“Of course, my lady.” Oddo’s pinched expression reminded me I didn’t need to beg in this Hive. “But I would like to house it in the Hall of Archives, if that's amenable. We have a special place for texts like this.”
I nodded reluctantly. I’d taken good care of the book, and it felt more mine than Oddo’s considering its subject matter, but I understood his concern. If the book was as important as Oddo assumed, it would be discovered that it had been moved. Well, not moved. Stolen.
If he hadn’t already, Eryx could notice it was missing at any moment. The realization raised major concerns. I was angry with Rhazien, but I didn’t want him to suffer Eryx’s consequences because of my actions.
Oddo was right. The book would need to be stored in a safe place.
Gorvin wasn’t pleased that my studies with Oddo took precedence over Solstice planning. I would linger in the Hall of Archives comparing known texts with the new one.
Papers and parchment littered our tables. We kept our conversation quiet so any sensitive information wouldn’t echo.
Familial names were altered every few generations. Like the sigils of the original four vampires, symbols were assigned to bloodlines, making it possible to track the history of the lineage. My own name, Bergmont, had three other variations back to the first known magical matriarch of my line, Bronwynn.
The name settled on me like a secret I should have known my entire life. Just knowing they existed brought my magic to life. My fingertips tingled as if the magic was asking to be put to use.
“Absolutely incredible,” I mused, sitting back in my chair.
“It really is.” Oddo beamed beside me. “And it’s refreshing to spend so much time with someone with as keen an interest as you. It’s almost uncanny to His Majesty’s affinity for collecting knowledge. You’re well suited for each other.”
I tensed at the mention of Rhazien. All this time buried in the magical history of Atoris had distracted me from thoughts of him. The vision of him being pleasured by a human slave of the Northern Hive was enough to twist my insides.
Amongst the ranks in Illica, men were forgiven for their indiscretions while women were expected to remain faithful. Dommik had known, seen it with his own eyes. That’s when it dawned on me, Dommik hadn’t meant to show me those memories. I had pulled it from him, and the most curious part was, I hadn’t been searching for an item. I had wanted to find Rhazien.
Locating a person through a memory hadn’t been available to me before, and I had tried.
Why now?I wondered.
It wasn’t because we were so well suited for each other, as Oddo said.
“Lady Reyva? Are you all right?” Oddo tipped his head, his posture reminding me more of a curious pup than an immortal.
This was not the person nor place to air out my dirty laundry with his regent—a man he so admired.
I needed to occupy my mind to keep it from wandering back to unhappy memories.
“I think I can locate it,” I said, looking up at him with tired eyes. “The stone.”
“What do you need? How can I help?”
Oddo eagerly procured a quiet space to focus and try to conjure a vision. With my training and recent elevation in my abilities, I was more confident than ever that I could locate the stone.
I sat, back straight, feet firmly planted into the smooth tiles of the archives.The Sourcelaid open in front of me to a page containing a drawing of the stone.
I drew all my focus toward that image and asked my magic to show me.Show me the stone.My body tensed immediately. My spine stiffened further and my breath caught in my throat as I was pulled through a dark tunnel. My magic searched frantically, finding only fakes and duplicates. Nothing as large as the image on the page but a ring, then a circlet, then a mask, then a cuff, and finally, a necklace.
My magic lingered there with the necklace. The center gem was almost as vibrant as its glittering neighbors, but I knew better. Because I knew that stone. It had been passed from matriarch to matriarch in my family for generations. It was my mother’s and then it was mine.
When the wearer's face became clear, I gasped.
Cova.
Cova was wearing the necklace.
But. How? Why?
I was sure the human Crown confiscated it after my arrest, but here it was. Cova must have retrieved it.
I held the vision just long enough to get a glimpse of Lydia coming up behind my sister to hug her. My daughter and my sister. I thought I would never see them again. The walls of the vision were crumbling around them.
