Page 77 of Addicted in Blood
The labels on the vials appeared to be in code, which wouldn’t be of much help.
“Nothing says Magic Poppy or even has the initials MP.”Bella sounded as disappointed as the rest of them must have felt.
“But the first two characters are followed by numbers that could be dates.”Devon moved from where he’d been leaning against the headboard to sit on the edge of the bed.
“That tray there.The first two letters are DT.”Lucas’s excitement spread to the others, and I felt it, too.We were on to something.
“I’ll go through the photos and write down the first initials for all the trays.Let see if we can come up with possible names.Perhaps some will match the names in the files.”Sergi frowned at the next series of photos.“Each label as two letters followed by what appears to be dates within the last month.They’re all followed by the letters BP and another sequence of numbers that appear random.”
Devon had paled, as did the other vamps.
“What is it?”I asked.“There’s something there of significance.”
“It’s the BP,” Devon replied.“It could be anything.”
“Maybe.”Sergi sounded doubtful.
“Tell us.”It seemed obvious to me, but I needed someone else to say it.
“Blood Poppy.”Bella’s voice, as low as it had been, seemed to have an eerie effect on the vamps in the room.
“It’s nothing more than a legend.”Sergi kept his gaze on Devon, and something passed between them that had nothing to do with a mental fugue.
“It can’t be a legend.”When everyone looked at me, I shrugged.“There’s a painting of it in the Renaud Library.I thought they only kept items important to the history and preservation of all things vampire.”I also thought there was nothing better than forcing people—humans or vamps—into facing their own history.The good, the bad, and the ugly—humans had enough of it to spare.With the arrogance of vamps, there had to be some of that in their species.
“It could have been any flower.How do you know it was the Blood Poppy?”Sergi, who I’d always considered the stoic one of the cadre, might be playing devil’s advocate.But considering his age, which was older than Devon’s five hundred years, he might be a vamp whose whole philosophy on life was about to change.
“I’ve seen a rendition of one before.It was white with tips of red on the edges.”Lucas seemed awestruck.I’d forgotten he was the historian of the group.
I nodded.“That was the same flower I saw.The painting itself was rather impressive, and for some reason, space maybe, had been tucked away in a corner.It was Erik who told me it was the Blood Poppy.I remember he thought it odd I didn’t know what it was since I was a Blood Ward.”
“Who’s Erik?”Sergi asked.
“One of the Oslo twins.They were very helpful with our extraction from the library.”I glanced at Devon, but he was staring at the unsavory carpet, and he was either someplace where no one could follow, or he was doing some of his quiet strategizing.I would have leaned to the latter if he hadn’t been showing instability on the mental acuity front.
When silence descended—and I wasn’t the only one watching Devon—he finally noted the lack of conversation.He shook his head and glanced around the room.
“I think this is all we can do for now.We need time to go through the photos in more detail.”He stood and walked over to Harlow, extending his hand.
Harlow seemed surprised, but he clasped Devon’s hand.
“I appreciate your help on this one.”Devon’s smile was sincere.“I should have known Cressa would only work with the best.”He shook the hands of the rest of Harlow’s crew, murmuring words to Trudy, Jamal, and Roxie that left them with odd smiles.I glanced away, hoping he hadn’t mesmerized them.
Then Devon nodded to Sergi, and the two walked out the door.Not once did Devon look back at me, and I hated to admit it—it wrenched my gut.Or maybe it hadn’t hurt until I saw the surprise in Lucas’s and Bella’s eyes when they shot a look my way.
I said my goodbyes to the crew, unsure if I should ask for a ride home.Wherever the hell that was.Instead, I watched Roxie drive away in her van and the rest jump into Jamal’s car, Trudy hanging out of the window waving at me.
Lucas stepped up and bumped shoulders with me.“Ready to go home?”
Tears threatened out of nowhere, and I forced them back.I was sure I was reading too much into Devon’s behavior.Maybe he needed time to discuss business with Sergi.But hadn’t our relationship progressed to the point that he should have said something to me before walking out?He thanked Harlow’s team but for some reason didn’t feel the need to thank me.
“Cressa?Simone will be expecting us.”Lucas took my elbow, steering me to the car.
He could take me back to the manor, but Simone probably gave him his marching orders.I glanced at Bella, and her gaze held mixed signals.
“I can’t be of any benefit dealing with the Council, and I’d rather be with Ginger right now.I’ll find my own way back to the manor.”
I walked away, but Lucas grabbed my arm, which he immediately released when I turned on him with a sneer.I straightened my shoulders and lifted my chin.“I need what us humans call personal space.We just came off a risky job that was very close to being a catastrophe.I need space.”The last three words were delivered with emphasis on each word.
