We locate a table, and I point a finger at him. “Stay,” I say just like I do with Pom Pom.
Zav adjusts his glasses. “You’re so lucky I got laid before this. Otherwise I’d be a menace.”
I walk away, shaking my head. When is Zaviernota menace?
The library is well-organized, and while there is a librarian, I don’t employ her help because I don’t want to raise any red flags.
Scanning the shelves, it takes me a good twenty minutes to find the section I’m looking for. I grab a cart and load it up with books that look promising. As I push it back to the table where Zav is, he eyes upmy finds.
“How do you think you’re going to get through that many books?” he asks.
“I can check some out, can’t I?” I ask. Before he answers, I add, “Besides, you’re helping.” The books thump against the table as I drop a stack in front of him.
“Ugh,” he groans. “Do I have to?”
“Yes.” I pile the rest of the books on the table.
“What exactly are we looking for?” He picks a random book and opens it up.
“Any mention of Levi,” I reply. “I think he knows something about my sister.”
I keep thinking about that day at Luna’s and how he danced around the topic of my sister. It was like he was toying with me, waiting for me to put the pieces together, but I feel clueless.
“Oh?” Zav arches a brow. “What’s her name?” he asks.
“Safira.” It feels so strange having her name roll off my tongue now that I say it so infrequently. Just saying it reminds me of a massively different time in my life.
“I’ll keep my eye out for that name.” He mock salutes me.
We both focus on our task, and honestly, I’m surprised by how serious Zavier seems to be taking it. Hours pass by in a blur as we read, but nothing stands out.
After a while, Zavier stands and stretches. “I’m going to put some of these away unless you think you should go through them too.”
I wave my hand dismissively. “I trust you.”
“Any of these you want me to put back?” he asks, gesturing to my discarded pile.
“All of them.”
He loads the two stacks back onto the cart.
My vampire senses make reading much quicker, but there’s still so much content to get through, and who knows if these efforts will even be fruitful.
While Zavier is gone, I finish going through one book and start another.
I crack open the first page and realize it’s not just a book, but a genealogy chart of various demon families.
The urge to shove it away and deem it useless is strong, but my desire to be thorough is stronger.
I scan through the names, searching for anything familiar. In my angel days, my path crossed many times with various demons.
My blood runs cold when I get to one name.
Abbadon.
A fallen angel turned demon by his own actions. A worse fate than mine as a vampire.
Beneath his name is a line of many, many children—and considering the age of this book, it’s possible there are more now.
