“Nothing?” I asked.
Keven had dug that book out of the archives, along with several others that he found for Luna. This was one of the oldest books in the entire library. I would have thought it had something about the Tether in it.
“Tethering is mentioned in passing, but that’s all.” She groaned, rubbing her temples. “The few citations I’ve found are cryptic, at best. The only common thread between them that I can find are subtle references to a place called The House of Forgotten Shadows, but there isn’t any information beyond that. It might not even matter. I don’t know.”
Frustration leaked into Luna’s voice, and she rubbed her temples.
“I am not familiar with the name, but I can ask Keven,” I said. “Maybe he knows more about this House.”
Luna stood, collecting some books and placing them in her bag. “I just don’t understand.” Her voice was curt, and the guards at the entrance of the library glanced up. “Why did Ciro do this to us, Sebastian?”
“I don’t know.” Shadowing over to Luna’s side, I took the bag from her and slipped it over my shoulder. “I have people. Spies. They’re doing everything they can to find him. Rhain is out there searching for any clues, and he will report back as soon as he knows anything. ”
Tilting her head, Luna studied me. “Do you trust him? Rhain? In the forest, you seemed… a little hostile.”
Sucking my breath in, I ran my tongue over the tips of my fangs. “That was different.”
“How?” She eyed me as if she was trying to read me like one of her books. “You choked him. It seemed like he was moments away from dying.”
I loved the fact that she felt comfortable enough with me to ask these questions. Most people saw me and ran the other way. Not Luna. She saw me and wanted to understand.
“Being moments away from dead means you’re still alive, darling.” I winked.
“Barely,” she retorted.
A touch of color was coming back to Luna’s cheeks, and it seemed like she enjoyed sparring with me as much as I did. I would do this with her all night long if it meant we were speaking again.
Leaning in close to my wife, her scent rose to my nose as I whispered, “Barely alive is still alive.”
She muttered, “Semantics.”
“Not really. Rhain’s head is still on his shoulders, and his black heart lives to beat another day.” Slanting my head, I met Luna’s brown eyes. “Do you know what happens to vampires when we die?”
“No, but I’m assuming you’re about to inform me?”
She was right. Raising a brow, I squeezed her shoulder.
“It’s important you know this. Just in case.” It wasn’t safe for Luna to live in this castle without knowing how to defend herself. Now seemed like as good of a time as any to go into the topic. The privacy ward I had erected around this area of the library was still intact, and I felt comfortable having this conversation here. “There are very few ways to kill us. Beheading, of course.”
“Of course,” Luna repeated dryly.
“That one is rather obvious. Not even a vampire can survive that. Fire is another way. It’s slower, though. Takes more skill. The same with the sun.” I’d witnessed vampires burning alive in the sunlight. It was a horrible affair, and not one I intended to see ever again. “When vampires take a stake to the heart, though, it’s different.”
She frowned. “What do you mean? How is it different?”
I rubbed the back of my neck, trying to word this properly. “Being staked isn’t an instant death. Even with wood in the center of our hearts, it takes a minute or two before death is final. Black veins crawl out from the point of impact until the vampire’s entire body is covered in them. From afar, they’re nearly invisible, but up close, they draw the eye.”
She raised a brow. “Like a… deadly spider web?”
“Exactly.” That was a fantastic description.
Luna shuddered. “That is rather horrible. I suppose Rhain is meant to be happy that you spared him that fate?”
“He is.” I nodded.
Pulling her bottom lip through her teeth, Luna eyed me. “I see. That’s… well, I suppose that’s fine.” She sighed, and something flickered through the Binding Mark. Nervousness. “There’s something else…”
“What?” I asked, perhaps a little too eagerly.