Dark Secrets - Linsey Hall Page 0,16

again.

I stood, my gaze going to the book that we’d brought up from Eve’s shop. “Do you mind if I look at that again tonight?”

Eve frowned. “Is it safe?”

“The wall cursed them, not the book.” I shrugged, trying to appear casual. “I think it will be fine. If there’s a problem, Cordelia will get you.”

Cordelia glared. I need my beauty sleep.

“You’re beautiful enough, so do me a favor, okay?”

She grumbled but nodded.

“It’s all yours,” Seraphia said.

“Thanks.” I grabbed the book and waved goodnight to them as they piled out the door.

Cordelia trundled after me to the bedroom. She slept in a ratty old armchair that Mac and I had unearthed in a secondhand shop. Mac had disapproved of our find, but I loved the worn blue velvet, and so did Cordelia.

Be quick. Cordelia climbed onto her chair. I’ll be asleep in no time.

“Yeah, yeah.” I flung myself onto the bed, barely managing to strip out of my jeans and shoes.

The night sounds of Guild City drifted through my window as I leaned back against the headboard and flipped through the pages. The golden glow of the lamp illuminated the tiny, ancient print.

What are you looking for?

“I’m not sure.” I kept flipping. “I think I’ve got all the clues I can out of it—using my magic, at least. But I haven’t read it. It’s a history of Guild City.”

That means it’s a history of the Devil.

“Maybe.” But that’s exactly what I’d been thinking. I could probably learn about him through this book. Given what was growing between us, I wasn’t going to look a gift book in the mouth. Even if it was cursed.

Carefully, I searched for the Devil’s name. He was rarely mentioned, but when he was, he was always doing something important.

Like establishing the city, for one. Apparently, he’d been on the original council hundreds of years ago and had helped draft the city designs, basing them on his hometown of Sighișoara in Romania.

Did he miss it?

As the pages turned and the years passed, the Devil appeared more infrequently, as if he’d stepped out of the limelight and become the loner I knew him to be. For someone with so much power and influence—and so many employees—he spent most of his time alone, as far as I could tell.

Not a single friend, unless you counted Miranda. And you couldn’t. She was a great right hand, but she wasn’t his pal.

The mystery of the Devil—of Grey—ran through my mind as my eyelids grew heavy, and the book slipped from my grasp.

When the dream came, I didn’t even realize it was a dream. The line between wakefulness and sleep was so fine that it didn’t exist.

Instead, I was immediately in the future, wrapped around Grey as he bent over me, his fangs brushing against my skin. A shiver raced through me, fear and desire in equal parts.

I moaned, tilting my head, wanting more of him. He groaned low in his throat. The noise made the heat inside me burn ever brighter. When his fangs pierced my skin, pleasure flared.

I clutched him to me, clinging. Waves of pleasure crashed over me as he drew on my neck. Every pull felt better than the last, until my head began to spin. My heart stuttered, and my skin grew cold.

Dimly, I realized that this was bad. This wasn’t normal.

“Grey.” I tried to speak, but the word was barely a whisper. He didn’t stop. Panic flared.

I tried to struggle, but it was too late. He’d taken too much. There wasn’t enough blood left to deliver oxygen to my muscles, and I was fading away. Dying.

My last thought was one that had haunted me since I’d heard it.

Cursed Mates.

7

Carrow

Hey! Wake up!

Cold water splashed on my face, and I jerked upright, gasping.

Cordelia sat next to me on the bed, my water cup clutched in both of her little paws. She grinned toothily at me. You weren’t waking up.

I scowled. “You hardly tried.”

She held up the cup. I tried very hard.

“Dumping water on my face isn’t trying hard.” I pushed my wet hair off my forehead and tried to still my racing heart.

That dream…

I shuddered.

It couldn’t be a vision of the future, could it?

But it was. It was exactly what I’d seen when I’d touched Grey last week. A vision of our future—of what “Cursed Mates” meant to us. Except we didn’t know why or how, exactly.

Cordelia shifted, staring at me with solemn eyes. The Devil is here.

“What?” Surprise flashed through me. “Already? Why didn't you lead with