A Den of Tricks (A Shade of Vampire #54)(36)

“We’re going to track Lemuel,” I said slowly. “Do you want to stay here and keep looking through the books, Fi? Or do you want to come with us? It’s up to you.”

“I’ll stay here.” She gave me a reassuring smile. “If anything, I’ll see you two later, at the infirmary. I’ve got that dinner to get to, anyway, so I’ll just hang out here until it’s time to go change.”

“Ah, yes, you’ll have to get all pretty and fabulous to knock Vincent off his feet.” Heron grinned playfully, and I gave up on nudging him for his taunts. I actually found his banter attempts cute, even endearing at times. His sense of humor and lightheartedness made our compulsory stay on Neraka a bit more bearable.

“At least I’ll be treated to a fancy dinner and not be roaming through this wretched city at night, unlike other people I know,” Fiona shot back, wiggling her eyebrows.

I chuckled as we left her in the bookstore and took to the streets to look for Lemuel. His scent lingered heavily in the air, and I could confidently follow it down the alley leading into the western part of the third level.

“Do you think Lemuel is keeping those hidden archives back there?” Heron asked as we walked through a thinning crowd of Imen and Maras. Most were going home, but some wore black uniforms and were headed to the city’s inns and bars for the night shift—I could tell from the crisp scent of fresh laundry, along with the fragrances and other toiletries they’d used to look their part as servants in certain establishments.

“In the bookstore, you mean?” I asked, and he replied with a nod. “Maybe, but not in plain sight, and we don’t have Harper to help us with her True Sight. If he’s keeping them at his place, they’re well hidden. Lemuel doesn’t strike me as a careless Iman, based on what scents I caught in his house.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, he uses a lot of detergents around the place, and those substances can really throw a tracker’s nose off the grand prize,” I said. “It’s why I needed to sniff his coat to get a good trail. You wouldn’t notice it at first, but that bookstore would normally smell like old books, ink soaked into pages, and even a little mold and dust from the older stuff he keeps in there. But it smells of… brandy and lime, incense and something akin to bleach. That place was scrubbed clean.”

“Maybe he was doing some spring cleaning in there.” Heron gave me an amused sideways glance as we turned left into another alley.

We passed a local tavern and a couple of stores, and Lemuel’s scent got stronger.

“Not with that many cleaning products.” I smirked. “It’s a masking tactic that some animals use to throw predators off their tracks. It’s used by species across the worlds we know, and this one is no exception. The scents I caught in his house were strong and permanent, seeping into the structural beams and every other inch of wood in there. He’s definitely hiding something.”

“That nose of yours is fantastic, I swear.” Heron shook his head slowly, amazed. “I mean, I thought I was a good tracker, but then you came along. I am literally in awe of you.”

“Thank you.” I gave him a warm smile, feeling my cheeks burn under his intense gaze. “I was always fascinated with chemistry and the olfactory sense… The two just came naturally to me, I guess. When I was given the option to further hone this skill, I took it.”

“It’s a good thing you did.” He nodded. “Your contributions so far have been extraordinary.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say that, but yeah, I guess I can hold my own on this team.” I giggled, trying to maintain some sense of modesty under his barrage of compliments.

A couple of minutes went by in absolute silence. I stole a glance at Heron, and he looked as though he were trying to say something, but couldn’t find the right words.

“Avril,” he finally spoke, “have you ever thought about a soulmate?”

The question made me feel nervous, mainly because I didn’t understand its purpose, but also because I found myself instinctively looking at him as I tried to formulate an answer. My feelings for him were developing at an alarmingly rapid pace, and I knew, deep down, that my answer would be yes.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I mean, have you thought about having someone in your life, someone you’d want to spend an eternity with?” His gaze was clouded as he studied my expression, and I felt vulnerable all of a sudden.

“No… Yes… Okay, yes, I have thought about it.” I surrendered. What was the point in lying, anyway? We were stuck on this planet, and the future was so murky, so unclear, it felt like a disservice to myself if I denied it. You only get one life, and so on…

“What would that person be like?” he replied, then stared at the road ahead. The streetlamps cast a yellowish light over the cobblestone, and long shadows crossed the alley from various angles.

“I haven’t given it that much thought, but… I don’t know, if I were to make up a profile right now, off the top of my head, I guess he’d have to be someone who can accept me exactly the way I am… my curiosity, my strong opinions, and my quirks included.”

Heron didn’t say anything for a while, and, upon analyzing what I’d just said, I realized my statement felt incomplete.