Wild Knight (Midnight Empire: The Tower #1)(37)

Walked right into that one. “Not today,” I repeated.

He grinned. “Sounds promising.”

“I’m merely being polite.” I turned and hurried toward the gateway. The more physical distance I put between us, the better.

When I returned to the street, Barnaby was perched on a nearby wall.

“You should tell him about his ancestors,” the prince said. “He might be interested in taking up residence. I’m sure the family would enjoy having a flock of ravens back at the Tower.”

“I think he’s happy with his current situation.”

The prince studied the large bird. “Does he live with you? I have to imagine the quarters are rather cramped.”

“We’re comfortable, but I appreciate your concern.”

“You’ve visited the smithy and the excavation site. You’ve seen the stone. What’s next?”

“I’ll let you know when I decide.” I sauntered toward the raven, fully aware of the vampire’s eyes burning a hole through my back. Or was it my butt? Either way he was definitely watching me with intensity.

“Let’s go,” I told the raven. He cawed and took flight, his black feathers merging with the night.





11





I didn’t want to return to the flat just yet. With the menagerie in stasis and the possibility of workmen installing windows, I decided to keep working on the investigation and that meant a stop at the library.

The Britannia Library contained the most comprehensive selection of books in the territory. It was originally known as the British Library, which sounded close enough to Britannia that I was surprised the vampire queen didn’t leave the original name intact. She liked to put her own stamp on places though. There was nothing like a narcissistic vampire in charge of the territory.

I sauntered up to the counter where Pedro was helping another patron. There were three head librarians and Pedro Gutierrez was one of them. Although he was the only human of the trio, he was my go-to for research. Without magic skills, he had to work harder to find information and that seemed to help him retain much of it. It also helped that knowledge was his passion.

The patron wandered toward the stacks and I shifted over to take his place at the counter. “Pedro, hi.”

He was relatively short—about five and a half feet—with salt-and-pepper hair and a round face. His thick eyelashes put mine to shame. He wore a white collared shirt buttoned all the way to the top. I knew it wasn’t to preserve his modesty. People like Pedro didn’t like to leave their necks exposed and entice a wayward vampire. There were rules, of course, but the laws were more lenient toward vampires than other species. A witch could be killed on the spot for using magic illegally, but a vampire could drain a library full of humans and only pay a fine for reckless behavior. The system was tipped in favor of the species already at the top of the food chain.

Pedro rubbed his hands together eagerly. “What do you have for me today, London?”

The good thing about Pedro was that he wasn’t squeamish, which came in handy. Nothing was too gruesome when it came to research and sometimes I required unpleasant details. Luckily for Pedro, today was not one of those days.

“I’m trying to find the meaning of a symbol.”

Pedro brightened. “Ooh. Exciting.”

“This is why I come to you. Not everyone feels that way about circles and straight lines.” I tapped the screen of my phone and turned it toward him. “It’s this one.”

He squinted at the photo. “Is that blood?”

“Don’t ask.”

“That’s not your arm, is it? Too muscular.”

“The symbol, Pedro.”

He pondered the image for a prolonged moment. “Neither the Star of David nor a pentagram.”

“I got that far.”

“I know a few books that might be of use.”

Of course he did. Any other response would have rattled me to the core.

He started walking and I knew enough to simply follow. Pedro lived with his head in books, which made the library the perfect home for him. All three librarians had their quarters somewhere in the building so the library could be open at all hours. That was one of the changes that occurred during the Eternal Night—without a natural distinction between day and night to dictate schedules, some businesses and facilities began operating around the clock.

I took a moment to admire the stacks of books. I never tired of this place. Sometimes I envied Pedro living and working here, until I remembered that the downside was dealing with visitors like me on a regular basis.

I was a regular pain in the ass.

We walked along the semi-circular stacks until we reached the section labeled symbology. He pulled over a ladder and climbed to the third step.

“The most recent book is by Professor Irwin. He’s based in South Africa and we were fortunate enough to acquire a copy of his work.”

Shipping wasn’t as easy as it once was because of sea monsters and limited resources, and that made international trade more challenging and more expensive. I’d say one thing for House Lewis, they were willing to splurge on items like books that benefitted everybody. Knowledge was one power they didn’t mind sharing.

Pedro dropped the heavy tome into my open hands before climbing to the floor. “Not too many patrons interested in symbols these days, but as I soon as I saw it in the catalogue, I put it on the order list. It took a little persuading. Adelaide and Garrison weren’t keen.”