Fields full of Datura? I’ve never heard of such a thing. Where would one grow fields of a highly poisonous flower? “Do you know of such a place?” I asked. If anyone knew, it would be them.
Rockhard’s eyes narrowed like he was scanning a map of the earth. “No.”
“Helpful,” Hudson muttered.
“We don’t know of somewhere,” Lenson said. “But we can locate the origins of this flower, and if that flower grew in those fields—”
“Then it will lead us to the source,” I finished. “Very clever.”
Rockhard’s chest swelled with pride. “Flattery will get you everywhere.”
“He’s not lying, it really will get you everywhere with him.” Lenson winked.
“How long until you have a location?” I asked, causing Hudson to snap his head toward me. “What, you thought it was a little hocus pocus and boom the coordinates would land in our lap?”
“Clearly, I underestimated the simplicity of the spell.”
“This isn’t like scrying for someone whose life force leaves an imprint on the earth,” Rockhard explained. “This is finding the root of this flower that is essentially dead.”
“It’s a delicate spell, it will take time and patience,” Lenson muttered. “Give me twenty-four hours, and I’ll have your location.”
“What’s the price?” I asked. They might be like family, but there was always a price.
“An invite,” Rockhard said, rubbing his hands together.
I folded my arms. “To what?”
Rockhard’s lips twitched. “Your impending nuptials, of course.”
I squeezed my eyes closed and pinched the bridge of my nose. “How do you know?”
“You declared your intentions at The Pit and expect it to stay quiet?”
“Good point.”
“So an invite?” Lenson said.
“Done. We have to go,” Hudson growled as he grasped my hand and tugged me out of the back room and through the store. After he unlocked the door and swung it open, I flipped the sign to ‘open’. He pointed the keys at the car and opened the passenger door. I slid in and eyeballed him as he jogged around the front and climbed into the seat next to me.
“What’s the rush?” I asked.
“The rush, if you haven’t already worked it out, is that only one organization is likely behind a conspiracy of elemental magic. The rush is ensuring you beat your grandmother home, because even though she said she was coming in a few days, this should be the startling evidence you need to prove that you cannot, and should not, trust her.”
I frowned as he started up the car and did a one-eighty in the road to head toward my house. If my grandmother was behind this travesty, accountable for hundreds of human deaths, she would have every reason to cover it up and every reason to ward against my gift. What was the purpose though? Something didn’t add up.What are you up to grandmother? And what do you need out of the third vault?An ominous feeling settled in my gut. So help me, I would not hold back on account of blood if she was responsible for this. Humanity needed to be cherished, not abused. It was agreed by the three factions, and if my grandmother had been playing with our most sacred law, she would be at the mercy of all the supernaturals—with me leading the fray.
Chapter Eleven
Mysterious strangers who sweep unflappable vampire princesses off their feet are a rare occurrence, so pay attention.
“Stop at the gates,” I told Hudson as my home came into view.
“Why?”
“I want to check the wards, I think it would be prudent to put up extra protection.”
“I’ll come with you,” he said as he paused the car past the gates.
My eyes slid over to him. “You have to let me work. I have spent the last twenty-something years protecting myself. I know there has to be some compromise between us, but I have to maintain my independence. Don’t smother me, it won’t end well.”
