Page 42 of Property of Mako
“I will do my best.”
“Why?”
He looked so sad when he explained, “Because they sold my sister at the last auction. I took this job to see if I could find out where she went.”
My heart ached for him. I gave him my address.
He nodded. “No promises, but I’ll try.”
Unable to believe my luck, I hurried off with my heart beating so hard I was worried these creepy vampires with their superhuman hearing would hear it. I didn’t breathe a sigh of relief until I was safely in my room.
For the rest of the day, I sat by the window and stared across the manicured lawn.
Hoping.
That night, as I crawled into my bed, I sent up a prayer to whatever god might be listening that the young man would be able to get the note to Lyra. Then I sent up another one that my sister or the police were tracking me and hadn’t given up on me being alive.
It was a long shot, but it was all I had.
Chapter 18
The Veil
Lyra
I was in the barn, brushing down Copper after his evening run, when my phone rang. Abby’s name flashed on the screen. Calix, knowing how stressed I was, had agreed to take me home to ground myself with my horses.
“Hey—” I started, but her voice cut me off, sharp and urgent.
“You need to get back to the house. Now.”
I didn’t waste time asking questions. I threw the brush down, told Copper I’d be back, and ran for the house. Calix was outside the barn door, leaning against his bike, watching me with that patient-but-not look that meant he was two seconds from demanding I tell him what was wrong.
“I don’t know,” I blurted out as I passed. He hurried after me, but I imagined he was actually holding himself back to stay by me.
Inside, Abby was pacing my kitchen, clutching a folded scrap of paper like it might bite her.
“This was just delivered,” she said, thrusting it into my hands. “A young guy brought it—couldn’t have been more than twenty. Said it was from your sister. Then ran before I could ask questions or call for you.”
My pulse spiked. I tore it open.
Four words, written in Lily’s handwriting—small, hurried, the graphite smudged like she’d tried to hide it.
The veil hides everything.
I stared at it, my throat closing. “She’s alive.” My voice cracked, and I had to take a breath to steady it. “And she’s trying to tell us something. But I don’t understand what.”
Calix took the paper from me, his brow furrowing as he read it. “The veil… glamour,” he said after a beat. “She’s warning us about a concealment ward. Something about the plantation’s hidden.”
“That means she’s there.” My chest was tight, but under it, a fire started to burn. “We know where she is.”
Crypt Keeper, Dexter, and Spook were already inside when we got back. The clubhouse smelled like leather, motor oil, and the faint copper tang of blood—probably from where Dexter had been working on Bugsy earlier.
Calix motioned with his head, and one by one they followed us to his room.
“We can’t wait for the council, nor do I believe we can trust them,” Calix said once everyone was gathered. His voice was hard enough to crack glass. “We’ve got two days until the auction. That’s not enough time for their politics, and I’m not convinced they’re not compromised.”
Crypt Keeper leaned forward, eyes pale and wolf-bright. “We ride now?”
