Masquerade (Blue Bloods 2)

Mimi gritted her teeth. That was the Van Alen mouse again, talking to her brother. She stood up and cleared her throat, peering over the low shelves at the two of them.

Jack and Schuyler immediately moved away from each other.

"I'll, uh, see you later," Schuyler said, taking her books and walking over to a different desk, not realizing she still had his copy.

"Oh, hi," Jack said, turning in his seat to smile at his sister. "I didn't even know you knew the way to this place."

"Don't you underestimate me, Benjamin Force. For your information, I'm a huge reader," Mimi sniffed.

Jack grinned. Liar, he sent.

You're the liar, she sent back.

He made a conciliatory gesture. Forgive me.

Always. Mimi's face softened.

I'm off. I'll see you at home.

Bye.

Mimi watched him leave, but even with his gentle thoughts imprinted on her mind, she couldn't help but feel troubled. Why was Schuyler still a factor? There was something about that girl that was keeping her brother off balance, she could feel it. She could sense his desire to commit himself to their bond, but it was almost as if he were convincing himself to fall in love with her against his will. Why? It had never been like this before. In every cycle, the two of them had reaffirmed their bond without any complications.

For a moment, the supreme, smug self-confidence left Mimi's face, and she looked like a lost and scared little girl. What if he leaves me? What if he doesn't renew our bond when the time comes? What will happen to us?

Mimi shuddered as she thought of Allegra Van Alen, lying in her hospital bed, practically dead to the world.

She could not let that happen, to either of them.

"You look like you've seen a ghost," Kingsley said, setting a thick book in front of Mimi.

Mimi flashed him her most disarming smile. "I wish." She looked down at the leather-bound tome.

"What is that?"

"It's something we shouldn't be looking at. It's an old reference book of forbidden spells. You've heard about this Croatan thing, right--the Silver Bloods?" Kingsley asked.

"Yeah," Mimi said warily. "But they're not supposed to exist."

"Right," Kingsley smirked. "Only because they're not so obedient anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"Silver Bloods used to be the Blue Bloods' slaves. When we were doomed to spend our immortal lives on earth, those who still followed Lucifer were subdued by Michael and Gabrielle, for a time. We controlled them, but they rose up against us and stopped doing our bidding. They hunted us, we hunted them, the war raged on for centuries. Now supposedly they're gone. But there is a way to bring them back."

"What do you mean?" Mimi asked, thinking Kingsley was being way too cavalier about this sort of thing. The Silver Bloods weren't some kind of joke, after all. Most Blue Bloods couldn't even talk about it.

"Call one from the Dark. You know. Make it do whatever you want," Kingsley said.

"I don't know if I like the sound of that," Mimi said, shuddering. "Too serious for me."

"C'mon, I think it would be fun," Kingsley said. Kingsley used "fun" to describe all manner of mischief It was apparent that to him, a dark and dangerous old spell was equal to driving a Ferrari at two hundred and fifty miles an hour: probably not a great idea, but one that had to be undertaken just to say you had done it.

"Nah." Mimi shook her head. But even if she wasn't interested in that, there might be something else she could find in the book that might prove useful.

Materia acerbus. Dark matter.

She turned to the first page and began to read.