“But you knew it could happen.”
He shrugged. “I know many things. I did not know the magic would be red. That is worth much.” Graves rubbed his gloved hands together, his eyes alight with new knowledge. As ifthatwas what sustained him and not the games he had wielded them through since they arrived. “Even better than I imagined.”
“Red,” Beckham muttered. His gaze shifted back to Reyna. “Incredible.”
“Payment rendered,” Reyna said a little breathlessly, her hand still on her throat. “Are you satisfied?”
“I’d watch it again forscience,” Graves said in an almost teasing voice. “Though I suppose you are not willing subjects.”
“No,” Beckham barked.
“So that will do.”
Then he walked away.
“Where’s he going?” Reyna asked.
Beckham shrugged. She could see that despite the amount ofblood she’d just given him, he was flagging.
And so was she. She clutched onto Beckham’s sleeve as her accelerated pulse started to recover. She couldn’t believe that he’d healed her. She had never even considered that a possibility. All the things that he could have done when she reached out for him, and he’d made her whole again.
Maybe that was the point.
They were two halves of the same whole.
It made sense that if her blood could heal him, his vampire powers could heal her. Her blood match.
“I love you,” she whispered.
He kissed her forehead. “I love you too.”
Graves was gone long enough for them to worry. They lost the sound of his leather oxfords as he’d disappeared into the stacks.
Reyna was happy for the reprieve. She needed a couple minutes to recuperate after what had happened. By the time he’d finally come back, Reyna stood on her own two feet again. She felt good. Better than good. As if part of what had made Beckham so indestructible had been transferred to her.
“You required information about Mr. Harrington and what he’s working on,” Graves said. “William Harrington is building an army. As a matter of fact, he already has a sizeable one.”
Reyna stammered over her shock.
Beckham simply sighed. “So it begins again.”
“An army of vampires?” Reyna asked.
Graves nodded. “He’s been turning people, setting a few of his vampires loose to feed the fear around the cogitare anemia. He’s housing them in his new facilities and using the humans who enter as a feeding ground.”
Reyna sighed. That much they’d figured out on their own. Well, everything except the army. “What are his plans with his army?”
“What are armies used for but destruction?” Graves asked.
“He’s planning to take over,” Beckham guessed.
“My sources point all the way up. Depose the human president and put a vampire politician in his place that he can use as a puppet. You can imagine where this goes. The facilities here in the city are the first wave. He intends to set them up all over the country. Humans are nothing but a food source. Vampires rule aboveground.”
“Fuck,” Reyna whispered.
“We suspected much of this. We’ve paid for more than this,” Beckham said, taking a threatening step forward. “What’s his next move? Where’s he holed up? How do we get to him?”
Graves held up a hand. “I wasn’t finished.”
