Silverthorn (24 page)

She cracked a smile. “Well, I’m not a librarian!” Her pink hair flickered into the dark curly tresses I thought I’d noticed earlier. “Does this look more familiar?”

I jolted upright. “You’re a shapeshifter!”

Her smile vanished. She fired off a right hook toward my face.

I slipped the attack and rammed a hammer-fist against her left cheek, sending her sideways. When she raised her head, I chopped her neck and followed that up with an elbow to the same spot, rendering her unconscious.

Only Darius could have called upon a shifter to watch over the library in the event I showed up hoping to find
The Book of Souls
. But knowing Darius, who seemed meticulous in the planning stage of any predicament, he wouldn’t have stopped at planting only one shifter at the library. He would have also added another creature to the premises in case I identified a shifter and recaptured the book.

That set my thoughts toward the security guard that Nolan had taken out of commission. Another possibility entered my mind. Darius might not have had the opportunity to place two shapeshifters on guard. After all, Zephora’s curse had just ended. It didn’t seem likely that Darius would have located two shapeshifters so quickly, only to contact them and set them on a mission to guard
The Book of Souls
. The shifters would have had to assault staff members on their way inside the building (or in the parking lot) and knock them unconscious so they couldn’t take their place. It seemed unlikely that the shifters had killed anyone considering that they would have had to store the bodies somewhere, and without knowing the building blueprints, the shifters wouldn’t have had time to put the bodies in a location where staff wouldn’t have had access to.

So what had attacked Nolan? What would Darius gain from that strategy? If I visited, the shifters might be able to keep an eye on me and perhaps contact the police to ensure that I didn’t leave with the book. But if I had taken the book, there was no guarantee that the cops would have prevented me from leaving without taking me into custody. Given that scenario, it meant that Darius would have left ineffectual creatures to stop me, and I just couldn’t imagine him doing that.

It would have made more sense if he’d sent one of his vampire cronies to compel those around him to do as he requested. Vampires had more strength than shifters. That turned my attention to the guard that Nolan had dealt with…all too quickly. If he was a vampire, he could have compelled others to follow whatever instructions he’d set forth. Sticking with that assumption, I feared that the guard pretended to falter against Nolan in order to catch him by surprise later.

While Nolan had taken care of the vampires in the church with little effort, he had been somewhat weak before entering the library, and if he suspected the guard was human, he might not have kept his guard up. Even if he did, he might not have gotten the upper hand. How long had Nolan been alone with the guard? One minute? Two?

Since I haven’t heard from him, I left the books surrounding the shifter and headed in the direction Nolan had gone a couple minutes earlier. I scanned the area, noting that a few more patrons now walked the second floor than five minutes ago, but I didn’t see Nolan or the guard he’d walked away with. I pulled out my phone and texted him, while navigating the area. With no answer forthcoming, I continued toward the stairwell and scanned the floor for anything out of the ordinary: people staring at me or walking toward me with impenetrable expressions.

Nothing seemed amiss, so I hurried down the steps, only to find Nolan battling the guard at the mid-point between floors: both men threw punches, but they either blocked the blows, eliciting dull thuds, or dodged them entirely, their fists swinging through the air. The guard’s fists moved swiftly, but not nearly as quickly as Darius had moved when I fought him the other day. Although Nolan barely managed to evade the blows, I deduced that he had latched onto the guard and sapped some of his energy before they began fighting. I hurried down the steps to try to help Nolan.

When the vamp had punched Nolan in the face, knocking him into the wall, I dropped the book, grabbed hold of the metallic banister that separated both directions, lifted off the ground, and kicked the vamp in the head.

He stuttered backwards, tripped down eight steps, and tumbled onto the white tile below.

I hurried after him. When I reached the ground, the vamp had risen and prepared for an attack. My peripheral vision picked up seven staff members standing behind service desks, watching with dazed eyes, making it known that the vamp I now faced had compelled each of them to stand idly by.

How long would that last? What would upset their lack of concentration?

The vampire smiled at me. “Darius said you would put up a fight.” He wiped a forearm across his lips, sending a trail of blood across his arm. He licked his lips with excitement. “No book?”

“It’s right here,” Nolan said from behind me.

I didn’t need to spin around to imagine him holding it at eye level with a smirk as he headed down the steps. A moment later, he appeared beside me with a satisfied look on his face. That relieved some of my apprehension…until I noticed the irritation on the vamp’s face.

“You aren’t leaving with it,” said the vampire.

“What are my odds?” I asked. “Ten to one? Five to one? Whatever you’re up for, I’ll go for because you aren’t leaving this place alive.”

“Challenge accepted.”

The sliding doors opened behind him, revealing a mother leading a couple boys and a girl into the lobby.

I stared at the woman and motioned toward the exit. “Leave! Now!”

The woman glanced from me to the vamp and then back toward me. A second later, she grabbed her boys’ hands, gathered her daughter’s wrist, spun around, and hurried in the opposite direction. When one of the boys turned around, his mother corralled him around the neck, swinging him toward her and setting him on the path they’d come.

“People will keep coming through those doors,” I said. “We can’t stop all of them.”

He grinned. “I only need to stop one. You!” He rushed me.

I barely managed to block the first punch before dodging the second. I swung a left/right combo, but the vampire stepped aside, avoiding both.

Nolan raced toward the exit, but the vamp charged him and snagged a hand around his throat. I’d hurried over to him just as the vampire planned to throw him against the wall. I swept my foot around his, forcing him to release Nolan before dragging the vamp along with me to the floor.

“Go!” I yelled to Nolan.

He tossed me a pencil, bolted out of the lobby, slipped through the sliding doors, and ran out of the building.

Rather than get to my feet to stop another attack, I swung my arm around the vamp’s neck in a choke hold. I wanted to ask him questions: Where was Darius? Why hadn’t he remained behind to deal with me himself? Why had he left the book here unattended?

But if I gave each of these questions more than a moment of thought, the vampire would probably throw me off him, negating my advantage, so I did the only thing that made sense. I jabbed the pencil into his heart.

Feeling the man’s body go limp in my hands, I released a sigh of relief, only to find a father leading two young boys in my direction from the kidsZone. The kids held books in their hands, and the father wore a smile…until he saw me on the ground. A second later, a cloud of particles filtered through the air.

To avoid questions, I got to my feet, and jogged through the sliding doors, and out of the building. Once I got outside and passed the mother and three children I’d screamed at to leave the building, I released the grunts of anguish my kneecap caused.

When I reached my car, I got behind the wheel to find Nolan sitting beside me holding
The Book of Souls
. I started the engine and sped out of the lot. If Celestina knew that her elders had placed the book
in the attic, had she accessed it before yesterday?

Upon further consideration, I had no doubt that my sister prohibited Celestina to touch it, but while many teenagers would have gravitated to do exactly the opposite of what they’d been told, I doubted that my niece would have taken advantage of the book’s proximity. She respected her mother too much to disregard her warnings.

But I was eager to give it to Celestina in hopes that she might be able to decode whatever knowledge lay inside so we could destroy Zephora forever.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

“How do you feel?” I asked Nolan, looking at him in the passenger seat.

“I’m fine.” He looked out the windshield, his gaze unwavering.

Looking closer, I noticed that fighting the vampire had weakened him. His pale expression and slumping shoulders gave it away. He didn’t look my way, which made it clear that he didn’t intend to tell me anything personal. Gritting his teeth, he turned on the radio to a classic rock station. Led Zeppelin’s song “When the Levee Breaks” blared from the speakers. He turned the dial, raising the volume even higher.

For the first time, I wondered if his demon side had come to the surface, and he did all he could internally to prevent it from presenting itself.

The idea made me shiver. I couldn’t imagine Nolan actively doing whatever he could to hurt me. The way he related to women, both in person and on stage, made it clear that he respected them until they said or did something that persuaded him to do otherwise. Therefore, I couldn’t imagine him throwing his courteous personality aside.

I decided not to press the issue. He’d done everything possible to regain possession of the most important heirloom in my line. A few minutes later, I turned onto an I-90 exit, going east toward the city. However, after giving it a few more moments of thought, I began worrying about him. “Are you really? Okay?”

He nodded.

“Talk to me. What’s going on with you?”

“Just watching the road.”

“Don’t do that…let’s talk things over. We wouldn’t have gotten that book without you.” Now that I said those words, some of the tension in my shoulders relaxed. “I’m grateful.” Since he didn’t say anything, I continued: “Remember Tom Cruise jumping on Oprah’s sofa? I’m
that
kind of grateful.”

That warranted a smile that he flattened a moment later, but he didn’t respond, didn’t budge, heck, he didn’t even blink. He just kept staring through the windshield.

“Are you upset with me?”

“What?” He glanced over at me. “That makes no sense.”

“Why won’t you talk to me?”

Aggravated, he shook his head. He took in a deep breath to speak but thought better of it and squelched it as the air dissipated through his mouth.

“I can tell you want to say something, so say it!”

“Do you think I like this?” he asked, turning to me, frustration lining his face. “I hate it. I’m not this person: a half-demon, half-human. I’m a man. A guitarist. That’s who I am…
what
I am.”

“I never said—”

“No,” he said, cutting me off. “Don’t say a word. Your family made me what I am. I had no choice in the matter. It’s their fault I am…what I am.”

I silently agreed with him. How could I not? I’d also been turned against my will. “I know. We’re—”

“No, we’re not alike. We’re nothing alike. You were born into whatever you are. I wasn’t. Someone in your family changed one of my ancestors, so don’t you dare say we’re alike. We’re not!”

I remained quiet. If I tried to argue otherwise, he would reject it out of turn, so I decided to touch on what he’d already offered. “Being a musician defines you, doesn’t it? It’s your reason to exist.”

“Without my guitar,” Nolan said, “I’m nothing, nobody. I don’t…matter.”

“That’s not true.”

“Would we have met if you didn’t like the way I played?”

He had a point, so I remained quiet for a bit. “When it comes to music, what do you want out of life?”

“If I’m lucky, my music will be a catalyst tour the world. I want to see the Eiffel Tower, the pyramids of Egypt, the Mayan temples in South America.”

I noticed the solitary “my music” comment. “You have other goals than playing in a metal band?”

His gaze burned with passion…only not for me, but his music. “I’ve been working on a composition: there is orchestration and choirs…and heavy guitars!”

“Symphonic metal?” I loved the genre, but I hadn’t thought he’d want to play it on stage, much less record it. He seemed too steeped in regular hard rock/heavy metal. “Why?”

“Because Bach, Wagner, Paganini…they were heavy metal…
before
our form of heavy metal even existed. Their compositions were incredibly heavy.” Seeing that I didn’t follow, he said, “Watch any action movie nowadays, and most of the time, the composer is creating orchestration. We don’t even notice it, but it’s loud and raucous and it mixes perfectly with the action playing on screen.”

“You want to compose for the movies?”

He shook his head and stared out the windshield again, mesmerized by something only he could see. “I want to create one singular piece of orchestration with over a dozen instruments: violin, piano, drums, guitars, saxophone, and more. I’ll cover the full range of human experience in that piece: joy, sadness, excitement, anger, hope, dread, desire...all of it. I’ll have various vocalists to capture each one of those emotions. There’ll be a choir that sounds like what I imagine being in Heaven sounds like.”

“Hmmm, I’d hoped you’d be more ambitious.” I grinned to express my sarcasm.

“I am.” He turned to me. “I want the band to help me make it happen.”

“Come on!” I felt a slow smile spread across my face. “We don’t know anything about orchestras and choirs and—”

“Leave that to me. I’ll need help from someone to write it. That’s where you come in.” Seeing my indecision, he said, “Trust my belief in you.” He waved a hand through the air, making it clear he wanted to change the subject. “Okay, so we’ve got the book. Now what?”

“We'll see if Celestina can find out how to banish Zephora forever.”

*          *          *

“You got it?” Celestina asked with a hopeful grin. Lulu sat at her feet, wagging her tail and whining to get my attention.

As my niece stepped aside from my front door and spread the door open to allow Nolan and I to enter, I presented her with
The Book of Souls
. I stepped inside.

Celestina stared at the book cover, transfixed.

“It’s yours. Not your mother’s. Yours! Got it?”

Her eyes sparkled with wonder. “Yes.” Upon seeing Nolan, her smile withered. “He doesn’t look happy.” She watched him pass through the living room and enter the kitchen before telling Kendall, Brandon, and Alexis what had occurred at the library.

“He’s not.” I bent down only a little because my kneecap ached, but Lulu still managed to jump into my arms. “He’s having some trouble with being part-demon…even though he’s been mostly all-human up until now.” I hugged my dog. “Who’s my Little Lu?” She responded by licking my cheek.

“You think he might get all demon-y sometime soon?” asked Celestina.

“I think it’s crossed his mind, but I trust him.”

“Has he used his abilities?”

“Just his ability to steal powers…abuse those powers.” I examined her expression, only to have her look away. “You know what powers he has, don’t you?”

Celestina nodded, unwilling to meet my gaze. She walked over to the sofa, sat down, and placed
The Book of Souls
in her lap.

Her reluctance to offer unsettled me. I lowered Lulu to the ground, and she went off into the kitchen. “Has he used them? Is that how you know?”

She shook her head. “He doesn’t even know what abilities he has. But when he finds out…” Celestina looked me in the eye. “I’m scared to find out what’ll happen.”

Her solemn expression in tandem with her words sent a shiver through me. “Have you seen something?” I asked, torn between wanting to know and fearing what my niece might say.

She cringed as though horrific images flashed behind her eyes.

When she didn’t answer, I said, “Have you seen…things? Visions of what’s to come?”

She turned her gaze upon the
The Book of Souls
and nodded.

“Hey, everyone,” Brandon said, walking into the living room. “Celestina’s got the book.” He turned back to the kitchen. “Gather around the campfire for storytime and get out your big kid pants. Nolan, you might want to rustle up a second set of Pampers.”

I ignored his remarks, still disconcerted about the premonition Celestina had about Nolan. “Can you do a locator spell?” I asked her. “So we can find Darius?”

“Great!” Kendall entered the room and stood beside Brandon. “Let’s find him.”

“Oh, no,” Brandon said. “I don’t want you doing something stupid like trying to kill a master vampire.”

“I won’t let him turn anyone else against their will. We need to stop him.”

“Kendall the Killer!” said Alexis, chuckling as she made her way into the living room with Nolan trailing her. She swilled from a cup that she had most likely spiked with liquor, if she hadn’t poured it straight. She turned to me. “She’s got it in her head that she can change back to a human. I told her how stupid that—”

“Magic made me this way,” Kendall said, “and magic can turn me back.” She set a maniacal gaze on the book in Celestina’s lap. “That has to have a cure in there somewhere.”

I’d never before seen that look in Kendall’s eyes before. I needed to tread carefully. “I don’t think it works that way.”

“Oh, don’t be stupid! It’s magic. If it can create something, it can turn it back. It’s nature. You go forward or backward; up or down. Same thing with magic. If you can create it, you can cure it.” She looked to Celestina. “Right?”

My niece looked to me for guidance. Not her mother. Me! “Is what she says true?”

Conflicted, she looked uncertain whether to answer.

“See?” Kendall said. “So let’s get that locator spell up and running.”

“I agree,” said Nolan. “Let’s end this.”

Curious why he was so eager to strike, I looked him over…and discovered what encouraged him to follow Kendall’s plan: he looked pale. He must not have sucked as much life from the vampire at the library. How could I neglect his need to remain at full strength? Doing otherwise would only trigger his resentment. Plus, I had to agree with taking the fight to Darius instead of waiting around until he attacked us.

“Yeah,” Brandon said, “maybe we’ll find him hanging upside down from a ceiling on his toes or in a casket. He’d be an easy kill.”

With an inaudible chuckle, Alexis almost spewed whatever liquid she drank onto the floor. After swallowing, she said, “Where are the cameras? Someone here
obviously
thinks we’re in a movie!” She turned to Brandon. “Really, dude? A vamp isn’t going to turn into a bat.”

“You’re one to talk. It’s just past noon, and you’re already tipping back liquid courage. Don’t you have a job? Why aren’t you shaking your Ta-Tas at your strip club?”

“I’m an exotic dancer. I make more doing that than you make pounding sticks against a drum set.”

“Maybe now,” he said. “But I’ll still be pounding those sticks against a drum set when I’m sixty-five. What about you? I can’t imagine there are too many geriatric exotic dancers out there.”

“And you’d know,” she said. “I bet you went from one online site to another, looking for retirement age porn stars.”

“Oh, is that where exotic dancers end up?” he shot back.

“Hey, guys!” I said, finding their language downright embarrassing, given Celestina presence. Did my sister ever filter her words? Just as she titled the cup toward her mouth, I stalked over and snagged it from her fingers.

When she looked my way, I remained beside her ear and whispered, “Your daughter doesn’t need to hear this. If you love her, shut your trap!”

Snarling at me, releasing spent air through her nostrils, she stared me down. “Don’t you
dare
do that again!” she whispered back.

“Quit talking like this in front of your daughter, and I will.” I held her glare, and then I downed her drink, unwilling to let her intimidate me. She’d barely put any orange juice in her vodka, and I did my best not to reveal my surprise at gulping down so much booze.

But Alexis knew that the liquor content overwhelmed me, and she smiled, knowing that she’d silently gotten the best of me.

I overlooked her competitive nature. Nevertheless, heat surged down my throat and into my chest. The vodka immediately hit my system as I loosened up a bit more than I would have liked. I suspected that I’d swallowed the equivalent of a shot and a half. Not what I’d wanted to do before confronting Darius, but maybe I needed this little jolt to go through with something I wasn’t sold on.

Did I agree with attacking him unexpectedly? Yes. But I would have preferred to plan it out rather than rush into it without contemplating every angle. Still, Darius had attacked us at my house, Kendall and Brandon’s apartment, and Alexis’s home. We suspected that he’d attack us tonight at our concert if we didn’t prevent that from happening. We needed a show of force. If we planned to move forward with that plan, I needed the enthusiasm that Kendall and Nolan brought to this battle.

I met my sister’s stare. “Well, are you with us?”