Chapter 50 Valen
VALEN
I might not have need for human food, but I’ve found that I do love preparing it. I’m not sure if it’s the cooking itself I enjoy or the pleased hum from my mate when she tastes something she likes. At first, I was an awful cook, but then I took it as a challenge.
“I made the bagels myself,” I tell her, sliding the egg sandwich I prepared onto the counter in front of her. I was determined to master scrambled eggs after the last disaster, and this is my newest attempt.
“Yourself?” she says in surprise. “Like from scratch?”
I nod. “It was easy enough to make the dough, and then you boil them and bake them. I hope it’s good.”
“I’m sure it’ll be delicious,” she says before taking a big bite. “Mmm,” she hums. “Oh, Valen, this is incredible. You’ve come a long way.”
I can’t stop my smile from spreading. “You like it?”
She takes another bite and chews and swallows before replying. “I love it. You should write a cookbook.”
I chuckle and sling a dishrag over my shoulder. “I don’t know about that. Let’s not get too carried away.”
While she eats her breakfast, I clean up the mess I made in the kitchen.
I take the empty plate from her so she can dress for work.
She already has her light pink hair swept back in a bun and her makeup done.
I haven’t seen her wear her hair like this before, and it has me itching to pull the pins from it and watch the long length cascade down her back.
As desperately as I want to follow her and do just that, I stay rooted in the kitchen. I won’t be a distraction and cause her to be late for work.
The kitchen is spotless when Ava opens the bedroom door and strides out in a knee-length skirt paired with tights, a blouse, jacket, and heels.
“Ava,” I groan.
“What?” she asks innocently, grabbing her long winter coat and tugging it on.
“You know what.”
“I don’t.” She smiles innocently. “Do tell.”
“You’re testing the limits of my restraint,” I tell her. “You have no idea how badly I want to bend you over the table and lift that skirt up.”
She smiles, obviously pleased with herself. “Later,” she teases with a wink. “I have to go.”
I shrug on my own jacket. I don’t need it, but the humans stare at me strangely when I go without it, so I’ve made a habit out of being sure I have it on cold days.
“Let’s go, then, Starlight,” I say, pressing a hand to the small of her back. “The sooner you get to work, the sooner you get home.”
She smacks my stomach lightly. “You’re incorrigible.”
“I’m never getting my fill of you.” I duck down to nip her earlobe and she squeals.
I keep my hands to myself on the drive over to the precinct, but I nearly lose my resolve when she kisses me goodbye and leans over to press her hand against my cock. She’s a tempting little tease, and I love it.
When she’s safe behind the doors, I pull away and head to the library.
I don’t make it inside the doors before I realize I’m not going to find what I’m searching for here. Leviathan’s words have been haunting me since our conversation at Luna’s. I know there’s more than what the bastard demon is telling me.
Getting back into the car, I head to Jade’s. I figure if there’s someone who can help me, it’s her.
I park in the lot behind her shop and walk around to the front.
A growl rumbles out of me at the sight of Liam behind the counter. Although my annoyance is short-lived when he sees me and practically pisses himself.
“Jade! Customer for you,” he calls and disappears.
I shake my head. Anyone that pathetic could never be worthy of Ava. I don’t know why I let my possessive feelings get the best of me. I know it’ll get better once the bond is in place, and I know Ava wants it, but I’m scared.
Jade comes from the back and arches her brow in surprise when she sees me.
“Wasn’t expecting you, vampire. What can I help you with?”
“I’m looking for a book.”
“Okay,” she drawls. “What kind of book?”
“Got anything on demons?” I ask.
“A few.” She shrugs. “Not as many as Arcane, though,” she says, referencing the hotel. “But I can loan you what I do have.”
“I appreciate it,” I reply.
She hands me a stack of books, and instead of hanging around to browse through them, I go straight to my car and call Zav.
“’Ello,” he answers in a very poor imitation of a British accent.
“Hey,” I reply. “I need to go to Arcane. Do I need a pass or something? Isn’t it sort of a members-only thing?” I ask.
He hums thoughtfully. “Why do you need to go there?”
“I picked up some books from Jade on demons, and she mentioned there would be more at Arcane.”
Zav chuckles. “You’re doing research on Levi, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” I answer through gritted teeth.
“I’ll meet you there in twenty. Gotta let my girl finish first, you know?”
“Finish what?” I ask dumbly.
That’s when I hear Celine moan.
I immediately end the call.
It takes thirty minutes for Zav to arrive, and when he pulls in beside where I stand beside my car, he rolls down his window and says, “Sorry about that. My girl is greedy.”
“I don’t need to know about your sex life,” I grumble.
“You sure you don’t need some pointers?” He slaps me on the back. “I’m happy to help.”
“I promise we’re all good in that department.” I adjust my hold on the books in my arms.
“Good guess on assuming you need a membership to get in here.”
“It seemed like the type,” I mumble as we approach the doors.
“Don’t worry, buddy. We’ll get you your own membership before we leave.”
Zav leads me into the building, nodding at a few people as we go along. The elevator takes us down, instead of up, and when the doors open, my jaw nearly drops. It’s the largest, most expansive library I’ve ever seen. Greater than even the libraries where I come from in Virtue.
I could get lost in here for days—months, maybe even years—trying to absorb all the information stored away.
“I hate to break it to you, but I don’t think they have any bodice rippers on hand.” Zav smirks, sliding his hands into the pockets of his jeans.
I roll my eyes and shove my stack of books at him. “Find a table and stay there. I’m going to find some more books. We have to keep this stack separate, though, since they belong to Jade.” I tap the top book.
“Why do I have to babysit the stack of books?” He frowns.
“Because this is my thing.”
He sighs. “Fine.”
We locate a table, and I point a finger at him. “Stay,” I say just like I do with Pom Pom.
Zav adjusts his glasses. “You’re so lucky I got laid before this. Otherwise I’d be a menace.”
I walk away, shaking my head. When is Zavier not a menace?
The library is well-organized, and while there is a librarian, I don’t employ her help because I don’t want to raise any red flags.
Scanning the shelves, it takes me a good twenty minutes to find the section I’m looking for. I grab a cart and load it up with books that look promising. As I push it back to the table where Zav is, he eyes up my finds.
“How do you think you’re going to get through that many books?” he asks.
“I can check some out, can’t I?” I ask. Before he answers, I add, “Besides, you’re helping.” The books thump against the table as I drop a stack in front of him.
“Ugh,” he groans. “Do I have to?”
“Yes.” I pile the rest of the books on the table.
“What exactly are we looking for?” He picks a random book and opens it up.
“Any mention of Levi,” I reply. “I think he knows something about my sister.”
I keep thinking about that day at Luna’s and how he danced around the topic of my sister. It was like he was toying with me, waiting for me to put the pieces together, but I feel clueless.
“Oh?” Zav arches a brow. “What’s her name?” he asks.
“Safira.” It feels so strange having her name roll off my tongue now that I say it so infrequently. Just saying it reminds me of a massively different time in my life.
“I’ll keep my eye out for that name.” He mock salutes me.
We both focus on our task, and honestly, I’m surprised by how serious Zavier seems to be taking it. Hours pass by in a blur as we read, but nothing stands out.
After a while, Zavier stands and stretches. “I’m going to put some of these away unless you think you should go through them too.”
I wave my hand dismissively. “I trust you.”
“Any of these you want me to put back?” he asks, gesturing to my discarded pile.
“All of them.”
He loads the two stacks back onto the cart.
My vampire senses make reading much quicker, but there’s still so much content to get through, and who knows if these efforts will even be fruitful.
While Zavier is gone, I finish going through one book and start another.
I crack open the first page and realize it’s not just a book, but a genealogy chart of various demon families.
The urge to shove it away and deem it useless is strong, but my desire to be thorough is stronger.
I scan through the names, searching for anything familiar. In my angel days, my path crossed many times with various demons.
My blood runs cold when I get to one name.
Abbadon.
A fallen angel turned demon by his own actions. A worse fate than mine as a vampire.
Beneath his name is a line of many, many children—and considering the age of this book, it’s possible there are more now.
I take my time reading the names and stop when I get to one named Amadeus with a horizontal line drawn to a very familiar name.
Safira.
It’s possible there’s someone in the demon world with the same name as my sister. Names aren’t wholly unique. I could brush it off if it weren’t for the fact that the line that connects Amadeus and Safira has another line drawn beneath it.
A child named Leviathan.
“Whoa,” Zav laughs. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
Silently, I point to the family tree.
His eyes widen. “Does this mean…?”
I nod. “If it’s true, then my sister is Levi’s mother.”
I’m going to kill the little shit.