have been written by Thoth himself, and others written about him. One such work, which exists today in fragments held by various museums around the world, references the so-called Writings of the House of Darkness.”
“I’ve heard of the Writings of the House of Darkness. The phrase House of Darkness was thought to refer to the realms of the dead, as I recall. No one is sure if the Writings ever truly existed, as far as I know.”
Valas folded her hands in her lap, her elbows on the arms of the chair. “The Writings of the House of Darkness are thirteen scrolls. Each contains funerary rites, rituals, incantations and spells regarding death and the Underworld, and invocations for various old gods. Because together they contain enough knowledge to bring an end to all life on Earth, the scrolls were spelled by their creators so no more than two could ever be in the same place at the same time, or even within a hundred leagues of each other.”
“Wait—the Writings are real?” Realization dawned. “You had one of the scrolls and Mariela stole it?”
“Indeed.” Visibly angry, Valas started to rise. Instead, she settled back into her chair. I suddenly wondered why she was sitting down while the rest of us stood. As head of the Court, it was certainly her privilege to do so, but I suspected there was more to it.
“Two scrolls were in the possession of the Court of Constantinople,” Valas said. “When Crusaders sacked the city in the thirteenth century, many who would have been captured for torture were forced to flee. Some chose to take priceless artifacts from the Court vaults, to preserve them from destruction or looting.”
“So you took a scroll, along with a few other items,” I guessed. “Why the scroll, though?”
“For its spells, naturally.” Her voice was crisp. “It is one of my most valued personal possessions, a treasure that reminds me of my homeland.”
“How did Mariela get hold of it?”
Her expression darkened. “Through a lapse in security, which has since been addressed.”
Behind me, from the shadows, Vlad hissed.
That was obviously all I was going to get in answer to that question, so I moved on to more pressing issues. “Why did she take it? And why did she take it through a mirror?”
At Valas’s nod, Adam spoke. “That we weren’t sure of until very recently. At Madame Valas’s request, I’ve been attempting to ascertain Mariela’s location and intentions, but it’s damn hard to See things that far away. She’s been using spells to hide herself. Last night, however, I finally received a vision.”
“What did you see?” I asked.
“He will show you,” Valas said.
I recoiled. I remembered all too well what happened the last time I’d shared one of Adam’s visions. “No, thanks. You can describe it.”
“You will not be harmed,” she snapped. “I have little patience for your timidity today.”
“Hey, screw you, vampire,” Malcolm said hotly before I could reply. “She almost died of a brain hemorrhage last time. She’s entitled to be cautious.”
Valas’s eyes glowed silver. “You will keep a civil tongue, or you will find yourself elsewhere.”
I stepped between them. “Don’t threaten him, Valas. If you’ve got something you want to show me, then do it, but take it easy on my brain. I’m not psychic, and I’ve recently had all my memories ripped out and then stuffed back in. If you scramble my egg, I won’t be going on any recovery mission for you.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Very well. Stand before me.”
Letting her touch me, let alone share a vision, was the last thing I wanted. I might learn something from it I could use against her, however, and we needed to know what we were going up against.
I joined Adam beside Valas’s chair. She wrapped her cold fingers around my wrist. The room around us plunged into darkness, and I fell into the void.
I stood knee-deep in bloody corpses. The stench of death was nearly unbearable.
Thousands of bodies, young and old, male and female, lay piled around me. All had horrible gaping wounds in their chests where their hearts had once been.
As if the scene wasn’t bad enough, from somewhere among the corpses, I heard the nauseating sound of something gorging itself, chewing with unmistakable gusto on what I assumed was the missing hearts.
In the distance, three shadows pursued a group of fleeing victims, leaving a wide path of bloody bodies in their wake. The screams of the dying split the air.
Scattered among the bodies around me were blood-splattered banners and