“Forgive my intrusion, Master Zackery,” Grimsby said smoothly. He was only a few inches away.
Zack jumped. Somehow, he’d missed Grimsby walking up to him. He scowled upward into Grimsby’s thin, bony face. The guy had a habit of popping up. In fact, Grimsby had likely snuck up to him just to test his senses.
“Ah, hello, Grimsby,” Zack said, doing his best impression of a chill, powerful vampire. Giving an attitude of no fucks to give took practice, and Zack was pretty sure Grimsby was holding in a laugh. But that might not have been about him. He had that kind of smile a lot.
“Master Anton has requested that I see to your needs this evening, should you have any,” Grimsby replied.
“Then I’ll call for you if I need anything,” Zack replied.
Grimsby clasped his hands behind his back and then admired a nearby shelf.
“Odd that you’re hanging around.” Zack slowly shut his book. Hopefully, Grimsby didn’t know which book he’d been reading. Would he report it to Seamus if he had seen? Zack still wasn’t sure where Grimsby’s loyalties lay. “I wonder what might make you linger.”
“You have discovered an interesting section of the library. One might conclude that you’re investigating your own kind, which would be strange considering your upbringing and nature,” Grimsby said.
So they were playing the skirt-any-questions dialogue game again. Zack leaned against the bookshelf behind him. Faeries were living creatures, so Grimsby had a heartbeat. It was slower than the average human’s and subtler. He couldn’t be certain if all of them hid their emotions as well as Grimsby could orif Grimsby was skilled at protecting his feelings from prying minds.
Either way, he had no cheat code for figuring out what Grimsby was up to.
“You could conclude that my education was poorer than people believe,” Zack said. “Or that I’m eager to have access to books I’ve only heard referenced.”
“I could.” Grimsby trailed his finger along one dust-free shelf and discovered no evidence that housekeeping had skipped a spot and then grinned at Zack. “I think I would be wrong to assume those answers.”
“Yet you’re free to do so.”
“You’re better at concealing your interest, young master,” Grimsby said.
“I couldn’t possibly know what you mean,” Zack said, lifting his chin.
The toothy smile Grimsby gave him told Zack he hadn’t thrown him off any. Grimsby drew a book off the shelf. It had a deep blue cover, and he nonchalantly opened the book and drifted his fingers down a page. “Mortals have such limitations in their histories. Their short lifespans make the passing of information from one generation to the next so very vital. If no one repeats an event, it becomes utterly lost within a few years. I believe that to be quite tragic.”
“Admittedly, I am sort of looking forward to being a repository for knowledge,” Zack said.
Grimsby’s smile took on a wistful, sad twist. “Ah, but even your kind may not last forever. You are not impervious to death, only extremely resistant.”
Zack tried not to think about Anton’s torture room. Denny was still down there. What if Anton managed to make him invulnerable?Why the fuck am I getting jealous he mightgain more power than me instead of upset that my cousin’s suffering?“The same could be said of the fey, Grimsby.”
“A keen observation, young master. However, also like yours, pieces may yet remain.” Grimsby closed the book and held it out to Zack. “You may find this account enlightening, should you be able to read it.”
Slowly, Zack took the book from him. Like the one in his lap, it had no title on the outside. He turned the page to the front.The Fal of the Undede-Kynge by Thei Who Loved Him. The words were printed in a stark font. There was a quick note that the text had been copied and printed to the best of the publisher’s ability with a lament that the beautiful illuminations hadn’t been able to be transfered. Then the book launched into a poem that looked like English but had misspellings and confusing words.
Because it’s not Modern English. It’s Middle English. Zack raised his gaze from the book. He was formulating his next not-question question, but Grimsby was gone.
Okay. For some reason, this book might hold something of value. He scooped up the Edmund Weldrick book. Part of him screamed to hide the book. He started to follow the impulse and then caught himself. His mother had been the one to insist that books about vampires, particularly fictions, were a corrupting influence.
But he was already undead. She’d already disowned him.
So what’s the point in trying to hide it?Zack pulled the Weldrick book back from the shelf, slipped it into the same hand asThe Fal of the Undede-Kynge, and perused the shelves for a couple more reads. Takashi might be curious about these, too. The idea that one of his partners might love reading as much as him buoyed his spirits, and he indulged the greatest of whims: book shopping.
CHAPTER 38
By the time Candide returned to the penthouse, Roger and Ezra had cleaned up the living room and had a long, detailed conversation filling each other in on the details of their lives. From the start of the conversation, Candide’s penchant for control had been obvious.
But she had been manipulating both of them.
Roger was currently struggling to contain his anger as he combed through two hundred and fifty years of memories of an individual he’d long considered one of his best friends. No, not one of. The only one outside of his own bed and mind he’d ever trusted. And she had hidden truths from him. She had intentionally left Ezra clueless about the events going on around him.
He’d let her take Kit. Thought that was what was best for them.
