A Shade of Vampire 54 by Bella Forrest

Author:Bella Forrest [Forrest, Bella]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-01-05T16:00:00+00:00

Avril

(Daughter of Lucas & Marion)

We looked around on the third level of the city, asking the occasional passing Iman to show us where Lemuel’s bookstore was. One young Iman girl pointed us the right way, and, shortly after we’d left Cynara and Hera back at the South Bend Inn, we found the old Iman’s place.

The lights were off. Heron and I quickly circled the house, listening and looking for any sign of movement inside, but the place was empty.

“We need to get inside, though,” I said, checking to see if anyone was coming by. Lemuel’s house was on a relatively secluded street, and the evening shade did a pretty good job of further concealing it. “I have to catch his scent from an object he has touched.”

“Okay, I can help with that.” Fiona smirked and produced a pin from her hair, which she used to pick the lock on the main door, while Heron and I kept a lookout.

The lock’s mechanism surrendered with a click, and Fiona pushed the door open. We went inside and began our survey of the place, without turning any lights on. The bookstore was on the ground floor—a quaint little place with wooden shelves and racks loaded with a variety of books, scrolls, and literary papers. Judging by the titles, there were some Imen works being sold; the Imen author names carried the mention of their species on the covers. I figured the titles were necessary to differentiate between the Maras and Imen.

There was a small reception desk in a corner, behind a circular staircase leading upstairs. Farther to the right, there was a kitchen area separated from the bookstore with a wooden panel, on which various literary scenes were illustrated in broad and colorful brush strokes. The opposite corner held a reading space, complete with a bench and two velvet armchairs, and molten candles on a side table.

Heron followed me upstairs, while Fiona kept looking through the shelves.

“Maybe there’s something useful here about the asteroid belt,” she whispered before I started up the stairs.

“Fair enough,” I replied. “I’ll look for something of Lemuel’s in the meantime.”

The top floor was spacious and modestly furnished, with a bedroom, an open living room, a kitchenette, and a tiled bathroom. I found a coat thrown on the armrest of one of the lounge chairs, and briefly sniffed it. Lemuel’s scent reminded me of crisp autumn mornings, a mixture of burnt wood, fallen leaves, and crushed grapes filling my senses.

“Got it?” Heron watched me, his jade eyes flickering with curiosity. I gave him a brief nod, and he moved back toward the stairs. “Let’s go, then.”

I followed him back to the ground floor, where Fiona was sifting through the bookshelves, checking each volume carefully before putting it back.

“We’re going to track Lemuel,” I said slowly. “Do you want to stay here and keep looking through the books, Fi? Or do you want to come with us? It’s up to you.”

“I’ll stay here.” She gave me a reassuring smile. “If anything, I’ll see you two later, at the infirmary.

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