“Are you going to invite me in?” Vlad asked as he smiled from the other side of the threshold.
“No,” Ristan said and moved away from the door as Vlad moved into the room. “Does that shit not get old?”
“The Dracula theme doesn’t,” Vlad said as he jerked his head and some of his minions moved into the room with file boxes. “There are too many archives to bring out at once, and Adrian luckily had an idea of where some of the older ones were located. Might be easier to just take the librarian back there and see what she can pull out.”
“How’d you even begin to narrow it down?” Ristan asked as he sat back down on the couch and waved his hand to glamour a large table for the boxes.
“Call it an educated guess,” Vlad mused as he sat in one of the large leather wingback chairs. Ristan watched as both Adrian and Adam walked in, carrying a variety of different sized boxes and placed them on the table. Adrian nodded a firm hello, and Adam sat on the couch, his eyes on the boxes as if he wasn’t sure about handing them over.
The living room they were unloading the boxes into was masculine and had a large hanging chandelier that had been crafted from antlers, along with high ceilings for a charming country look. Not that he’d selected it, but it served his purpose just fine. He had only used this place a few times over the years and the country living magazine look kind of worked for him.
He’d decided on more of a natural setting, and thought he’d managed the look well enough. One of the walls was finished to look like a rock face, which made it look rugged, and the bubbling fountain that was created where the kitchen would have been, had he a need for one, was soothing. He had chosen a warm crème color for the remaining walls. Deep brown leather sofas and large leather wingback chairs finished the room and made it feel more welcoming.
“I spoke to Lucian,” Vlad said, pulling him back to the task at hand.
“And?”
Vlad crooked his finger and a female walked into the house carrying yet another box, but this one was looked ancient and had weird symbols that looked like runes carved into the wooden sides.
“What kind of runes are those?” Ristan inquired, his curiosity piqued at the hand-chiseled symbols in the box. They weren’t like any he’d seen before, and he couldn’t read them.
“Don’t ask,” Vlad said as he accepted the box and thanked the girl who smiled proudly at his acknowledgment, showing off twin fangs. “We couldn’t find the key for it in the vault. It’s warded by something darker than I’ve ever seen, and I’m pretty sure those runes are deadly. I don’t care why he wants it, or what it’s for, just so long as it doesn’t come back to bite us on the ass.”
“Something has to be wrong with this. We have no idea what it is, or why he wants it, but we plan to hand it over to the guy who basically took over hell, and you think this is a good idea?” Ristan mused cautiously, knowing he’d asked himself the same question when Lucian had first requested it.
They both eyed the box and shook their heads before Vlad changed the subject. He pointed at a smaller box; one that Ristan had seen many just like it at the Guild.
“That one has the files that look like they could lead to one of the relics in a location close to here; I think some of the pages are missing, though. I’m sure you can sort it out, or not,” Vlad said with a tilt of his head as something caught his eye. “Is she supposed to be leaving?”
Everyone in the room turned and watched as Olivia, who had been trying to slink down the stairs and out the back way, turned to look at the room full of people. Ristan smiled and shook his head at her attire of his old Ramones T-shirt pulled down over her skimpy panties. It hadn’t taken her very long to figure out that he’d disabled the wards sealing her into the bedroom. “This is Olivia,” he said as he moved to her and held out his hand for hers, the silent warning clear in his eyes. He glamoured one of his fresh black Bauhaus T-shirts on her, along with a pair of jeans and white Keds, making her look even younger. “My guest, I guess you could say.”
“I don’t think they call kidnapping and holding someone hostage a guest,” she snapped with a fire in her eyes that made his cock respond.
“Well, drinks and conversation didn’t work out so well for us before, so we will have to make do now won’t we, Olivia?” he taunted wickedly and she blushed furiously at the reminder of what she’d done to get herself in this situation.
“It’s my pleasure,” Vlad interrupted with his eyes on the little Witch who had yet to accept Ristan’s outstretched hand.
“And you would be?” she asked, ignoring the hand as she moved to sit on the coach, only to stop as her eyes moved over the archive boxes. “How did you get those?”
Her eyes moved from the box to Adam and then Adrian before she gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. Ristan watched her as she dropped her hand and shook her head.
“I went to your funeral,” she said softly, her eyes misting with tears until she caught the glimpse of fangs in his mouth as he started to respond. “Not you too! Is anyone from the Guild actually what they used to be? This is crazy! I feel like Alice when she fell down the damn rabbit hole.”
“Some, I’m sure,” Adrian said as he scratched his head and gave a quick look at Adam. “Larissa was, and she really did die.”
“I liked Larissa, she was smart and nice to us when she dropped off your coven’s assignment files,” she said as a rush of emotion ran through her. Her eyes slid to Vlad and back to Adrian with understanding dawning on who Vlad was; she was quick-witted. She also could put two and two together and come out with the correct answer.
Adam looked up and then away from them as he concentrated on the files, unwilling to speak of his dead lover. He indicated the files, quickly changing the topic. “You know these files, Olivia. We need your help and we are here to help you understand what is going on and to get you to see the truth of it all. As you can see, I am Fae. One hundred percent Dark Fae; I am also the Dark Prince,” he said and held his hands up when she started to interrupt him. “Let me finish,” he said softly, as if trying to remain calm, which considering he was newly transitioned, wasn’t always an easy feat. “I didn’t know what I was, not any more than Synthia knew what she was. It wasn’t malicious on our part to hurt the Guild or betray it in any way. We can’t help what we are, no more than you can. I know you feared that the children were hurt because I know how much they mean to you. They made it out alive, as Ristan has already told you. Alden made it out too; he and the children are all safe and well cared for right now.”
“How do I know it’s the truth? I thought he was dead,” she pointed at Adrian and shook her head. “Nothing makes sense anymore, and I don’t know who to trust.” Her eyes moved to Ristan and then to Adrian. “Tell me about the children and how they escaped.”
“We got them out, but some were badly dehydrated and in need of medical care. They were a little dirty and scared, but other than that, you saved them, and for that we thank you,” Adam said softly, and Adrian agreed.
She nodded grimly and her eyes lingered on the files for only a second before landing on the wooden box.
“That is very dangerous,” she whispered as she stepped back away from it, which only made Ristan more interested in the contents.
“Do you know what’s inside of it?” Her eyes moved to Vlad as he spoke.
“No, but I know it was in the Guild vault and I can also tell you what the runes etched on it mean.”
“You can read those?” Adrian asked as his turquoise eyes swung to Vlad and then back to Olivia with a curious glance.
“It says: Stupid-ass-people-shouldn’t-touch-evil-things-they-cannot-read! Did you not notice the dark magic that it pulses with? Because that right there should have told you to leave it alone, and how the hell did you get into the vault?” she demanded as she inched back from the box.
“
It’s not pulsing anything,” Adam said as he reached up and touched it, much to Olivia’s dismay.
“Don’t touch it!” she shouted and expelled a shuddering breath as everyone turned to look at her.
“What’s it feel like, Olivia?” Ristan asked, his heart pounding from the terrified look in her eyes.
“Like evil, pure, unadulterated evil,” she admitted and stepped closer to Ristan for protection without realizing it. Everyone else in the room, however, did.
No one said anything as they waited for Olivia to speak.
“You can’t feel it?” she asked, her eyes widening as gooseflesh broke out upon her naked arms. “It’s bad, and no one should touch it with bare hands. The Elders said it’s cursed, or something to that effect. It was in the vault and heavily warded for a reason; it needs to go back if the vault is still intact. The Elders placed it there to ensure it never fell in the wrong hands,” she uttered, and inhaled a shaky breath before she continued. “That box is bad news; even the runes speak of a serious curse.”
“I feel nothing from the box,” Ristan said with eyes narrowed on her.
She stepped a little closer until their bare arms skimmed, and he paused at her nervous energy and the overwhelming fear she was feeling. He looked at the box again and frowned at the idea of handing it over to Lucian, but they’d made a deal with him already and he wasn’t the type to just let it go.
“So, getting back on subject,” Adam said as his eyes moved to the boxes of archive files and pointed at them. “Those are missing pages, and I know the Guild didn’t keep the old archives together. I spoke to Alden about some of the protocols, and as you can see, we started going through them only to find he was right. So, where would the other pages be?” Adam asked, and smiled softly. “Come on, Librarian; help us like you used to do in old times. Help us prevent the worlds from colliding and save Human lives, because believe it or not, we still care about what happens to them.”
“Is that why you saved the boy? Because you care about Humans? Or was there another motive for what you did?” she asked, turning her eyes to Ristan and leveling him with a knowing look.
“I saved him because it’s against the Horde King’s rules to kill children. The boy was innocent and he would have suffered horribly at the hands of the Bás Mall. His parents would wonder about him for the rest of their lives because that creature wouldn’t have left anything for them to find. No parent deserves to go through that,” Ristan said softly as he moved her to the couch so he would be close enough to feel her mood.
She was edging towards surrender, yet she still didn’t trust them, and with good reason. She’d been raised to fear them, to fight against them even if she was doing so from the library. He understood the fear, yet so much depended on her helping them.
“Adam,” Ristan said and watched as the Dark Prince turned to look at him with inhuman eyes and brands that pulsed from the power he was still learning to harness and control. Well, shit, that wasn’t a good sign. “Reel it in,” he said, hoping the kid could manage it. They all turned to look at him and Olivia let out a yelp of surprise as she watched Adam struggle against his form, to hold his glamoured Human image. “Tell Olivia what will happen to Synthia’s children and the entire realm of Faery if we can’t find our relics in time.”
“They’ll die, all of them. That includes Synthia’s children, most of the Fae, and when the remaining Fae abandon Faery for Tèrra, then we can include the Human race as well. As you can see from how I currently look, I am Fae and I can’t lie anymore which can sometimes suck as I haven’t quite gotten the hang of how to play Fae word games. So once again I ask you, Olivia, from an Enforcer to Librarian of the Guild, help us save both worlds. Those who breached the Guild were not members of it; they’re who we are fighting against. As of right now we must consider the fact that none of the Guilds are safe and have most likely been infiltrated, as ours was, by an enemy of both the Guild and Fae. Help us destroy the fuckers who hurt our own,” he implored. “Help us find them so we can eliminate them and make sure that they never do to someone else’s home what they did to ours.”
“Said like a true prince,” Vlad said from where he’d watched the entire speech with a smirk. “I have to deliver something to Ryder, but after that, if you need me, Ristan, you know where to find me.”
Olivia watched the vampires, including Adrian, walk out. She turned first to Adam, and shook her head before answering him.
“Take me to the catacombs. I’ll help however I can, but I won’t do anything to compromise any other Guild,” she said as she expelled a long shaky breath before continuing. “I can’t just sit around and do nothing,” she said. “Not when those monsters could be already planning to hit another Guild.”
“Guess we’re going on a field trip,” Adam said as he smiled at Olivia.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The catacombs were, in fact, whole and preserved, just as he’d told her. They walked together down one of the many tunnels that led to cavernous pathways that she knew like the back of her hand. She would pause occasionally, peering at the little knots that had been carved into the stone walls.
It was the perfect chance for her to escape, and she was sure the Demon knew it as well. She’d passed by several closed doors that hid old relics behind them, all of which held a great amount of power, but none that would do Faery a lick of good.
She could lead them down one of the many paths with traps, which the Elders had set after they’d finished building this Guild, but if what Ristan and Adam said was true, she needed to help them. Adam was most definitely Fae, and she knew enough to know that he couldn’t lie.
Growing up in the Guild, it had been explained often enough why the Guilds had been created and oftentimes the Elders would ask them to imagine a world without the Guild policing the Fae. Total chaos; the Humans would always be on the losing end.
She stopped again and ran her finger over the cold stone before she turned back to Ristan and caught her breath as his masculine scent teased her senses.
His mouth quirked into a knowing smile and his hand lifted to cup her cheek, uncaring that Adam stood not more than a few feet away from them. His eyes swirled with that marked Fae glow, and then he dropped his hand as if he remembered they were not alone. She cleared her throat nervously.
“I can’t really make out some of the smaller glyphs. I’d need my reading glasses to be able to see them, and in the dark it would still be iffy. I actually would do a lot better if I still had my contacts,” she muttered embarrassedly.
“A Witch that needs reading glasses,” Adam quipped, amused by her words. “Didn’t know Witches needed reading specs,” he laughed.
“Yeah, well, it’s just one more reason why I didn’t make the cut to Enforcer,” she grumbled and Adam looked like he wished he could take his words back. Ristan stopped her and gently placed a thumb over each of her now closed eyelids, pushing a small amount of power through her eyes, adjusting the shape.
“You still have to wear those glasses in bed if I request my librarian back,” he whispered in her ear as his lips brushed over it before removing his thumbs from her eyes. She blinked and narrowed her gaze on the glyphs. She barely contained her little sob of glee as she found she could clearly see the tiny markings. She gasped, her hands moving to her eyes as she rubbed them just to be sure it wasn’t her imagination.
“How did you do that?” she whispered as she looked at the markings, first standing at a distance before moving up closer.
“Magic,” he said and wasn’t prepared when she threw herself at him and wrapped her arms around him.
“Thank you!” she squealed, and then noticed that Adam was watching them. She self-consciously backed away from him, but couldn’t hide the smile that remained plastered to her face. She bit her bottom lip to hide the smile and got back to the matter that they’d
been discussing. “It’s not far from here, but the path is going to get a little slippery. There’s water on the stones from one of the city’s main water lines that has been leaking into the catacombs on and off for years.” She whispered, as if she was afraid she’d be overheard.
“Lead the way, I’m enjoying the scenery,” Ristan said with a seductive tone. His eyes lowered slowly, sending heat swirling in her belly as her pussy flooded with need. His eyes settled on her sex, which was covered by the jeans, and then he turned to look for Adam, who had sifted out.
“Where did he go?” she asked as her head moved to look further down the dark corridor, past where the small flashlights they carried could light the way.
“He’s newly Transitioned, and you smell like you need to be fucked,” he said with a voice filled with gravel. “He needs to feed often and I’m not ready to share you,” he finished as he stepped closer, forcing her against the wall.
“What are you doing?” she whispered as she looked up into his eyes. His mouth hovered above hers. Confusion mingled with desire, and that created a soaking mess in her panties, while fear and uncertainty created an ache in her chest.
It was too much. He was too much. This emotional overload was entirely his fault! She shouldn’t be here with him, and yet she wanted his sexy lips to move the last inch and press against hers. She wanted her daydream fantasy of him fucking her in the catacombs to come true, and that was so bad.
She absently licked her lips and knew the moment he’d seen her submission because his mouth crushed against hers. They both moaned together as his hands lowered to her hips and picked her up until her legs were wrapped around him, and he ground that massive cock against her damp opening.
They were so wrapped up in each other that they hadn’t realized Adam had come back until he coughed and their senses slowly came back. She was swollen with need, and wanted to growl for the ex-Enforcer to get lost so that she could live out this fantasy, but luckily she held her tongue and released her legs as she was slowly set on the ground again.