Chapter Fourteen
I hadn’t gotten much sleep, and I didn’t have time for it now. Not when some fey beastie might be coming for me.
After having some food in Donovan’s quarters, we decided it’d be best to split up for a little bit. Donovan was a little hesitant about that but figured if Bhrunyz came after me, he could get to me pretty quickly. I just had to hold the beast off for a minute. So, he headed to the workout rooms. The pack’s Cazadores would be there, probably with whoever was scared and wanting battle practice, so him being present served two purposes. He could make everyone feel safer and assist in training. And he could do some very casual sussing out of the pack to see if anyone was willing to spill about someone who was vocally trying to get rid of him.
Since it was highly unlikely that any pack member would open up to me, I was going to focus on the more immediate problem. Bhrunyz.
Before Donovan left, I got directions to the library. Whenever I didn’t know where to start, research was key. Each pack maintained its own library of books on magic, supernaturals, and anything that might be helpful in future fights. The size of the library showed how long a pack had been around. In a stronghold this old, the library had to be huge. There was no way a pack survived long enough to build a castle without gathering a wealth of knowledge.
There had to be something about this fey monster. He had to have a weakness of some sort because everything had a weakness. I just needed to find his.
And hopefully finding that weakness would give me a clue as to who—or what—had set Bhrunyz free.
The smell of the books—the vanilla of aging pages and worn leather bindings—hit me before I reached the library. I turned a corner and pushed through the doors. They opened into a sitting room with leather couches and comfy armchairs that I could imagine sinking into for days. A fireplace burned, giving the place a warm, cozy feeling. Twisting staircases were evenly spaced around the room, leading up to the balcony level. There were tables and chairs around, but no artwork. There wasn’t room. The books took up every inch of wall space.
And one circle around the room proved that there wasn’t a computer to be found.
I groaned. This was going to be impossible. There were too many books. If I couldn’t run a search, how in the hell was I supposed to find the information I needed?
My phone buzzed and I pulled it from my pocket.
What I saw on the screen was a bit of shock. Cosette was texting me?
You have to find Bhrunyz.
Right. Text me something that I don’t know. I’m going to do my best.
You don’t understand. He’s meant to be dead. The fey have done you wolves wrong in this. I can’t say much more, but if you succeed, my court will owe you a debt. Be sure to make my mother own up to it. It’s important and I could use the help.
Shit. What else could go wrong? But I couldn’t ignore her. You got it. That’s not something I’ll forget.
I watched my phone, waiting for another text, but instead got a big fat nothing.
A tidy desk was stuck in the back corner. Again, no computer, but there was a half-eaten sandwich on a plate which made me think that someone worked here.
“Hello?” I didn’t yell, but if a Were was hiding somewhere in here, they’d hear me.
Silence.
I wandered through the stacks, trying to make sense of the organization, but magic books were mixed with books about fey and witches. They weren’t even in alphabetical order. If anything, it looked like the librarian had sorted them by color.
But what kind of librarian would be that asinine? Whoever organized this place clearly had a system. I just wasn’t getting it.
There had to be thousands—hundreds of thousands—of books in here. It put to shame every other stronghold library I’d seen. Where, oh where, was the stinking librarian?
I rested my head on the closest shelf and sighed. Hoping to jog something loose, I banged my head on the shelf a few times.
An idea. Or maybe I’d even learn something by osmosis. Because that was a thing, right?
Think, Meredith. Think. What next?
“Can I help?”
My heartbeat kicked into gear as I spun to find a Were standing behind me. He had curly blond hair that made him look a bit like a cherub—or maybe that was just his round baby face. A long scar ran from his ear down his neck, disappearing under his dress shirt. It didn’t detract from his beauty but contrasted sharply with his babyish features. The scar told me he wasn’t as innocent as he seemed.
“Hi. I’m Meredith.”
“I know who you are.” He looked me up and down, stopping only to sneer at my hair.
Maybe my mom had a point about the blue streaks, but I didn’t care. If this Were didn’t like me because I dyed my hair, then I didn’t like him either. “Right.” I really had to start paying closer attention to my surroundings. Especially here. He shouldn’t have been able to sneak up on me so easily. “And your name is?”
“Feidhelm.”
The word was clipped and I didn’t love his tone, but he had offered to help. “Actually, yes. I need to find a book on the fey.”
“We have a card catalog here.” He motioned to what I’d thought was a low bookcase, but now that I looked closer, I could see the drawer pulls.
I remembered learning about card catalogs at some point, but I’d never actually seen one. The Irish pack was stuck in the past in a lot of ways.
“Is there something specific you need to know about the fey or…?”
“Bhrunyz. I need information on a fey called Bhrunyz. Anything you have would be great.”
“This is about John,” Feidhelm said as he moved past me. It wasn’t a question.
“Yes.” I took a sniff. “You smell…” Like flowers. Only werewolves didn’t smell floral.
“I’m half fey.” Before I could ask any questions, he cut me off. “Let me pull some stuff for you. Sit.”
Interesting. I wondered if maybe his curls and round baby face came from a sprite, but I pushed his looks out of my mind. It didn’t really matter. All I needed to know was how to stop the fey monster. “I can help if—”
“I’m the curator here. Wouldn’t want to have to undo any missorting you made to my books.” His sneer was back.
Maybe he was particular about his books, but he was still being a dick. “Fine.” I bit the word out. “I appreciate the help.” This was third pack member that I’d actually talked to, and I had to make a good impression. Even if he was being rude.
Feidhelm grunted and started up the closest staircase. “Sit.” He pointed again.
Obeying his command wasn’t something I could do. Not unless I wanted it getting out that the pack librarian was more alpha than me. Which he wasn’t.
I leaned against one of the tables. “I’ll wait here.” As soon as he started piling books in front of me, I started reading.
Hours later, I finally gave up and sat down. The mountain of books surrounding me was so tall I couldn’t see around them, and I still hadn’t found one mention of Bhrunyz. I was starting to wonder if this Feidhelm was helping or just bringing me random books.
“This should hold you for a while.”
It would hold me for a decade. “Thanks.” The word was sharp, but he didn’t seem to notice or care. I waited until he turned his back before saying, “You know, the whole card catalog thing is really outdated. You could get computers for that. It would be much faster.”
He glanced back at me with a haughty look. “We have a computer, but it’s only for pack members. Which you are not.”
The library door slammed behind him, leaving me in perfect silence.
What an asshole. Not a pack member? I would be soon, and then he and I were going to have a serious talk.
But honestly, I was glad he was gone. Having him stare over my shoulder had been getting on my nerves. And now that he’d left, I might actually be able to find something. Only, it would take me forever to go through all these books on my own.
I didn’t trust Feidhelm. Not one bit. And not just because he was rude. It was almost as if by giving me too many books—and maybe not even the right books—he was covering something up.
I stood, taking a stretch, and moved toward the stacks. If only I was at St. Ailbe’s. They had an extensive library, and all the books were listed on the intranet and tagged by subject. I picked up one of the books on top of the pile. “Healing the Soul by Ty Bannon. How in the hell was that supposed to help me?” I threw the book to the side. Feidhelm was a jerk.
After three more books that were clearly off topic, I called Adrian. Maybe I couldn’t get to St. Ailbe’s to do my research, but he could. He was still on campus, except he wasn’t answering. When I looked at the time, I realized why. He was probably starting his evening patrol.
But there was one other person I could try. She was still at St. Ailbe’s while it was officially closed. I put my phone on speaker while the call tried to connect.
“Claudia!” I said as soon as she picked up.
“Is everything okay?”
I winced. “Uh, kind of not really, but I’m alive so, it’s all good.”
“Yeah. Alive is good…”
“I’m sorry to ask, but I need help.” I gave her the quick version of what’d happened since I got to Ireland. “Any chance you can look up some stuff for me about Bhrunyz? I know you’re taking off for Peru soon, and I don’t want to keep you. I just need book titles. I probably have copies here, but I can’t sort through everything, and I have no idea how to use this card system or if it even has an index as extensive—”
“Yes,” she said, cutting off my rambling. God, I was getting tired. “Of course. I’m up now. I’ll go straight to the library.”
I sighed as I slouched into the nearest chair. “Thanks. I owe you one.”
“I’ll add it to your tab.”
I laughed. “Let me know when you find something.”
“As soon as I do, I’ll call you. Or I guess if it’s late your time, I could email?”
“No. I don’t have any internet access here. Just call anytime.” I needed the information as soon as she had it and not a second later.
“Okay. Talk soon.”
“Bye.” I hung up and went back to the table with my mountain of books. Eenie, meenie, miney… I grabbed a random book from the third towering stack. The Fey Courts: An Introduction to Fey Policies and Politics.
Yeah. Not helpful, library douche.
My phone vibrated on the table. I answered, putting it on speaker. “You found something already?” I switched over to my notes app, ready to take down names of books.
“Not exactly,” Claudia said. “Lucas knows of Bhrunyz.”
I couldn’t believe it. I mean, I guessed that made sense. Lucas was an old Alpha. But still, it was a hell of a coincidence. “Really? You can’t be serious.”
“Really.” There was a little lift in her voice. She sounded excited. “He was listening when you were talking. I’m sorry if I wasn’t—”
“Claudia. It’s fine. I’m a Were, too. Remember? I know how good his hearing is.”
She laughed softly. “Right. Sorry. Um, so he says that—”
“Hi, Meredith.” Lucas’ deep rumble came through the line.
“Hey, Lucas. What have you got for me?”
“I’m wondering what’s going on with Donovan’s home pack that this beast was able to kill his second inside the stronghold.”
“The pack’s a mess.”
“That’s not surprising. We’ve all wondered how he’s balancing so much.” Lucas paused, waiting for me to fill in, but I wasn’t about to gossip about my own mate. “The important thing to know is that Bhrunyz can transport.”
Fear chilled me to the bones.
“But even with that, he cannot enter quietly or leave without notice. The beast is loud. Bhrunyz was used to hunt enemies that the Lunar court wanted dead. He’s given a scent, and then tracks and kills his target. If not given the order to kill on sight, he takes his prey back to his lair and tortures the poor victim until fear floods their blood. But I was told that he never kills without an order to do so.”
“So Bhrunyz had to have been specifically sent after John and Thomas.”
“Exactly. And if I were to guess, someone in the pack is giving him orders. Do you have ideas who?”
If only that question were easy to answer. “Donovan has some serious problems. We’re working on figuring that out, but it might take a while. In the meantime, I’m hoping to take Bhrunyz out of the equation.”
“That’s not going to be easy,” Lucas said. “I lost a lot of good fighters going after him. It’d be best if you find out who’s controlling him. Fast.”
More good news. I rested my head on a pile of books.
“Meredith,” Claudia called out. “Whoever it is, they have to be very close with the fey or else they wouldn’t have known about Bhrunyz or how to control him. If Lucas wasn’t here, we might not have known anything about this beast. That said, I’m still going to do some digging in the library.”
“Awesome. Thank you. Anything you can find will be a huge help.”
“My pleasure,” Claudia said, and then hung up.
I flipped open the closest book. Twenty minutes later, Claudia texted with a list of titles and a promise that she was going to start doing some reading, too.
It was a start. I could do this.
No. I had to do this.
If I failed…
I couldn’t even think about that. I wasn’t going to fail. I was going to kill this thing before it killed me.