“Nothing good. I don’t know specifics, but considering who she was? You can bet it was a rotten fucking idea.”

“Okay, so a female came up to you and asked you for the Book. Do you know where it is?”

“Nope. It left my ‘friend.’”

“Left her? Like, the goddamn thing called an Uber and headed out of Caldwell? Or wherever it was?”

“Something like that. From what she told me, it chooses its way in this world.” Rehv rubbed his eyes. “Look, you can use the spells in it to do all kinds of shit you shouldn’t. And the fact that this female knew to come to me? It’s bad news, all the way around.”

“So she knows your friend?”

“She was referred to me through an old acquaintance of my mahmen’s. I followed the female so I could get her license plate number—not that it’s going to help us much. Still, I gave it to V in case she’s registered her human alias in a species database somewhere. And as for why she’s looking for the Book? I saw her grid. She’s desperate to the point of insanity. It’s the worst combination—incredible dark power mixed with that kind of despair.”

Wrath went silent.

“You know I’m not an alarmist,” Rehv said. “This is very dangerous. I don’t know what else to—”

“You don’t have to tell me any more.” Wrath lowered his head, and those blind eyes glowed behind the wraparounds. “The answer is easy. We get the Book before the female does and destroy it. End of.”

Like it’s going to be that simple, Rehv thought.

Still, at least Wrath was on board and taking shit seriously.

“We’ve got to find it first.” Rehv stroked a palm over his Mohawk. “And as for part two of that plan? Something tells me it’s not going to go without a fight.”

“We’ll use all the resources we have—and you know I hate losing.”

Rehv cursed under his breath. “I feel like this is the part in the action movie when I say, ‘This is unlike anything you’ve gone after before, Indy.’”

“Well, you’ve got that out of the way, then,” Wrath muttered. “Good on ya.”

“And as for the locating shit, there’s only so much V can look up on the Internet, as smart as he is. And something tells me this ancient source of evil is not going to be Google-able.”

“You leave the GPS’ing to me. I have an ace in the hole when it comes to finding things like that.”

Rehv stared off at the cold fireplace and pictured the Princess, with her triple-jointed fingers and those scorpions in her ears. The memories of her perverted shit made his stomach churn, but he had to go there. He had to try to remember everything he could about the ancient tome.

“It’s okay,” Wrath murmured. “You’ve done enough coming forward.”

“I’ll check in with my people. See what else I can find out.”

“That’ll be good.”

With a groan, Rehv got to his feet. “I was ready for a break, you know. The Lessening Society gone, the Omega outta here. It was supposed to be the start of a fresh chapter.”

“Unfortunately, it’s just the same ol’ horror story, my friend. Life demands the battle for survival. That’s just the way it is. And as for this Book, I’ll call the Brotherhood in, tell them what you’ve said. You should be at the meeting.”

“Fine. Let me know when?”

“How’s now sound.”

“I’ll go get Tohr for you. He’s in the billiards room.”

“Perfect.”

Rehv nodded and headed for the doors. As he went to step out of them, he paused in the archway. Wrath was back to focusing on his dog, the great Blind King crammed down underneath the desk and whispering to the animal, like he was explaining to George that everything was going to be okay, and he was a good boy, a very good boy, yes, yes, he was.

“Hey, Your Lordship.”

Wrath’s head popped up over the desk. “Yeah?”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure. But fair warning—if you want my opinion, you’re going to get it, and it’s rarely generous. Or so I’ve been told. Actually, the brothers made me a t-shirt.”

Rehv lifted his brows. “Really?”

“The front says, ‘Ask Me Anything.’ The back says, ‘Well, That’s Fucking Stupid.’ Apparently, I’m supposed to pivot around after they’re finished speaking—it’s so fucking stupid.” Wrath looked off to the side and frowned to himself. “Damn it.”

Pulling the halves of his mink together, Rehv cleared his throat and tugged at his cuff links. “Do you think I look like a cross between Liberace and Hannibal Lecter?”

Wrath shook his head as if he hadn’t heard that right. “What?”

“You know. Like Liberace and Hannibal Lecter. Had a baby.”

“Wow.” There was a pause. “That’s a lot of—first of all, why the hell would you ask a blind male what you look like?”

“Good point and never mind.” Rehv turned away. “I’ll get your boys ready.”

“Tell them to leave the Chianti downstairs.” Wrath raised his voice. “Unless you’re feeling thirsty.”

“Not funny,” Rehv muttered as he walked to the head of the stairs.

“Come on, that’s a little funny,” Wrath called out of the study. Beat of silence. “Fine, bring a candelabra with you if you’re feeling bitchy. Maybe it’ll light a fire under your funny bone.”

As booming laughter rippled free of the study and echoed around the entire fucking mansion, Rehv muttered his way down the steps. Note to self: Don’t give the great Blind King that kind of ammunition.

He really should have known better.

That’s right, put your wrist over the silver dish.”

Mae frowned and leaned across Tallah’s kitchen table for a closer look. Not that it changed the milky soup that had been made with the white vinegar, the lemon juice, the candle wax, and the salt.

Wrinkling her nose, she said, “You want me to cut myself?”

“Not deeply. But it has to be on your palm and across your lifeline.”

“I thought palm reading was a human thing.”

“It’s a universe thing.” Tallah extended the clean paring knife. “It has to cross your lifeline. And when you do it, imagine the Book coming to you. Finding you. Helping you as you need it to.”

“I don’t know what the Book looks like.”

“If it hears you, you will see it.” Tallah wiggled the knife. “Take this.”

Mae almost shook her head and made an excuse to get up and go to the loo. But then she thought about how vampires sank in water when they were dead. And how she never would have known that if not for Rhoger being—

She carefully took the blade from the elder female. But she didn’t put it to use. She thought of hoaxes. And Ouija boards. And crystal balls.

And how desperate she was not to be alone in this world.

“Tallah, you need to be honest with me. How are you so sure about all this?” When the female didn’t immediately answer, Mae kept a curse to herself. “It wasn’t just from what the Reverend’s mahmen told you, was it.”