Page 51 of Visions in Blood
He didn’t hesitate in responding.“It’s what I remember.Why?”
“Those were the exact words she said to me when she gave me the necklace.”
A cold shiver stiffened his spine.“Was she in bed when you first got there?”
“No.”Sergi refilled glasses, though he didn’t drink.He held the glass in a tight grip, and for an instant, his cool facade slipped, and that unsettled Devon more than anything else from the evening.“She was sitting in her favorite chair, staring at the darkness beyond the windows.At first, she ignored me when I called her name and asked if she had the necklace.I thought she might still be in the dream with you.Something had to be holding you there.Then she removed the necklace and held it out in her palm as if it were some offering.When I took it from her, it was cold.She never looked at me.All she said was that you’d be okay now and that whatever you’d seen doesn’t have to happen.”He shook himself like a cat shaking off water.“I thought it was strange until you said the same words.I imagine Cressa must have heard them as well, though she didn’t mention it.”
“These dreams must be prescient.Some form of divination where the foretold future can be changed.”Lucas had inched to the edge of his seat, his forehead wrinkled in thought, putting together a puzzle that still had far too many missing pieces.
“If so, they’re not very helpful,” Sergi growled.
“We need someone who knows how dreamwalking works.” Devon downed his second shot and waited for the pushback.
“Haven’t you already tried that?”Sergi’s tone matched his own frustration.
“We haven’t used all our available resources.There’s still one person who hasn’t divulged all they know.”
It didn’t take long for Lucas to offer up a name.“Willa Underwood.”
Devon hadn’t expected him to be the one to mention her.He didn’t believe his youngest guard would be willing to pressure Cressa’s mother for answers.Sergi wouldn’t hesitate.After Cressa’s not-so-friendly meeting with her mother, perhaps her irritation would make her more understanding of what he had to do.
He laid out his idea.“I met with Decker this evening, and we’ve discovered Underwood has a weakness for beautiful young vampires.”
“Did he know she was a vampire?”Lucas asked.
“He was at a fight club, drinking with a group of shifters and vampires while a particular lovely hung all over him.”
Lucas whistled.“The question is whether Willa already knows about her husband’s infidelities.”
“There’s only one way to find out.”Sergi smiled, and Devon already pitied the position Willa would find herself in.“You mentioned Decker was following him?”
Devon nodded and slid his empty glass across the table.“He should have a few compromising photos by morning.Willa might have stonewalled Cressa for information, but if there’s some part of her that wants to protect her daughter, we might be able to persuade her with the correctly applied pressure.”
“And you think these pictures will be enough to sway her.That seems risky.”Lucas frowned.
Devon could almost hear his friend’s internal struggle.He would be weighing Willa’s usefulness against Cressa’s eventual outrage for using her mother.Yet, earlier this evening, she’d understood the necessity of controlling the dreams.Somehow the necklace was the answer, but it was too dangerous to use without more information.It unnerved him that Lyra had used it.Was it possible that she’d been the one who’d directed the dream?
“A meeting with Willa is a risk, and as you pointed out, she might already be aware of her husband’s infidelities.I haven’t decided how to use the photos, but it will be done one way or another.This entire issue has played out longer than it should have, and with the direction of the latest dreams, and Lyra’s increasing participation, I no longer have a choice.”
He didn’t want to admit the situation had become more personal than just Lyra.His delay in discussing the dreams with Cressa hadn’t protected her.At some point, she would have discovered her mother had lied to her about the date of her birth.What else was Willa Langtry Underwood hiding?
“We either need to find Rasmussen or someone that knows something about that damned necklace.And I’ve been more than patient on this.The Council, the dreams, Lyra, this business with Lorenzo searching for the necklace—it’s a distraction to our goals.Yet, somehow, I can’t shake the notion that something connects these events with our overall mission.I’ll make my decision on this soon.”Devon stood and glanced toward the window, the open blinds revealing the darkness.Several hours yet before sunrise.He strode to his desk.There wasn’t any hope of returning to sleep, so he might as well work.
“Lucas, have you been keeping up with the Renaud libraries?”
“I visit them whenever I can.”
“Sergi has the name of a book that had been in their main library eight centuries ago.We need to find it.I’d like you to lead that effort now that Ginger seems settled.”When Lucas appeared torn between his passion for the libraries and those for his charge, Devon chuckled.“Don’t worry.You still have your duties guarding Ginger, but I think you can manage both.”
Lucas blushed but retained his game face.“If the book is still in this world, I’ll find it.”
“Can you also check on Cressa before you leave?”
Lucas smiled.“Of course.”He glanced at Sergi, who held up his tablet.The information on the book had already been sent.
Devon waited for Lucas to depart before he motioned Sergi to his desk.“I need to tell you about something Decker discovered.”
“Does this have something to do with a message I received from Elijah?”
