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Fuck, this was infuriating as all hell.
“Take it off,” Max said. His words were for Sabrine, who turned to look at him. “If she’s bound to secrecy, then she probably can’t remove it herself.” He looked at Cyra. “I don’t think I’m wrong, am I?” He was met with the barest shake of her head.
Sabrine stepped forward, easing up onto the first stair.
Cyra let go of the necklace. “It is…ordinary.” She came down to Sabrine’s level and dipped her head, allowing the wolf to remove it.
“Not a conduit or a wish?” Max asked, for the best clarification he could get.
Cyra nodded once.
“That’s all we need. Let’s go.”
They made their way out, and Max wondered if he was the only one who found it odd that Cyra wore the necklace—the key—instead of Erasmus.
The library was quiet.
Logan and Dominic were keeping watch now, giving Lace and Blue a break. The girls sat on the table across from the one Travis was lying on, old tomes spread before them. Nearby, Jewels flitted around the shelves, picking up a fairytale book here, a potions book there. They were all getting bored—not to mention tired.
Travis’s eyelids began to slide shut as he stared up at the high, vaulted ceiling, watching the lantern light dance with shadows and glint off cobwebs—
The table shook under him as Jewels climbed up to sit beside him. “That ghost is giving me the creeps,” she said.
Travis lifted his head to see the ghost with pit-like eyes floating between the shelves on the other side of the room.
Lace said, “They call him ‘The Staring Teenager’. Apparently, he likes getting the students in trouble.” She pursed her lips in thought and leaned forward to see the ghost better, her hair slipping over her shoulder like platinum silk. “Wonder why he hasn’t bothered us yet.”
Jewels shuddered. “Let’s stop talking about him, or he might come over here,” she whispered.
Travis studied Jewels, the soft curves of her pale face kissed with firelight. She wasn’t wearing any makeup, and although Travis thought she looked amazing when she was all dolled up with the dark eyeshadow and lips, she was very pretty without all that stuff too. He was glad Malakai wasn’t around to catch him staring.
“I didn’t mean to act all crazy earlier,” Travis said. “I wasn’t upset with you, I was pissed at your brother. He annoys the hell out of me. No offense.”
Jewels trilled a laugh. Her smile was contagious; it made Travis want to smile. “You handle him a lot better than the other guys I’ve dated. Honestly, I am really impressed. Most don’t even make it past the first date.”
“Wonder why.”
She laughed again. “He means well. We’re each other’s only family, so Malakai has trouble letting me go.”
“Yeah, but does he have to be such an asshole about it? Doesn’t it make you feel…suffocated?” He couldn’t imagine making it to the age of twenty-three and still having someone control him.
He had Roman to thank for that reality.
The thought of his brother brought a deep frown to Travis’s face. While Travis had managed to escape the control and abuse of his father, Roman had been fed on by sharks for the past few years, and he’d thrown himself into the water willingly. It was realizations like these that made Travis feel a hell of a lot less powerful, less capable, less grown up. Roman might’ve forced him to leave Yveswich, but a part of him still felt like he’d run away like a coward.
Jewels shrugged and picked at her glossy black nails. “Sometimes, but…Malakai’s played the role of big brother and dad for years. He’s watched over me since we were kids. We didn’t have a good home life.”
Travis grunted. “Neither did I.” It seemed to be a common theme with Darkslayers. But then again, did people who came from good, wholesome upbringings typically seek out jobs that involved killing people and monsters?
Probably not.
“Do you have any siblings?” she asked him.
“Two. Roman and Paxton. Roman’s my older brother, Paxton’s younger than me. He’s my half-brother.” The half-brother he’d left behind. Another twinge of guilt speared his heart. Thank god Roman was still there, or that kid would probably be dead by now. “They live in Yveswich—that’s where I’m from.”
“Wait…,” Jewels said, holding up a pale hand. “Roman Devlin is your brother.”
He nodded.
