Page 53 of Shadow's End

I took the silk-wrapped ring from my pocket and tossed it at her. It hit the ground several feet my side of the doorway, and the ring rolled free of its wrapping, scurrying toward her like it had a life of its own. She bent and picked it up, her fingers briefly caressed by sunlight. Again, there was little reaction from her skin and nothing but the flick of pleasure through her eyes.

I shivered. “You need to tell me where he is now, Maelle, and stop playing these games.”

It was an effort to keep the internal anger from my voice when I wanted to do nothing more than scream at the mad bitch.

“It is not that simple, Elizabeth. The white ash embedded in flesh diminishes our connection.”

Hence her creeping insanity. “That didn’t stop you knowing he was in that cavern.”

“I am familiar enough with that cavern to recognize it even with the briefest glimpses through his eyes.”

“Then what are you getting from him now?”

“He lies in darkness, on dirt, and he is ringed by magic. I cannot say whether it is a house or a shed of some kind becausehis eyes have been bound and I cannot see through them. I suspect the latter, however, because I have a sense of restriction rather than space.” She paused briefly, her gaze inward-looking, her eyes unsettling slits of silver. “Something scrapes across its roof, though it does not feel close. Trees, I think.”

“Anything else?”

“He is within town, I believe. I can hear traffic and dogs barking excitedly. There are at least eight animals, and they are not close, perhaps across the road.”

A dog park?Belle asked.

Either that, or absolutely every dog in that area has gone off at the same time.To Maelle, I added, “Are there any voices? Dog owners shouting at their pets or something?”

“No.” She paused. “Some of the dogs are terriers from the sound of it. Their blood, I must say, is surprisingly sweet.”

Well, fuck,Belle said,like we needed to know that.

She’s trying to unsettle us.

She’s succeeding. Can’t see the purpose of it, though.

Hesitation at a vital moment. Like her lunging at me.My gaze automatically dropped. Her toes remained past the edge of that sunlit line, and while her skin was definitely redder, it wasn’t burning up like the vampire who’d met his demise on the café’s rear steps. Was the dark wave of magic somehow protecting her? Or did vampires gain some sort of immunity as the centuries rolled by?

If the latter is true, then that might mean this bitch can move about in daylight without major protection.

If she can, then Marie and Jaqueline probably can, too.

What a thought. I might hunt through our index of Gran’s books and see if she has anything on the subject.

Worth a shot.I returned my attention to Maelle. “Can you feel the magic that’s protecting him?”

“Yes.”

“And?”

“And do have fun dismantling it.”She paused. “And do watch your back. Marie has a habit of layering and disguising trigger spells into her protective ones. Hitting one might summon something nasty into your presence. Bring Roger here when you free him.”

And with that, she stepped back into the shadows and disappeared. A heartbeat later, the doors slammed shut, the sound ringing loudly across the hum of traffic behind me. I stared at the club for several more seconds, then swore softly and retreated across the road.

The truck’s seats were hot despite the fact it hadn’t been sitting there for very long, so I reached back and grabbed a sweater from the back seat to sit on. Bare legs and black leather were not a good combination in summer.

I started the truck up, did a U-turn once there was a gap in the traffic, and headed back to the café. Belle was upstairs and had a pot of my favorite green tea and a large slab of banana cake waiting for me when I arrived. There was also a half-finished revitalization potion sitting nearby on the coffee table and a laptop sitting next to it.

“You’re a doll.” I tossed Aiden’s keys onto my bed, then walked over to pour myself a cup of tea. The sweet scent of melon and jasmine teased my nostrils, and I sighed happily. The only thing better than this stuff was chocolate. And cake. And possibly bacon … I shook my head. It seemed that no matter how many atrocities I stumbled across or how bad the bloodshed, my touchy stomach wasn’t about to let them get in the way of food.

I took a drink and then added, “Did you run down any leads on vamps and sunshine?”

She wrinkled her nose. “There’s one book that apparently discusses myths and facts regarding vampires, but it’s at the storage unit rather than here or at Monty’s.”

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