Chapter 6

GABRIEL’S POV

 

The last book contained nothing, just like the one before it. I snapped it shut and placed it on the growing pile in front of me. By now, it was almost a foot tall, but the rest of the library books still awaited us. I had hoped we wouldn’t have to go through all of them, but as time passed, that hope had begun to shrivel.

 

There had to be something somewhere.

 

My ancestors had written about extinct hybrid creatures, forbidden magic, and rare poisonous metals. Every discovery from over a millennium ago was documented, sitting somewhere on these shelves. If even one of them had come across a wolf capable of healing others with their blood, it would be in one of these books.

 

Unless they thought that sort of knowledge would be unsafe even in these libraries.

 

“How many more of these do we have to search, Gabriel?”

 

Delancy stood across the table, her arms folded across her chest. Three large books lay open before her, dust streaking their pages. She’d been patient for the first hour, silently working through her section while I worked on mine. But by now, I could see the strain she’d been trying to suppress.

 

“As many as we have to,” I answered, flipping through dusty old pages that threatened to rip beneath my fingertips. “And in case you’ve forgotten, we still have other shelves to go through.”

 

“What if we don’t find anything?”

 

“Then we’ll search elsewhere, Lancy.”

 

Her brows formed a crease. She seemed ready to complain but bit back her words. Good. I wasn’t in the mood for one of her tantrums anyway.

 

“What did the witches say when you told them?”

 

“I wanted to keep it private, so I only told the High Priestess,” I replied, letting out a sigh as I glanced at the grandfather clock ticking away. “She should be here any minute now.”

 

Delancy stared at me, a muscle in her jaw ticking. She mumbled something and resumed her search, scanning the titles on the spines of each codex. Then her gaze flickered to my arm—the one I’d kept concealed.

 

“You can barely keep your hand steady,” she observed, her gaze softening. “You might not have much time left, and you’re wasting it in here.”

 

“What do you suppose I do then? Accept death after I start a little family with you?” I snapped, my voice cutting through the room like dropped glass.

 

For a second, her eyes glistened. She blinked away the moisture, biting her bottom lip. I turned my attention to the book in my hands, but my eyes barely registered a word.

 

“Am I interrupting something?”

 

Delancy and I looked up to see the High Priestess, Ivanna, standing in front of us with an amused smile playing on her rosy lips. Lancy rolled her eyes, tucking a book away with a little too much force. “Would it kill you to knock?”

 

“When you can walk through walls and disappear as you please, you forget how to use a door,” Ivanna responded in a matter-of-fact tone, giving her a dismissive wave. The High Priestess’s cat-like eyes danced around the room before settling on me.

 

My fists clenched at my sides as I eyed her cautiously. Ivanna had a habit of getting under my skin. It was a kink of hers. If I didn’t need her so much, her whole coven would return to their little town on the outskirts of the border. For good.

 

But our species had been coexisting for the last hundred years. Witches aided wolves with magic and sorcery, and we offered them protection magic couldn’t. That was something Ivanna often forgot.

 

“So what’s this? A book club?” She arched a brow as she ran a finger down the faded cover of a book on the shelf. “My, my. These are some of our coven’s books,” she remarked, shooting me a deadly glare. “I knew your grandfather stole these. I just didn’t know he was foolish enough to leave them here in plain sight.”

 

“Let the dead rest in peace, Ivanna,” I said dismissively, taking up another book from a nearby shelf. If she wanted to confront my grandfather, she could resurrect him at her leisure and question him then. “I need your assistance.”

 

Ivanna narrowed her eyes on me. “And what could be so important that your healing session had to wait? I have six witches downstairs waiting for you.”

 

She sounded as though she had better places to be than this palace. Knowing her, she probably had brought a human to experiment with back at her coven and was itching to return to her new pet.

 

In a word, the woman was sick.

 

“Our Alpha believes he saw a woman heal an injured animal with her blood,” Delancy chimed in, looking anywhere but at me.

 

Ivanna’s eyes widened for a second, and her gaze flicked toward my direction. There wasn’t a trace of amusement on her features any longer.

 

“A wolf?”

 

“Yes, Ivanna, a wolf. It has been established,” I scowled.

 

“Oh, is that so? Interesting,” she mused. “Let me understand something, Alpha. You saw a creature tending to a wild animal. And you’re certain it was one of your kind?”

 

A ball of laughter escaped her lips as she appeared beside me. Her scent was strong, like nightshade and a faint hint of human blood. The lines on my face twitched in a subtle grimace.

 

But Ivanna held her chin and let out a breath. “That still doesn’t explain why we’re in here. Or why it concerns me.” She pulled out a chair and settled into it with a bored look on her face.

 

I leaned against the wall, allowing myself a small smile. “It is very possible one of my ancestors encountered such a wolf and documented it here. Our libraries hold more information than the archives in your coven, after all.”

 

“Only because they raided our archives and took them by force,” she shot back, scowling at the smirk that formed on my lips. Provoking Ivanna was one of life’s few pleasures. And it was something I’d miss dearly if this poison found its way to my heart before I could stop it.

 

“As for why it concerns you, I assumed you’d be interested if we did find such a powerful creature,” I shrugged casually, watching the glint in her eyes return. It was the sort of look a cat gave its prey. The sort of look Ivanna gave to her human pets. And for some reason, that didn’t sit right with me.

 

“Well,” she began, brushing away a speck of dust off her white dress. “You clearly don’t want to bring too much attention to this. So we can’t ask around, can we?”

 

I shook my head. If word got around that I’d found such a wolf, they’d put a bounty on her head before I could get to her myself. Such cruel irony, wouldn’t it be? If she died before she could stop me from doing so.

 

“Do you think the councillors would know?” Lancy asked, finally inserting herself into the conversation. But Ivanna waved away the suggestion before I could get a word out.

 

“I’m older than all the councillors combined, and even I wasn’t aware a wolf’s blood could heal,” she shared, her gaze sliding toward me as she smiled. “I assumed your kind were nothing more than savages.”

 

I cocked my head at her, studying her closely. I was right. Even after years of living in mutualism, she still bore some resentment. But if Ivanna was anything like me, she knew when to swallow her prejudice if it meant getting something for herself. Even if she choked on her pride.

 

“Do you suppose she could heal poison?” I proposed, ignoring the tingling feeling that crawled up my arm. It was a ridiculous question to ask without evidence. Healing an injured animal and purging poison from a body were far from the same thing. Whatever magic lived in that wolf’s blood might have limits I couldn’t begin to comprehend.

 

And somehow, that’s what made this all the more thrilling.

 

I watched as Delancy’s eyes widened at my words. She stepped closer, her hand settling on my shoulder gently. “Please don’t tell me you’re thinking of going on a wild goose chase for this girl.”

 

I shrugged her hand away a little too aggressively and watched her slowly retreat from me. For a brief, uncomfortable second, I wanted to take it back. But I pushed the pang of guilt aside and picked up another book instead.

 

Delancy’s eyes turned glassy again. “Gabriel—”

 

I looked to Ivanna, ignoring the break in Delancy’s voice. “Whatever your coven is doing is clearly not working. This might be the only chance I have left.”

 

She tutted, hopefully considering my idea. Then her lips curled as she scanned the entire library.

 

“I, for one, think it would be remarkable to discover a wolf healer,” she declared, but I could only imagine what twisted experiments she had in mind.

 

“Well, then, you both are wasting your time.” Delancy set down the books in her hands on the nearest table. The thud made me look at her for a brief second before she walked out of the library. “This isn’t going to lead anywhere, Gabriel.”

 

When I didn’t meet her gaze, she shut the door with a bang, causing specks of dust to flutter down. I could hear her footsteps as she retreated to her room and could almost imagine her sulking on her bed like she did each time we argued.

 

Sometimes that girl had a worse temper than I did. But she’d get over it. She always did. That was the thing about Lancy. No matter how hard I tried to push her away, she’d always inch three steps closer. And I’d grown accustomed to how irritating it could be.

 

“That girl worries about you,” Ivanna drawled, running a finger down the length of one of the shelves, forming a small crack.

 

A vein in my arm throbbed slightly. “I never asked her to.”

 

The witch turned to me and tilted her head to the side. “You’re a difficult man to please, Gabriel.”

 

Oh, good. She’d noticed.

 

“You wouldn’t have shared this with her if she didn’t have your trust.”

 

I let out a sigh from between my slightly parted lips. “What I do with my mistresses is none of your concern.”

 

Ivanna didn’t argue or respond. Instead, she flicked her fingers through the books we’d already gone through, biting back a condescending smile.

 

“Need I remind you of your place, Ivanna?” I warned, staring down at her, my fangs itching.

 

“Oh, please, Gabriel,” she chuckled, running a finger down my chest and smiling when I slapped her hand away. “You might be the stronger species, but I’ve been around much longer than you have.” Her expression darkened, and her fingers curled at her sides. “Much, much longer.”

 

The threat in her gaze disappeared almost as quickly as it came. “In fact, I might know something about your little wolf healer.” She winked.

 

I blinked at her, failing to restrain my curiosity. “You do?”

 

The corner of her lips curled upwards, her eyes glowing in the dimly lit room. “No. But I know someone who will.”

 

“You do?”

 

“A friend of mine who owes me a little favour. He’s my eyes and ears.”

 

“Who?”

 

“Would it be fun if I told you everything?” she teased, chuckling as her grin grew wider. My gaze narrowed on her as I fought to swallow the unease that rose in my chest.

 

“You have your secrets,” she drawled, grabbing my arm and inspecting it. I bit back a wince as the markings caught my gaze. The dark veins had started to snake up my chest. And Ivanna chuckled. “And I have mine.”

 

“Try not to die while I’m gone,” she said, a little too gleefully. “That might be hard to do. You have barely a week left.”

 

And with that, she disappeared.