Page 58 of Lucas
Lucas followedthe group into the dining room, letting Bella and Jacques bear the brunt of the questions over what it was like to be in a construct and the brazen rescue from Shadow Island. Ginger tapped his arm several times before he realized he was gripping her hand too tightly.
“Take a deep breath,” Ginger suggested. “It’s going to be a long night, but you’re doing great.”
“I hope I’ve done the right thing.”
“Of course, you did. It’s important for Philipe to hear Bella’s and Jacques’s opinions.”
The conversation at dinner shouldn’t have been a surprise after everything Lucas had revealed. Philipe and Fiona were amazed that Hamilton was still alive and, after getting a shave and a long bath, didn’t look much older than the last time Lyra had seen him. No one knew dreamwalkers lived that long, but everyone admitted they knew next to nothing about them other than secretly guarded myths.
“You said something about Lyra getting better once Cressa arrived at the manor?” Fiona swallowed a bite of salmon and washed it down with a sip of wine.
“She’d been having better days through the years, though she’d revert without warning.” Lucas nudged Ginger to pass the potatoes, but a server was there in an instant. “From what Devon shared, she was more aware—and more precocious—after Cressa’s arrival. But her recovery was most notable when Devon was framed for Boretsky’s death and leadership of the House fell to her. It prevented a sanction on the House.”
“I heard about that episode,” Philipe said. He moved the mashed potatoes around his plate, mixing them with the glazed green beans. “The Council moved much too quickly in recommending sanctions. No doubt Venizi drove them into a frenzy.”
“I’m still curious about one thing.” Lucas chuckled. “I guess my list is longer than one item, but it was something Colantha mentioned when attempting to convince Hamilton to trust her.” He gave Bella a brief glance and was surprised to see she’d stopped to savor the wine. She seemed as curious as the others about his question. He’d forgotten that much of what he’d learned about Colantha hadn’t been completely shared with the cadre. Not because of mistrust, but because events in the House had been moving too rapidly, and their focus had been on information critical to the security of the Family.
“She mentioned she was an heiress to the Seven Tribes and the daughter of someone named Adelice.”
Fiona, who had been buttering a roll, dropped her knife while Philipe’s fork of mashed potatoes and beans stopped halfway to his mouth. They looked at each other.
“It couldn’t be the same Adelice,” Fiona said.
“It’s just a coincidence. It has to be.” Philipe set down his fork and glanced around the table. “You mentioned a medallion at the beginning of your story. Do you know what it looks like?”
Lucas had continued eating, expecting a lengthier discussion about Colantha’s claim, and wasn’t prepared for a question about the medallion. Fortunately, Ginger jumped in to answer for him.
“The medallion is embossed with three objects—the Blood Poppy, an ibis, and something called the Dagger of Omar. On one side, they’re represented in that exact order. On the back side, they’re in the opposite order. From what Cressa told me, or what Colantha told her, the specific order of the items on the two sides represents the connection between vampire and dreamwalker. The medallion also acts as a conduit to provide more control in a construct.”
Philipe stood, his chair almost toppling over before one of the servers grabbed it. “Please, finish your meal. I’ll meet you allin the library for dessert and brandy.” Then he rushed from the room.
Fiona finished the rest of her wine and held the glass up for the server to pour more. “This is all so much more than I’d expected. Please, as Philipe asked, finish your meal. Cook spent so much time preparing it.”
Bella and Jacques tried to hold their grins, and Ginger was giddy. Lucas wasn’t sure which part of their discussion—either Colantha’s ancestry or the objects on the medallion—caused Philipe to race out of the room. But he could only wait and see if it had been enough for Philipe to share what he knew of dreamwalkers.
Rom kept the conversation flowing for another half hour, as it was clear Bella wasn’t going to stop eating anytime soon. Not wanting his partner to feel alone, Jacques continued to clear the plate of his second helping. But Lucas pushed his plate away, his nerves playing havoc with his stomach.
When the group finally left the dining room and arrived in the library, Philipe stood next to a lectern. It had been turned to face the row of chairs that had been positioned in a half circle around it. On the lectern, easily visible from the chairs, a book lay open. The only thing missing was a spotlight to shine down on it.
Lucas didn’t need to be told that the book was theDe første dage.
Chapter Twenty-Three
We took the offered seats,each of us staring at the book on the lectern as if we’d been mesmerized. When we were all seated, Fiona picked up a tray with brandy snifters and cups of espresso. Rom, Lucas, and Jacques took a snifter while Bella and I took espressos.
“I realize how pretentious this looks.” Philipe wiped his brow then stuck his hands in his pockets. “It’s been quite some time since I’ve given a lecture, and I don’t mean to this evening, but I tend to fall back to my days as a curator whenever I have more than just Fiona to impart information.” He leaned an elbow on the lectern, seeming to fall more into his role. “First, this isn’t the originalDe første dage. Fiona and I felt the book was too fragile, as well as dangerous, and decided to reduce the risk by keeping it hidden. Since we’ve had time over the decades, we made three copies by hand. These also pose a risk and are kept in their individual secret locations. This—” he waved to the book, “—is one of those three. We didn’t add any notes or observations in the copies. Each book is in the exact words and languages as the original.”
“Wait. It’s written in more than one language?” Lucas asked.
“Two from what we can tell. One is old vampiric, which in itself is difficult to decipher for most vampires. Though Philipe and I can read it easily enough, we developed a decent key in the hopes that one day others would have access to the book. The other language has proven to be more problematic. It’s not something either of us is familiar with or remembers seeing before. However, Fiona has found various texts that appear similar, perhaps a dialect difference.”
“You believe dreamwalkers have their own language?” Lucas’s tone was one of wonderment. This had to be more than he’d ever hoped for when given this assignment.
Philipe pointed to Lucas. “Exactly.” He turned to Fiona. “We were on the right track.”
Fiona shook her head as she smiled at him. “Having a third person suggest the same hypothesis is a far cry from proof. If we had just one other source material we might be able to create a cipher, but if there’s something in the Renaud inventory, then it must be in the old country.”
“What if there was someone who could read it?” I asked. It seemed a simple solution. Everyone was up to speed that dreamwalkers existed. I shrugged. “Maybe Colantha can read it, or maybe she recognizes the language. If she’s an heiress to the Seven Tribes, she must have seen an ancient text.” I glanced at the others. “I mean, it makes sense, doesn’t it?”
