“Doessheknow?”
“No. And I don’t plan on telling her. Not right now, at least.”
“Gods, Zadyn. Any fool could read the writing on the wall. Why does she think you can peer into each other’s minds the way you can?”
“Because I’m her familiar. She thinks nothing of it. She’s not from here, she wouldn’t know the difference.”
Serena is too new to magic to understand our connection—the direct link we have to each other’s minds. I didn’t want to overwhelm her by letting her know that, unfettered, I can literally read her mind.
Not that I would. But sometimes her thoughts are so loud, I can hear them even when I don’t want to. Even when it feels like a knife to the gut.
“You’re more than her familiar, Zadyn. You’re her primary. Do you know how rare that is?”
I do, actually.
“It’s worse if you don’t tell her. She’s going to find out eventually, and then you’ll have to lie about knowing, and it will be a whole mess that could easily have been avoided if you’d just gazed into those pretty lavender eyes, and said, ‘Serena,darling, you’re my?—’”
“Stop, Eaton. Just stop.”
“What are you afraid of? That she won’t accept it?”
“I’m not afraid of anything. And that has nothing to do with why we’re here. I’m not telling her.”
Eaton lifts his hands in surrender.
“Not telling who what?”
I turn as Serena breezes into the library, her dark hair still damp and clinging to her shoulders. I wave a hand and dry it for her. She smiles in thanks and plops into the seat beside me. Eaton appraises her with no attempt at discretion.
“Nothing,” I mutter.
Miraculously, she doesn’t press the question.
“What’s that?” She points to the grimoire on the table.
“This is a grimoire. It belonged to one of the original Blackblood witches.”
Eaton nudges it toward her, and she pours over it, transfixed. “We were hoping you might be able to help crack it.”
She glances between us. “How?”
He reaches out and takes her hand, laying her palm flat against the binding.
As soon as her skin meets the book, she gasps.
38
SERENA
If I were a library in a spooky, stony castle, where would I be?
I collide with a body as I round the corner and rebound off a pair of rock-hard boobs. Alix stands before me, her harsh blue eyes pinned on mine.
“I’m sorry, I should have been watching my step,” I mutter, half expecting her to rip my head from my body. She’s got a good five inches on me and was raised with three brothers.
“Have you seen Zadyn? He said he’d be in the library, but I have no idea where that is,” I blurt, eager to break the uncomfortable silence.
“Is that a serious question?” She snorts, crossing her arms. “Library is that way. Don’t be surprised if he’s not in there. He and Eaton practically lived at that whorehouse before he left to find you.”
