Her tongue pressed against her bottom lip as if debating. “It’s better if it comes from history.”
I glanced at my watch—it was three-thirty a.m. It took me close to forty-five minutes to get here, so I had to leave now incase Karson woke up and discovered me gone or there would be hell to pay. I stood, collecting the book and sliding it back carefully where I got it from. Dahlia followed.
I smiled at the sisters on the way out. The younger one grinned, but the older one looked curiously between Dahlia and me.
The library rippled as we moved through, and the air felt lighter now the pressure on my skin had lifted. The rest of the library appeared empty, aside from a clerk trying hard not to fall asleep at the counter.
We entered the cool night air. The rain had stopped, but the wind whipped down the dark streets, stinging against my eyes. I shivered and wrapped my arms around my waist. The car was parked two blocks down because there hadn’t been any closer available spots earlier, but now the street was deserted. “The gift you left me. You need to take it back.”
“Do you have it on you?”
“No. It might come as a shock to you, but I don’t carry knives on me to libraries.”
Dahlia grabbed my arm and hissed, “You should carry a weapon on you at all times. You’re a warrior, one any number of people would gladly slaughter if they knew what you are.”
I gritted my teeth. If it was what I thought it was, then was she involved in hurting Karson? “Is it a bone-ash knife?”
She let go of my arm as we moved past a long, dark alleyway. She looked across the street. “It has a poison in it that will drop them. It sends them into their worst nightmares that some won’t ever escape from.”
I halted, anger and betrayal trembling through me. “Which witch was responsible for the bone-ash blade?”
She looked back at me, no shock on her face; she knew. She shook her head. “I don’t know. I heard about him being injured, but I don’t know who had the blade.”
“The fuck you don’t,” I snapped.
She arched an eyebrow as if offended. “I don’t know. I’m just a fighter, Amy. I do as they tell me. I’m not involved higher up.” She ran her hand through her ponytail and sighed. “And Caron doesn’t know either. It could be any number of people. He has a long list of enemies.”
I felt a change in the air, an electrical charge. A presence. Something colder than the night, stirring the hairs on the back of my neck. Slowly, I lifted my eyes to the building rooftops, and down an alleyway muted by darkness. Wind rattled leaves on the road, making them sound like footsteps.
“Can you feel that?” I asked quietly.
“Yes. Where are they?” she responded, her hand slipping to an invisible blade on her side.
“I don’t know,” I answered, licking my dry lips as my gaze scanned the nooks of buildings. Shadows cast by the sharp edges looked like human shapes.
“Keep walking,” Dahlia urged. Until then, I didn’t realize I’d slowed to almost a stop.
Curled orange-and-brown leaves rushed in front of my feet. Swirling, tapping on the pavement.Tick, tick.I had the sudden violent urge torun. “Where’s your ca?—”
“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” The voice from behind was both deep and chilling. I grew colder than ice, not at the voice, but at the six figures surrounding us.
Chapter 16
Two Witches
“Two witches who will kick your asses, if you’re stupid enough not to get out of our way,” Dahlia responded, not a hint of fear in her voice.
One witch, I thought. I could throw the vampires against a wall and hold them there until my power ran out—that was as far as my ass-kicking abilities extended without weapons.Why didn’t I bring my blade?
Rohan and the blonde-haired female from the library stood on the outer edge of the group.
A dark-skinned vampire’s lip curled up, his eyes cold and calculating. “I think you overestimate your abilities.”
“We don’t want any trouble,” I said, lifting my chin in an attempt to hide my fear. “Just let us be on our way.”
The male ran his analytical eyes over me and tilted his head. “I know who she is, but who are you?”
Dahlia stepped forward so she was slightly ahead of me. “Who she is, is none of your concern.”
