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“I have powers, and Vera thinks they’ll help fight Orion. That’s why I’m here.” He points at Vera. “She said you know more about what’s going on.”
Sylvan crosses his arms and strokes his chin. “I recognize it, and I know more than Vera does.”
“Spill it,” Caleb demands.
“The witches made the descendants of Van Helsings stronger by using a kind of Faerie magic, and your powers have clearly woken.”
Caleb straightens. “Why now?”
“Probably because of the obsidian and the time it spent inside you. At least that’s my guess, based on the way the magic works. The obsidian probably unlocked your powers, but those powers weren’t accessible to you while you were a vampire. Now that you’re not a vampire anymore, you have access.” Sylvan’s grin isn’t reassuring. “A side benefit of becoming human once more.”
“Why don’t I find that reassuring?”
Maddy’s arms slip around Caleb’s waist, and she pulls him close.
“You should be reassured,” Sylvan counters. “You’ll be quite instrumental against Orion. We’ll need someone powerful enough to stall him until we can get the weapon ready.”
“Once we find it,” Maddy snaps. “We still haven’t found it yet. How are we going to do that?”
Vera lifts her chin, obviously interested in Sylvan’s answer.
“My people hid it deep in the earth.”
“Where?” Vera asks.
“No records remain of the location.”
Maddy snorts. “Then how are we going to find it?”
Sylvan shakes his head. “While no records remain with the Fae, there’s a great library in this realm, vast amounts of information are contained within it. It’s only available to supernaturals, and it’s filled with magical histories, maps, and information not contained anywhere else. That’s why we had to come here to prepare for war with Orion. This is why we required your blood to make a portal. We must find the library, so we can find the book.”
Maddy frowns and then stares at Sylvan. Finally, she turns to Caleb. “I think he means Veritas.”
Caleb looks to Sylvan. “Sounds like we’re headed to Mercy City.”
Chapter8
Caleb
Mercy City isn’t the place Caleb expected to be headed after reuniting with Maddy, but at least Maddy’s beside him on the way to it. Sylvan’s driving them, and he has the coordinates of Veritas Library. Caleb and Maddy are seated in the rear of the SUV, speeding toward Nim and Veritas. Love swells inside him, and he captures Maddy’s hand and laces his finger through hers.
“I love you,” he mouths, knowing she’ll hear it as a whisper in her ear.
She turns away from her study of the passing scenery, all of it tinted red by the ominous scarlet sky. “I love you, too, but I don’t think we can be together anymore. I’m a vampire-warlock hybrid, and you’re a human. How can we make that work?”
He tugs on her arm. “When you told me you loved me, I knew you meant it then, and you mean it now. You mean it as much as I mean it, too. If it’s the vampirism that’s the problem, we’ll find a solution for it.”
Her gaze rests on him for a long moment, and she uses her free hand to stroke his cheek. “You’re different somehow.”
Sylvan has an earbud in one of his ears, but his eyes dart to the couple in the backseat. He’s probably listening to everything they say while pretending he isn’t.
Caleb gives Maddy a sheepish grin as they pass through the city limits of Mercy City. “I’m not a vampire anymore, so there’s a lot more feeling and a lot less confidence.”
She laughs then and squeezes his hand. “Is that why I feel like a raging witch most of the time now?”
“Being hangry 24/7 doesn’t help, but we’ll get that figured out. I’ll help you learn to control it. I learned how, that must count for something.”
“How are you going to help me with all that blood thrumming in your veins?” Her eyes widen, and her mouth stretches into a tight smile, exposing the way her teeth points press into her bottom lip. “I can smell it. It’s like walking into a restaurant when I haven’t eaten all day.”
