Page 69 of Betrayed in Blood
She growled. “You’re spending too much time with humans.”
ChapterTwenty
I steppedout of the evening gown and hung it in the closet before pulling on sweats and my favorite sweatshirt. The cool ocean air blew through the opened window, circulating through the room and clearing the wine from dinner.
The knock came as expected, and Ginger popped her head in before pushing her way through the door.
“Did you turn on the air conditioning?” Ginger shivered and pulled open drawers until she found a sweatshirt to pull over her head.
“Sorry. Would you prefer your room?”
“No. But let’s sit by the fireplace so I can pretend there’s a toasty fire. I’ll just grab a blanket.” She pulled the one from the back of the sofa and stretched out, tucking it around her. “You must be in one of your thinking modes.”
Another knock came, and Ginger said, “Do you mind getting it? I just got settled.”
I snorted and shuffled to the door, then backed up as Letty entered with a tray. “You didn’t need to do that. We could have come down for it.”
“Nonsense. It’s no trouble. One urn is coffee, and the other hot chocolate. The bottle is one of the manor’s finest brandies.” She set it down then hurried out of the room with a final good night.
“I’m not sure I can handle any more alcohol after that dinner.” I poured a cup of hot chocolate for both of us and added a touch of brandy anyway.
“Did Lyra say her mother hosted one of those dinners every week?” Ginger asked.
“Yeah. But those were different times back then. It was kind of nice dressing up in our finest. I’m not sure a dinner table adorned as it was deserved anything less.” I sipped the cocoa and melted into my corner of the sofa. “How did Colantha know to bring an evening gown? Or do you think she borrowed it from Lyra?”
“Nothing that woman does surprises me. Did she seem tired to you?”
I considered the shadows under Colantha’s eyes. “From what Lyra told me, Frederick has been reducing the amount of juice she’s been drinking.”
“I thought it was the translations taking a toll, but I hear she’s been dreamwalking several times a day.”
“What? I hadn’t heard that.”
Ginger nodded as she licked cocoa from her upper lip. “Lyra thought she was dreamwalking with Hamilton, but he said no. He told Lyra that she’d been reaching out to dreamwalkers all over the world.”
“About what? Did he know?”
“Not really, but he thinks it might have something to do with the translations and the codex Colantha’s helping to create.” She pulled the blanket away so she could sit cross-legged on the couch, somehow not spilling a drop of cocoa. She leaned in. “He also thinks she found something in the translation that stirred some old memories. The rumor is that she’s looking for another book that was hidden away.”
I stared at her. That’s just what they needed—another secret book. “What could that be?”
“Lyra thinks it might have something to do with the Seven Tribes.”
I thought back to the first time Colantha had mentioned her being the daughter of Adelice and Heiress of the Seven Tribes. “Does she think they still exist?”
Ginger shrugged and pulled her blanket up. “That might explain the dreamwalking around the world.” She fell back against the armrest, slapping her forehead with the palm of her hand. “Oh my god!” She leaned forward again, and my first thought was maybe I shouldn’t have added the brandy. “Do you think she’s calling them together? You know, like preparing them for war?”
Well, maybe the brandy was a good idea after all. I’m not sure I would have ever considered the notion. “There’s so much we don’t know. And I think Colantha has only shared five percent of what I should know about dreamwalkers. I know she mentioned there were Seven Tribes, but I have no idea how they worked together. Did they act similar to the vampire Council?” I shrugged. “I just don’t know. Colantha isn’t going to share anything until she’s ready. I think we need to focus on what we do know. Or, hopefully, what we’ll know when we get the report from Remus’s lab on the new blood samples. My belief is that we don’t know everything we need to know about the Blood Poppy. And I think it’s something Venizi knows about and has been taking advantage of.”
“Well, that sounds dark and mysterious and a bit dangerous.”
A ping sounded, and we glanced around.
“Is that your phone?” I asked as I set down the cocoa and searched the room.
“I didn’t bring mine.”
I found my phone in the bathroom after the third ping and dropped onto the couch, pulling up my knees as I opened the text message.
