“It’s the mark, the bond,” Viktor states, handing me a glass filled with blood. I knock it back, tasting the alcohol within it. Isigh.
“I’ve known marked vampires before and they ain’t never acted this way before,” Rook points out, his tattooed arms crossed over his chest.
“But Evelynn isn’t a vampire, is she?” Viktor counters. “She’s a weak, defenceless mortal. One wrong cut, one snap of the neck, and she’s dead. His possessive and protective impulses are heightened,” Viktor explains.
I hold out the empty glass, trying to fight the urge, the desire to hunt down Marcus and rip them apart. “Another,” I cough.
Silas refills the glass. I knock it back, feeling the muscles in my shoulders slowly relax.
“We need to find the information on Evelynn, the nun, the marking. Now. Or it’s going to blow up. Either by humans finding out what we really are, or for the Anathema to find us.”
“Don’t forget about the fucking Dominion,” Echo adds. “He broke the code by marking her, remember.”
“Jesus fucking Christ, we know, Echo,” Silas snaps.
“I’m just fucking stating a fact, that Seraphine is out there, absolutely raging. Where do you think she will go to seek revenge? It’s going to be one of them,” Echo counters.
“He’s not wrong, and if it’s the Dominion, weneed to find evidence that she is of no harm to us or our kind,” Viktor states firmly.
“We need to go to the Oracle’s crypt,” Hex states.
I look to Hex. “Oracle’s crypt?” I press.
He shrugs, rolling around the weird string of beads he carries with him wherever he goes. “Yeah, an ancient library, kept by the Oracle. Nice fella. Reckon we could do it in a day, max.” He shrugs.
I frown, looking from him to Viktor. “Why the fuck am I just hearing about this now?” I snap.
“Because Viktor pissed off the Oracle a few hundred years ago, never returning one of his books,” Hex states with a smirk, while Viktor glares at him with an‘I’m going to fucking kill you’look.
“Then take it fucking back, beg for forgiveness, and find an answer for what we are looking for!” I roar, anger pouring through me.
Viktor’s mouth settles into a thin line, but he nods in agreement.
I shake my head. “Hex, you go with him,” I order.
Cain stands. “I will join them. I need to hunt, and also, the Oracle owes me a favour. I hooked him up with Marilyn once.”
“Marilyn Monroe?” Rook asks on a whistle.
“No. Manson,” Cain corrects.
“You’re joking,” Rook smirks.
“I don’t fucking joke,” Cain answers as he heads out.
After Hex, Viktor, and Cain have left, Silas stands beside me.
“I didn’t want to mention it earlier, as you would have lost your shit.” He pauses. “Seraphine was spotted in Velmora,” he grits out.
My jaw clenches, and I nod in understanding. Velmora is a small and ancient town over a thousand miles away; the home of the Dominion.
“How many days do we have?” I ask, knowing they will come to fight, to destroy, to kill Evelynn.
“Three days, max,” he answers.
“Then let’s hope they find the answer we need in the Oracle’s crypt.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
