Is there a chance there were other supernaturals in your family?”
“Maybe, but I doubt it. Both of my grandmothers died before I was born, and she and my mom had no siblings. I have no way of knowing what side of my bloodline the gene came from.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright. My lack of grandparents hasn’t ever meant much to me. Or, at least, it hasn’t until now.”
“How so?”
“Well, it would have been nice to have another woman to talk to.”
Madeline sweetly smiled. “You need the woman’s perspective? I’m happy to offer it.”
“No, it’s not that, or maybe it is… I’m just having a bit of trouble figuring out my place in this. I’m a succubus, and what feels natural to me is seen as wrong by so many.”
“Even if you weren’t a succubus, it’s no one’s business what or who you get up to. You need sex in order to survive, but is that the only reason why you do it? Or do you do it because you enjoy it”
“I’ve always enjoyed it, I’ve just never—”
“Had multiple partners?”
“How did you know?”
“Anyone can see that those five gentlemen are completely besotted by you.”
“Four,” I corrected her.
Madeline arched an eyebrow, and the corner of her mouth tugged lightly into a smile. “Yes, of course, my mistake. But four or five, it makes no difference, I can tell that your place is with them as their queen. They will do anything for you.”
“And I would do anything for them.”
“Which is why they will never hate you. I have read up on the succubi before, and a lot of books tell tales of men who hate their succubus because of the hold she has over them. She uses them when she wants and then leaves them, only to return again when she needs her next fill. You care for them, and they will love and worship you in return.”
“Hearing it like that, it makes sense. I felt awful not telling Vik and Raph about their mentors. I tried to last night but—”
“They wouldn’t wake up? That’s because Leo knew that you had been listening.” Of-course he did. “He played dumb so you wouldn’t know he’d put a spell on you to make you believe you had knocked on their doors. The truth is a powerful urge to sleep overcame you, and you went straight to bed. I only allowed it to happen because it was too late for the drama that would surely have followed, and the last thing I wanted was an argument breaking out in the corridors so late at night.”
I should have been mad, but in truth I felt relieved that I hadn’t just given up on telling Vik and Raph. There was a reason for my giving up, and that reason was Leo… being a dick.
“Henry and Covell’s disappearance is concerning,” Madeline said, “I knew they were in London, but unless someone is visiting the Alexandria, or wants something from us, we don’t have much contact with the other supernaturals.”
“I’m worried, especially after what I found at their apartment. They left clues for us. I think they knew they were getting into something dangerous, or suspected they would need someone to retrace their steps. I’m hoping Vikram can decipher Henry’s writing—assuming there’s anything written in the notebooks I handed to him.”
Madeline nodded. “You know the Alexandria will help in whatever way we can. I’m aware you’re just a student, barely into your heritage, but I can tell you’re going to do incredible things.”
“You think so?”
“I do. Like I said, I see a lot of myself in you. Don’t let Leo push you around. Trust your instincts.”
I scoffed. “That guy gives me a headache.”
“He gives everyone a headache, but he is incredibly good at what he does.”
“And what’s that?”
“He’s a hunter; when something, or someone, needs taking care of, Leo is one of the people tasked with resolving the problem, and he always does. He’s arrogant, self-centered, and abrasive, but he gets the job done, so I tolerate him. You should too.”
“Give me one good reason why I should.”
Madeline sighed deeply. “Because as much as he dislikes you, he also sees your potential and you can learn a lot from him.”
I still thought Leo was an asshole, and the fact that he thought I had some talent didn’t change that, but maybe if I could find it in me to be a little less defensive around him, he’d stop treating me like a goddamn bootlick.
“Thank you for telling me,” I said, “I think after everything that’s happened, it’s good to have some validation.”
“Good. Now, I suspect you’ll probably want to talk to your friend and find out what he’s been able to learn from the notebooks?”
“Yeah, I think that’s a good idea. The cat’s out of the bag, now. Leo won’t be able to keep the investigation all to himself.”
“His arrogance is just one of his many adorable quirks.”
I went to stand. “Leo is a lot of things, but adorable isn’t one of them.”
Madeline smiled, stood, and walked me to the door of her study. “Thank you for sitting with me,” she said, “I would like to do this again soon. Some of the mentors in the school also want to meet you.”
“I hated the idea of talking to people I didn’t know about myself, but after talking to you, I think I’m okay with it.”
“Perfect. Then in that case, I’ll see you soon.”
I nodded and made my exit, walking briskly down the hall, up the stairs, and straight to Vikram’s room. I could hear voices in the school now, and they weren’t familiar voices, either. There were areas of the house where people, other supernatural students, were being trained in their species’ arts. I wondered just how many different types of supernaturals there were, and for a crazy moment considered taking a peak into the nearest closed room, but I went on with my mission, because figuring out where Vik’s mentor had gone was more important than settling my curiosity.
CHAPTER TWELVE
This time, when I knocked on Vikram’s door, he answered right away. He was barefoot, and he had his long sleeves rolled up to his shoulders. The room also vaguely smelled of burning incense. Behind him, sitting in the lotus position on the floor, I spotted Raphael… shirtless… his long, wavy hair hanging over his strong pectorals, abdomen tight, and defined.
“Hey,” I said.
“Come in,” Vik said, keeping a low voice.
I entered, then looked at him, puzzled. “What’s going on?”
“Raph is trying to divine the mentors’ location.”
“Oh… I’ve seen him do this before. Any luck?”
Vik shook his head. “Not that I know, but I did find something interesting in these notebooks. Come.”
I noticed, then, the bowl with the stick of rosemary burning in it. It was sitting in front of Raph, tresses of light, scented smoke rising lazily from it. “What did you find out?” I asked.
Vik brought me over to his bed, where the notebooks I had brought him were all spread out, each open to a different—blank—page. He picked the business card up and showed it to me. “This wasn’t just a clue; it was the X on the treasure map.”
“Really? So, they wanted to tell us where they were going?”
“I believe so, but there’s more. A lot more.”
I sat down on the bed, then grabbed a notebook and looked at the blank page. When I noticed Vik had extended his hand, I took it, and almost immediately, words began to appear in the notebook in my hand. It was all handwritten, some of it hastily so. I tried to read the words appearing on the page, but I couldn’t make sense of a lot of it. Flicking over to the next page, and the next, I realized that the notebook was entirely full. They all were, except for the one in Vik’s hands.
“That’s the last entry?”
I asked.
“It is,” Vik said, “Lilith, my mentor wasn’t in London because he had business in the city; he was here because he was on to something.”
“On to what?”
He flipped the notebook back a number of pages, then pointed at a paragraph on the page. “He was hunting down the source of a drug he had heard rumors of.”
“What exactly do you mean by a drug?”
“I mean the kind of thing people can get high on, only it isn’t anything anyone’s ever done before.”
“Okay, so, in as clear terms as possible, tell me what it is your mentor found out.”
Vik paused. “Henry thinks someone discovered a way to steal energy from supernatural beings and process that energy into a kind of drug that other supernaturals can take. I don’t know what properties the drug would have, or what the effects would be, but considering we’re talking about a practice that rubs shoulders with an act akin to cannibalism… this is wrong. It’s so very wrong.”
I took the notebook out of Vik’s hands and looked at it. The information was all there; the words drug, and energy, and Pandora all clearly legible to my eyes, now that I knew what I was looking for. “And your mentor is totally sure this is what was going on?”
“He was sure enough that he left contingencies in place in the event he didn’t return from his trip to Pandora. If the drug is being distributed from there, then Henry may have gotten too close, asked the wrong questions to the wrong people. Who knows where he could be now? Who knows if he’s even still living?”
I glanced over at Raph. “Hopefully we’ll know in a little while, right? No one thought to look for him yet, so this could work.”
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