Demon Heart (The Darkworld Series Book 3) (5 page)

“Oh,” said Leo. “Crap. We have to return the books?”

“We don’t want them accusing us of anything again.” She looked at me as she said this, and I knew that she meant she meant me in particular. The Venantium had been a breath away from blocking my magic permanently when they’d thought I was abusing it, and it was only the fortune-teller’s intervention that had stopped them doing it. I didn’t want to go back into that Angel Box ever again if I could help it.

“We’ll have to,” I said. “I only have the
Seven Princes
one in my room, but I guess there were a few more. Did you ever find the
Almanac
?”

“No. Hope they don’t think we took it.”

We walked across campus wrapped in an uneasy silence. Back at the student village, Claudia and Leo headed to their respective flats to retrieve the books they’d “borrowed” whilst I tracked down the
Seven Princes.

Due to Cara’s visit, my room had been rearranged to make room for the camp bed, and for a panicked ten minutes, I thought I’d lost the book. I resigned myself to another interrogation, at least until I tipped the mattress off the bed and found the old, yellow-paged volume wedged down the side.

Hurrying outside with the book tucked under my arm, I swore when a gust of wind flung raindrops in my face, then swiftly stowed the book in my jacket. Looking to left and right, I spotted Leo, who carried a large sports bag on one shoulder and wore his hood up against the rain.

“Did you take half the library?” I said, indicating the bag.

“Nah, half these are Howard’s. He dumped them on me, since the
venators
are always knocking on his door.”

“Fair enough,” I said, rezipping my jacket to make sure it covered the book. I had an inkling the punishment would go beyond mere library fines if I returned it in a damaged condition. Not that they’d know
I’d
taken it, but still.

I turned as a voice behind me said, “Hey. What’re we standing in the rain for?”

Claudia held the remains of a bedraggled umbrella in one hand and a carrier bag in the other.

“Waiting for you,” I said. “Is Berenice not coming?”

“Says she has flu.” Claudia shrugged. “I’m voting we take the bus. No more wild excursions in the forest for me.”

“Agreed.”

“Ash… are you sure about this?” said Leo. “I can take your book back with me. It’s not a problem.”

“Yeah, come to think of it, you don’t want to get dive-bombed by a harpy again,” said Claudia. “And if we get caught, it’s our asses on the line.”

“I’ll be fine,” I said. “I thought most of the harpies were gone, anyway.”

Apart from that massive swarm I’d seen. But I pushed that out of my mind. The thought of Leo in the Venantium’s lair alone made me all the more determined to conquer my fear of those tunnels.

“Yeah, but the Venantium…”

“I’m wearing a shield,” I said. “See?”

I’d learned that particular trick from the fortune-teller the last time I’d paid her a visit. It had been a few days after that night in the crypt, and I’d gone to her in another futile attempt to get some answers from her. Instead, she’d given me a lesson in camouflage. Now, invisible to the naked eye, a thin layer of shadows cloaked me. It was the same principle as creating a shield to repel a demon, but on a lower scale. Even
venators
would think I was an ordinary person unless they got close, and if I used magic in the tunnels, no one would be able to detect it.

Leo sighed, taking my hand. “I just don’t want you getting into trouble because of me. You’d never have known about the tunnels if I hadn’t taken you there.”

Warmth rushed through me as he stroked my palm.

“It’s fine,” I said. “I made my choice when I joined the group, right? Besides, I’m not turning down an opportunity to sneak into a
library
.”

Leo flashed me a grin. “Sure thing, bookworm. Okay. We’re good to go?”

“I am,” said Claudia, rubbing her hands together and shivering. “Come on already.”

We caught the bus from the top of the hill and rode the five minutes to Blackstone, where Cyrus met us at the stop. He carried an overflowing bag the same size as Leo’s.

“Howard,” Cyrus said as we walked through the dark cobblestoned streets. “He left all these books at my place when the
venators
were searching his flat.”

“Did the same to me,” said Leo. “I take it he’s not coming tonight?”

“Says he can’t be bothered. Asshole.”

Leo shrugged. “All the more fun for us. Do you have the key?”

“Yeah. I hope they’re not onto us. I’ve only got a month of uni left. I don’t want to spend it in prison.”

Cyrus was in his final year of university and had purposefully picked out modules without exams, meaning that he was free to leave in April. I had the impression that he just wanted to get away from the Venantium.

I tried to ignore my own misgivings as we crossed the town square, under the looming spires of the cathedral. It helped that Leo walked at my side, but I’d never been one to flirt with danger, unlike Claudia. Part of me kept nagging that it was a stupid idea, that I didn’t have to go with them―but another part won out. The part that had a taste for playing with fire.

We went into the tunnels via the usual path, unlocking the hidden entrance behind a gargoyle statue in the cemetery. My chest tightened as we descended down the stone staircase, the walls gradually narrowing. All four of us had conjured lights, which mingled, surrounding us in a halolike glow. To compensate, we all wore shields that would make us invisible to any harpies―not that it would do any good if we ran into
people.

Eerie blue candle flames sprang up ahead as we reached the main tunnel, from candles held by harpy statues. Their cruel, sharp eyes seemed to pierce through me, even though I knew they couldn’t see us.

I held the
Seven Princes
book close to me, breathing in its musty old-book smell. I didn’t want to give it up, even though I’d read it cover to cover at least twice. It had taught me more than anyone else about human-demons, because few other books even mentioned the subject. I owed my sanity to it, at least. But avoiding the Venantium’s bad side was paramount.

The usual awe descended on me as we entered the library, a gigantic underground chamber with soaring stone pillars and towering bookshelves that seemed to go on for miles. They’d been built into the walls themselves, lined with more leather-bound volumes than I could count.

“I’ve no idea where I picked this up,” I said, staring at the rows and rows of books.

“Just shove them onto a shelf at random,” said Claudia. “This place isn’t particularly organised.”

I looked around and saw a likely gap in a nearby shelf. Pushing the book into place, I turned back to Leo to see he’d walked down another row of shelves, towards the heart of the massive library.

“Leo? Where’re you going?” I went after him, my footsteps clacking on the stone floor.

“Don’t go running off!” Cyrus’s exasperated voice sounded behind me.

I caught up with Leo at a pedestal that stood at a junction between rows of shelves. A large, heavy volume sat on top of it; close to, it looked like a stereotypical spell book, etched with runes and bound in red and gold.

“Someone else must’ve had an attack of conscience,” Leo remarked.

“Is that―” I said, stepping closer.

“Yeah, it’s the
Sorcerer’s Almanac,
all right.” He rested one hand on the pedestal and turned the thick embossed cover to the first page. Curiosity seized me, and I moved closer. Leo ran his finger down the list of contents. No―a list of names, surname first. This book held the details of every sorcerer who had ever lived. For the first time, I wondered who updated it.
It can’t do it by itself.
Magic only went so far.

“Temple, Temple… what was your mother’s maiden name?”

“Francis,” I said, reading over his shoulder.

But none of the listed names rang a bell. As far as I knew, I was the first in my family to move away from Manchester, so none of the people who’d lived around here could be my relations unless it went back more than a few generations. I tried to think to any conversations I might have had with my parents about my ancestry, but something strange happened every time I tried to focus. It was like a mental hand pushed me back whenever I zoned in on the conversation. I closed my eyes, picturing my parents and me in a café in Blackstone, discussing family trees… and Aunt Eve. But as soon as her name flashed through my mind, a bolt of pain lanced through my temples. I winced, rubbing my head.

What was that?

“Ash? You okay?”

“Yeah,” I said, opening my eyes to meet Leo’s concerned gaze. “I was just trying to remember if I ever talked about this with my parents.”

But I couldn’t tell him about Aunt Eve―about the fortune-teller’s secret―not without revealing my own. Berenice’s words came back to me, then:
“You’re playing with fire, girl. He’ll figure it out, trust me. He isn’t stupid. And then what?”

Shut up,
I told the voice.

“Maybe have a think about it?” he said.

I nodded, frowning as something occurred to me. I’d assumed I’d avoided thinking of my erstwhile Aunt Eve out of habit, but maybe… maybe I
couldn’t
think about her because she didn’t exist anymore. When we’d used that mind-magic trick on David to make him forget he’d seen me use a spell, it left gaps in his memory without him being able to tell the difference. Likewise, whatever the fortune-teller had done had altered my impression of her, making me and my parents think her to be our relation. But after the spell had been taken off, I had barely thought of her, even though memories of summers spent at her cottage had been some of the most vivid recollections I’d had from my childhood.

Something definitely felt wrong. I poked the memory and winced as pain lanced through my temples again.

Okay. I’m having a talk with her.
Messing with people’s minds was downright creepy in my book, whatever excuse she’d used.

I jumped as Cyrus’s voice echoed from nearby. “Guys, it’s getting late. We should make a move.”

“Could do with making a copy of this, really,” said Leo, who still skimmed through the
Almanac
. “I wish we could stay longer, but the
venators
will be on the prowl soon.”

“True.” I gave the page one last look, then closed the book with a sigh. If I got tempted, I’d never leave.

As I returned the book to its former position, something slipped out from between the pages to land at my feet. A smaller book, a journal really, leather-bound with wafer-thin, yellowed pages.

“What’s this?” I picked it up, flipping it open. Several of the pages shifted in my grasp, and I had to hold them together to stop them from falling out.

“Blackstone?” Leo opened the
Almanac
to the page where the journal had slipped from. A double-page spread almost entirely given over to the Blackstone family.

I held up the journal, to where my conjured light still hung overhead. A name stood out on the cover. Melivia Blackstone.

“No way,” I said.

“Magical concealment,” said Leo. “That book wasn’t there before you touched it. Something triggered it.”

“What, you think someone left it there for
me
?” I turned to the first page. The handwriting was so intricate I had difficulty making out the words, but the name stood out clearly. Melivia Blackstone.

Was this her journal?

I gave Leo a quizzical glance, and he shrugged. “Let’s clear out, anyway.”

Cyrus bounced on the balls of his feet at the entrance, impatient to leave. In the end, he’d had to drag Claudia away from the volume of advanced alchemy she’d been immersed in.

“It was talking about spirit travel,” she protested. “It’s interesting, is all. Yeah, I know I can’t take it. I’m not stupid.”

Cyrus gave an exasperated sigh, turning to lead the way out. We’d barely entered the tunnel when he halted. “There’s someone else coming.”

I backed up, but it happened too fast. Before any of us could conjure an excuse, we found ourselves stared down by two Venantium members, a guy and a girl. Both wore the usual navy-blue uniform and matching scowls.

“Excuse me? What’re you doing down here? This area is off-limits.”

Shit.
It was none other than my old flatmate, David.
Well, this is awkward.

The same thought had clearly hit David, and he flushed, shifting from one foot to the other. Now he looked like a schoolboy playing dress-up in his fancy uniform. Not remotely intimidating.

“What are you doing here?” asked the girl beside him. She looked about our age, too, with thick, dark hair and a scowl worthy of Berenice.

“Just browsing,” said Claudia with a shrug. “I didn’t know it wasn’t allowed.”

“This area belongs to the Venantium. It isn’t for unregistered sorcerers to wander into as they please.” David spoke to the air in front of him, avoiding my eyes.

“Sorry,” said Claudia unconvincingly. “Won’t happen again.”

“It better not.”

“Since when was it a crime to go into your library?” Leo broke in. “You don’t own the place. It belongs to the sorcerers who built it, and it was originally a sanctuary for
any
magic-users. Technically we have just as much right to be here as you do.”

David flushed an even deeper red. “It specifically states in the rule book that all these tunnels are the property of―”

“Bullshit. You just claim what you need at any given moment. You
venators
are all the same.” Leo moved towards David, and my heart sank.

Don’t start a fight!

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” said David.

“I’ll bet I know a damn sight more than you do. Don’t you ever question your employers’ motives? Do you think they have the world’s best interests in mind when they ban anyone but their own flunkies from accessing any information on magic?”

He’d stepped right up to David, staring him down. David looked back defiantly, but I knew him to be a coward already. He’d never win the argument.