Page 44 of Betrayed in Blood
I snorted. “I guess she’s still pissed that I pulled her into a construct when I needed to talk to her rather than just calling the number you gave me.”
He chuckled. “Revenge. A woman after my own heart.”
“I should have known I wouldn’t get any sympathy from you.” I flipped through the pages, stopping to review the tight script.
“What did Colantha say?”
After a minute, he nudged me. “What? Oh, she’s on her way from the airport. She’ll be here at two and would like the guards notified.”
He glanced at his watch. “I would think by now they’d know not to question her, but I’ll let them know. Did you tell Lyra?”
I popped up, and Devon winced when my elbow hit a sensitive spot. “Sorry. I can’t believe I didn’t think of that.” Then I deflated.
“What?”
“I didn’t ask about Hamilton.”
“Aah. Well, I don’t think he’s coming, or Colantha would have said something.”
“You think?”
He shrugged. “Not for sure, but something tells me he’s not ready yet.”
I nodded. “That won’t be any easier for Lyra to hear.”
“Maybe so, but she should still be told what we know so she can prepare.”
I placed the book on the table and was getting up when he pulled me back down. The next kiss was more heated than the first, and his gaze glowed with the beast. Damn, if he didn’t know how to turn me on.
Then he stood and placed me on my feet. He picked up the book, finished his cup of tea, then slapped me on the ass before striding for the door.
“And tell Ginger to be ready. I want everyone in my office when she arrives.”
Then he was out the door. Relegated to messenger service, I considered where Ginger might be. Lyra was most likely in her room, but I preferred to have Ginger by my side. She had a knack for calming Lyra in difficult situations.
The problem was, I couldn’t find Ginger. Since I was already on the first floor, I checked the solarium and the pool room, then squared my shoulders to track down Anna. I didn’t want to have to face her so soon after our trip. I wasn’t ready to restart the history classes, but I had a task and refused to be cowed by her. At least she was predictable. Anna, as I suspected, was in her office. I hated going in there. For some reason, it reminded me of my trips to the principal’s office. I’d been an unruly student. Go figure.
“Hey, Anna. Do you have a minute? I thought you might know where Ginger is.”
Anna was writing something on a pad. She was as old school as Devon when it came to her work, preferring pen and paper to computers whenever possible. I cleared my throat when it was apparent Anna either didn’t hear me or was ignoring me. It was a fifty-fifty split most days.
On my second throat clearing, her head popped up. “Oh, hi, Cressa. I heard you were back, and then the Oasis attack happened.” She sat back and rubbed her eyes, leaning her head against the chair. Dark circles made her look haunted, and a tick of concern hit me.
“I know. I should have come to see you sooner, but it’s been one thing after another.” I stepped in and sat in the chair across from her. “Are you alright?”
Her eyes were closed, and a soft smile eased my concerns. “Just tired. I didn’t get much sleep last night.”
“Was it because of the attack?”
Her eyes popped open, and she sat up. “Not at all.” She shook her head. “Well, I mean, of course, the attack concerned me.” She gave me a thoughtful stare. “I have to thank Ginger.” That surprised me. “She talked me into defense training. She thought it would make me feel better if I had skills if we were ever attacked.” She snorted a laugh. “She was right. When the alarms sounded yesterday, I was concerned, but the panic that usually comes with it didn’t appear. Besides, I was too annoyed by the interruption.”
I blinked. This was a different Anna. “Annoyed?”
She nodded, her eyes taking on a radical glaze. “When I was at Oasis, the library was a mess.” She must have caught something in my confused expression. “Oh, not like the books were all over the place, they just weren’t in any type of order. Fiction was mixed up with non-fiction. If you wanted to read something about the vampiric era during the human Victorian age, the books were spread all through the library.” Her voice rose as the horror of it all took over.
All I’d wanted was a quick yes or no answer on whether she knew where Ginger was. Now, I wanted to curl up and take a nap until she stopped.
“Anyway,” she blew out a breath. “It was Ginger again who said I’d be the best one to fix it, and she was right. I spoke with Simone. She sent me the inventory for the entire library, and now I’m going through the list to organize the books. It’s more daunting a task than I thought. I also have a schematic of the room and the layout of the bookcases so I can determine how and where the books should be shelved.”
