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7
SHANE
That evening, we went back to DuMoir Castle. As soon as we arrived, Thea asked Almae, Elisa, and Lavinia to help her prepare a suite close to the infirmary for Raika and me. They drew a witch’s circle around the room, spelled its walls so if Raika lost control, she didn’t burn down the castle.
Meanwhile, I took Raika to the kitchen to meet the cook: a vampire who had been a baker when human. His name was Morris, he was French, and he had been sixty-two when the previous lord of the castle, Lord Reynard, had found him about to die and turned him.
He was a grump, and often in a bad mood.
“I just wanted to meet the incredible chef behind such amazing food,” she told him.
Of course, the old vampire fell head over heels for her. He even smiled at her. “What would you like me to bake for you, ma chérie?”
Raika told him she wasn’t hungry, but for tomorrow, she would love freshly baked bread and a mix of oil and herbs to dip the bread in. He got on that instantly. He promised that she would have them for lunch tomorrow along with a whole feast.
“That sounds wonderful,” Raika said in her sweet voice, and Morris visibly melted some more.
I almost got jealous. So much, I had to suppress a snarl.
When Raika’s suite was ready, the witches called on us.
It was a normal suite, almost like my previous one in this castle—except for the white witch’s circle drawn on the floor. Even the bed had been pulled away from the wall a little, so it remained inside the circle.
Once we were settled in the suite, I called Rue and Facetimed with Minsi and Tyren. Of course, they had heard something was going on, but I assured them it was nothing. Raika was still sick and we were treating her.
“Everything is okay,” I said, hating I was lying to their faces. “Raika just needs more rest.”
After the call, I snuggled with Raika in bed, careful where and how I touched her.
“You should sleep outside the circle,” she said.
I shook my head and held tighter to her. “I’m not leaving you.”
She smiled and settled even closer to me.
Then we slept.
* * *
I couldn’t sleep. I tossed and turned, but I knew I was bothering Raika, so I moved to the couch in the suite’s seating area. For a couple of hours, I was able to rest my eyes, but the couch was too small for me, and my head spun with a million thoughts, and my veins were filled with worry.
Giving up sleep, I headed to the library at five in the morning. I had lived in this castle for six months, and I could count on the fingers of one hand how many times I had been inside this library. There hadn’t been any reason for me to come in here, especially because every time I walked past it, I remembered Raika and how much she loved books. At the time, I thought she was gone.
Now, that threat was hanging over our heads.
The library was quiet and dark. I turned on a few lights as I walked through the impressive place—the ceiling was at least twenty-five feet high, and tall shelves covered the walls and space in between. The front of the library, and the back where the windows were located, were filled with long wooden tables with small lamps and several cushioned chairs.
For the good part of an hour, I strolled around the shelves, pulling all the books I could find about spells, unwanted magic, dragons, and dragon shifters.
I took them all to one of the long tables and divided them by subject. I was determined not to leave this place until I found something promising, even if it was the first spark of an idea. However, I still hoped we would open one of these books and find the exact answer to what we were looking for.
My research didn’t start off well. Skimming through a book about dragons and dragon shifters, I found an entire, albeit short, chapter about humans who had attempted to become dragon shifters. The dragon had to willingly give the human at least half of his magic and perform a ritual in order to create a dragon shifter. If the magic was stolen, and if the dragon didn’t perform the ritual, the human died. As far as the book’s author knew, no other dragon shifter had been bestowed the gift directly from a dragon. Alice had been the only one, and the other dragon shifters were her descendants. However, according to the author, nothing about dragons and dragon shifters was confirmed. His writings were speculation since no one had seen either species in many centuries.
I fished my phone out and checked the text app. On the way back to DuMoir Castle last evening, I had called Kaz, but he hadn’t answered. I left him a couple of texts, but so far I had no replies.
I had also called Evelyn, even though Lavinia said she would contact her. Evelyn didn’t answer, but she did send me a text saying she was busy and would call me later. I almost texted back saying it was an emergency, but gave up.
I rested my phone on the table and continued my research. The pile of useless books was growing high, fast.
