Once Bitten (Shadow Guild: The Rebel #1)(51)

“I’m really the only one?” I couldn’t believe it.

“Really and truly,” Mac said.

I whistled low under my breath.

“Where are you with the murderer?” Mac asked.

I told them about the Sorcerers’ Guild and Remington and the finding spell, not leaving anything out. He hadn’t told me that any of it was meant to be a secret, and I considered Mac my ally here. Quinn and Eve, too.

“He’s got his own secret entrance to the Sorcerers’ Guild?” Eve’s brows rose.

“Yep. And Remington at his beck and call.”

“Can’t say I’m surprised,” Quinn said. “His power goes deeper than any of us know.”

“Was he mind-controlling Remington?” Mac asked.

“Not that I could tell.”

“You’d be able to tell,” Eve said. “Remington’s eyes would have gone slightly unfocused, and he’d have seemed a bit off.”

“That didn’t happen,” I said.

“Now that I know you’re safe, I’m getting out of here,” Quinn said.

“Do you live nearby?” I asked.

“Top floor of the building next door. Right next to the empty unit above Mac.”

“I’m right beneath him,” Eve said. “And believe me, he sounds like a freaking buffalo when he’s walking around.”

Envy wasn’t my favorite emotion, but I was feeling it in spades. What would it be like to live close to people I liked instead of the weirdos at my flat block in London? Cordelia was great, but she was a raccoon. It was time for some real friends again.

The Devil’s questions echoed in my mind. Why didn’t I live here? Why shouldn’t I?





16





The Devil



I couldn’t sleep, but that wasn’t unusual. Sleep wasn’t a companion of mine. But normally, I would find respite for at least a few hours each night.

Not tonight.

The clock said that it had only been an hour since I’d seen her.

It felt like more.

I raked a hand through my hair, disgusted. I was behaving like a besotted idiot.

A knock sounded at the door of my office, followed by Miranda’s soft voice. “The Oracle, here to see you, sir.”

“Send her in.”

The door creaked, and the Oracle drifted through it before it was fully open, her form partially transparent. As she stopped in front of my desk, she turned fully corporeal, her face flickering from old to young. She had a strange magic that even I didn’t understand, but I liked that she was nearly as old as I was. Made me feel less alone, though we rarely saw each other.

“Thank you for not just barging in.” My tone was wry. Of all the people I’d known over the years, the Oracle was the one I’d known the longest. I even almost liked her. “I suppose you have something horrible to share?”

“I do like to bring you bad news.” Amusement echoed in her voice.

“Please sit.”

She collapsed in the chair, heaving a sigh. “I’ve found her.”

“Her?”

“Her. Yes, her.” She leaned forward, eyes intense. “The one who will thaw you.”

I scowled at her. “That prophecy again?”

“The prophecy. At least, as far as you are concerned.”

“I’ve told you—I’m fine as I am. And that prophecy is bloody nonsense.”

“No, it is not. You are an animated block of ice who can barely see color or smell the night air or taste anything decent. And she will thaw you.”

“The curse is what it is. There is no cure.”

“That is not true. Your immortality can be cured.”

“What says I want it cured?”

She looked around the quiet office. “This, for eternity?”

“I’ve tried everything else.” And I had. Sumptuous mansions, parties, lovers, every dangerous sport in the history of humanity.

Anything to pass the interminable years of immortality.

What the movies and books didn’t understand was that immortality was a curse. Years upon years of the same thing, all of it experienced in a haze and punctuated only by the death of anyone you might grow to care for. It cast the world in shades of gray.

Born vampires didn’t have to suffer it—they died and went to an afterlife like any normal creature. But turned vampires did. We were inhuman monsters, cursed to walk the earth forever. It made me good at business and miserable at everything else.

“I’ve accepted my lot, Oracle. You should, too.”

“I won’t accept a lie. And what I have seen is the truth. Her blood will make you feel alive again.”

“It’s all bloody nonsense,” I said.

Quick as a quip, the Oracle leaned across the table and gripped my arm tight, forcing a vision into my mind. It burst to life—Carrow and me in vivid color. Her hair was golden, her lips red. Her lavender scent was so strong it made me dizzy, and I could imagine the taste of her so well. The air turned warm. Suddenly, I felt alive. The air around me vibrated with it. Everything vibrated with it.

The Oracle yanked her hand away, and the world returned to gray. Stale and cold.

I blinked at her. “Impossible.”