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Lucien offers him a withering look. “Which is why you won’t be reading them.” He flexes his hands, cracks his knuckles (which, frankly, I find gross) and then smirks at me. “Ready to see something impressive, kitten?”

I glance at his crotch. While Kim is back in his grey joggers, Lucien is – of course – wearing a suit. “I’ve already seen it, thanks,” I quip, taking a sip of coffee.

“And are we really calling it impressive?” Kim grins, biting his lip.

“I’m going to spank you for that later,” Lucien says, meeting Kim’s eyes in a way that makes me instantly wet. But then he opens the book and starts to read.

Except, not at human speed.

At some freakish, vampire speed.

The pages move quicker than I can follow. Within seconds, he’s done with the first book and onto the second. The third. The fourth.

When he reaches the tenth, he stops for a sip of coffee – his is laced with my blood, which he says makes it sweeter – and then continues.

On book one-hundred-and-four, Lucien finds our answer.

He looks exhausted and not as pleased as I thought he’d be to find the solution.

Kim and I sit up and lean forward. Lucien is panting like he’s been running a marathon. “The only way to destroy it,” he says, “is with its own power.”

Lucien scrapes his fingers through his hair, which isn’t something he does very often, and fixes his eyes on me. “Which means…”

“Luna has to claim the power of The Covenant in order to destroy it.” Kim breathes out and sits back hard in his chair.

“Why do you both look so deflated?” I reach for their hands. “This is a good thing. We have the answer.” I roll my tongue over the inside of my cheek. “You think I can’t handle it.”

“I have no idea if you can handle it,” Lucien says. But then he draws himself up taller and squeezes my hand. “But I know if anyone can do this, it’s you. I won’t ever underestimate you again, Luna. I can promise you that.”

“All right. So, we wait until nightfall, and then I go to Nix.”

Lucien nods slowly. Kim is staring at the books like he was hoping they wouldn’t provide an answer. But eventually he looks at me and says, “You go to Nix, and we end this.”

27

Luna

The church on St Joseph’s Street is instantly familiar. Staring at it from the pavement, I can’t believe I didn’t realise sooner. Didn’t recognise the name.

But of course he chose this place.

He’s a master of mind games. He sent Steven to me, and he’s chosen the church that hosted my parents’ funeral as his lair.

I waver on the pavement. It is pitch dark. The street lamps here aren’t working – or Nix has stopped them from working – and there are no people anywhere to be seen.

The last time I was here, it was daytime. Raining. I was trailing behind relatives I didn’t even know, following them inside to sit and listen to the vicar talk about what a tragedy it was for a young woman to lose both of her parents the way I did.

I read a eulogy for them both. I focused on my mum. Not my dad. And no one seemed to notice. I remember walking down the aisle as the music played us out. And then, right then, as I stare at the church, I remember a face in the crowd that I hadn’t seen before.

He didn’t register at the time. Barely a whisper of an impact.

But now, I see him clearly.

Steven. He was there. Why was he there? I close my eyes and realise he was not in the pews, he was sitting at the organ. He was playing the organ.

Holy shit.

I stumble backward into the street. A car goes past me, splashing through a puddle and someone yells out of the window for me to get the fuck out of the way.