Page 62 of Unbound

“And along with working with Vaelric, she has quite the body count of her own.” Marie’s voice hardens. “Whatever you do, don’t rush into this. Remember, it took an entire Coven to take those two down.”

“I know.” I get to my feet again and shake out my hands, trying to release some of the nervous energy building beneath my skin. Tiny sparks flicker around my fingertips. If Claire was experiencing things like this without knowing she was a witch, she probably thought she was losing her mind.

“Does Vivian know you have the notebook and the vial of Claire’s blood?” Marie asks.

“I don’t know.” I start pacing.

“They were left at the warehouse, and we went back for them hours later. Vivian could’ve assumed Marco grabbed the bag. Or maybe she thought it got lost in everything that happened.”

“Just be careful,” Marie says. “If they need Claire’s blood for a locator spell, Vivian may come looking for it.”

“Yeah.”

“Holy shit,” Antonio mutters. Then, apparently determined to tempt fate, he adds, “I hate to say it, but I don’t know how this day could possibly get any worse.”

I shoot him a look. “Seriously?” Unlike Mabel, he knows better than to jinx us.

“Well,” Marie says with a nervous laugh, “let me be the one to make it worse.” I stop pacing. “I found out what happened between your families.”

My stomach drops. “What?”

“The reason the Blackwoods and Bellamys had a falling-out.”

I suck in a breath. “What happened?”

“It seems they disagreed over how the prisons should be sealed.” Marie pauses. “You already know the Blackwoods use blood magic. Their prisons were designed so only someone from the bloodline that created them could open or close the door.”

“Right.”

“The Bellamys thought that wasn’t secure enough.”

I slowly sit back down.

“What did they do instead?”

“To open a Bellamy prison,” Marie says, “you need more than Bellamy blood.”

The room goes completely silent.

“You need to sacrifice a life.”

Chapter

Twenty-Three

“Is Claire even enough to open the gate?” Devon asks. I shoot him a look. He winces.

“That’s a fair question,” Marie says. “And honestly, I don’t know.”

“Vaelric is definitely going to try,” I say. “What’s one murdered human to him if it doesn’t work?”

My heart speeds up again, and for a second I seriously consider texting Delphi and asking her to write me a prescription for Klonopin. Or Xanax. Probably both.

“We need to find her.”

“I really don’t think you should cast a locator spell,” Marie says. “I hate to say something seems too easy and therefore it probably is, but this feels like one of those situations.”

“I agree with her,” Antonio says. Then his expression changes. “And now I’m wondering if that notebook was left there on purpose for you to find, Wren.” I stare at him. “Think about it,” he continues. “It was almost too perfect.”