Page 73 of Eat. Prey. Love.
As much as I loathe tech some days, this application is quite useful.
“Examined documents from Apex and Capital Prep,” I murmur to myself, digesting the implications. “Magic Accords... Society families... need moreinformation…”
The message is detailed but tinged with frustration. My walrus counterpart at the huge hybrid library in D.C. believes we have located missing pieces in a puzzle that has long been scattered across the globe. Key documents elude them—documents unmarred by the Council’s heavy-handed editing. History, raw and unfiltered, remains beyond our grasp, hidden away with purposeful intent.
“Of course, the Council would twist the truth,” I grumble, smoke puffing from my nostrils as I consider the implications. The real story behind the Fae’s banishment could change everything we know about the delicate balance between our worlds—and the tale we’ve all been told about why magic users have to be exiled or executed.
This only exacerbates my fear that we have inherited a problem that began with greed and will end in bloodshed.
I lean back in my chair, the ancient wood creaking beneath my weight, and gaze out the window at the stars peeking through the night sky. Somewhere out there lies the key to understanding, to unraveling the Council’s deception, and I am determined to find it. Our mate is tangled in this mess somehow and though we don’t know how, we have to protect her.
Flexing my talons, I fight the urge to smash things in response to our helplessness. Once I’m calm again, the talons recede and I feel the grooves of the keyboard beneath my fingertips as I compose a reply. The aquatic scholar’s belief that more accurate documents are hidden somewhere in Asia sparks a flame of hope within me, but it’s tempered by the reality of our situation.
“See if we can gain access from France,” I type, my digits stabbing the keys as I type. “Electronic access would be ideal, though I suspect a personal touch may be required to uncover these truths.”
Continuing my thought process, I type the information we’ve gathered in, giving only the most necessary details to my friend.The email sent, I recline in my chair and let out a long breath, watching the digital words fly away into the void of cyberspace. Until summer, our wings are clipped by duty; Dolly’s education chains us tol’Academiewith an invisible yet unbreakable bond.
Fucking administrative garbage, if you ask me, but I don’t get to make the decisions.
The door creaks open, and Dolly strides in, her lithe body still radiating the energy from her dance class. Her sweat glimmers like morning dew on her skin, and she tosses her hair back in a fluid motion that speaks of rhythm and Giselle. I can’t help but admire her steadfast ability to keep going, even when there are obstacles at every turn. Her stubbornness is almost on par with my own, and that’s saying something.
“We have a lead,” I say as I stand to greet her. The words come out heavier than I intend, burdened by the weight of anticipation and frustration. “My colleague at the Smithsonian finally replied.”
“Spill the tea,” she insists, her eyes dancing as she plops onto the table. “I want to knoweverything.”
Frowning, I ignore the tea comment so I don’t have to admit that I have no idea what the hell it means. Instead, I pat her knee and smile indulgently. “He believes the academy in Asia may hold unaltered documents about the Magic Accords, but as you know, we’re grounded until summer break.”
“Fuck,” she curses, the expletive sharp and sudden like a crack of thunder. “I hate being the reason we can’t do shit. Being young is cool for a lot of reasons, but it’s a pain in my ass sometimes and not in the good way like this weekend.”
Snorting, I cover my mouth as the laughter shudders through me. Snack size’s descent into Fitz-like innuendo is amusing as hell, and every time she spouts something like that off, it makes me grin. I didn’t do that often before her arrival, and I like the change—despite thinking I wouldn’t. “Well, non-pleasant ass play aside, westill can’t go there to check it out for another two and half months.”
Dolly hops off the table, pacing alongside the row of them in irritation. Her dancer’s feet barely make a sound upon the floor as she moves, and it’s obvious her mind is racing through possibilities. “Then we keep digging here. We found dirt at Cappie and Apex, right? There has to be more under our noses in this damn school.”
She’s right; the secrets of the Council could very well be entombed within these walls, just waiting for us to exhume them.
“Then we’ll get back to it this weekend,” I vow, the librarian in me eager to scour every shelf and shadow. “I’m sure the rest of the family will agree.”
The library door swings open with a gust of wind that tousles the pages of the ancient tome on the other side of my Smackbook. Chess strides in, his cheetah Giselle barely contained within the human guise he wears. Dolly stops pacing, tilting her head to give him a bright smile as he enters. She never fails to look happy when any of us arrive or worried when we leave.
“Rockland didn’t show today,” he announces, his voice laced with a mix of concern and curiosity. “I finished the work she left, but her office was as empty at the end of my shift as it was when I arrived.”
I raise an eyebrow. Rockland’s absence is peculiar, especially after last week’s explosive confrontation between our girl and the self-centered scavenger. It’s odd for her to relinquish control or let her talons slip from any thread of power, even if she’s smarting.
We need to keep an eye on this for certain.
“Perhaps she’s finally taken the hint,” Dolly muses, the corners of her mouth twitching upwards in a hopeful smile. We look at her skeptically and she sighs, kicking her foot over the carpet dejectedly. “Fine, it’s probably too good to be true. A vulture doesn’t just abandon her hunting grounds—not without plotting her return.”
“Very true,” I murmur, folding my hands together thoughtfully. “You’ll have to make sure you stay on your toes despite her absence.”
Before either of us can present further theories, the sound of heavy footfalls on the stairs punctuate the silence. Rennie enters, his lithe humanoid form slipping into the room with feline Giselle. He left earlier, wanting to glide over the campus as he does several times a day. He’s certain the vampires will return and my mate cannot abide them coming back without us knowing the second they set foot on the grounds.
“Quiet out there,” he grunts. “The forest is still devoid of magic users or bloodsuckers. I’m not sure what theyaredoing, but they are not here. At least, not right now.”
“Let’s hope it stays that way,” I reply, feeling a temporary sense of relief at his report. Enemies are plenty, and one less emerging from the shadows grants us respite—however fleeting it may be. “We don’t even knowhowto fight those assholes. Everything in the records might be completely false.”
“We’re going to continue our search here this weekend, regardless of what activity is going on in the trees,” Dolly declares, her gaze fixed on some distant point only she can see. “If we run into shit we don’t know how to handle, we use everything we have and worst case, we run.”
“Excellent point,ma petite,” Renard says as he hops onto the bookshelf behind me. “We cannot fret so much about things we do not know that we lose track of the things we must do.”