Drink Deep - Chloe Neill [111]
“It is none of those things,” he said. “The Maleficium is a book. A spell book, for which we are the current guardians.”
My hands shook on the table from the sudden burst of adrenaline. “What do you mean we?”
“We, as in Cadogan House. It was given to Ethan for safekeeping.”
“But the sorcerers all think the Order has it. Catcher mentioned something about Nebraska. How could they not know it was in Cadogan House?”
He made a sound of disdain. “If you had a book that held all the evil in the world and explained its use, would you let sorcerers know where it was kept? Would you let the Order—the very people who’d try to use it—be its keepers? They help pick the guardians, but they’re the last ones who should have possession.”
Point made. So, to summarize, the Order didn’t have the Maleficium . It was safe and sound in Cadogan House.
At least, it was supposed to be.
But if magic that crossed the boundary between good and evil was being worked across the city to reunite good and evil, maybe it wasn’t so safe . . .
“As its guardians,” I quietly began, “where do we store the Maleficium ?”
“I shouldn’t tell you this, you know. But given what’s going on out there . . .” He trailed off, and for a moment I thought he wouldn’t confess it. But then he said the words that changed everything.
“The Maleficium is in the House vault.”
With that news in hand, Kelley called Malik and Luc down to the Ops Room. Frank, unfortunately, decided to tag along. When we were all assembled, Lindsey closed the Ops Room door again.
“Kelley?” Malik asked. “What’s going on?”
She looked at me. “This one’s all Merit,” she said, and gave me the floor. At her nod, I laid it out.
“We know Cadogan House is the current guardian of the Maleficium , the book that holds evil.”
The room went silent.
Frank blustered a bit about magic and secrets, but I kept my eyes trained on Malik—and I saw the second he decided to tell us the truth.
“We are the guardians,” Malik agreed, holding up a hand to silence Frank. “It is always passed from one guardian to another in secrecy. McDonald House had it last. We have it now.”
“And it’s stored in the vault?” I asked.
After a moment, Malik nodded.
“I think we need to check the vault.”
“Because?” Malik asked.
“I understand the events we’ve seen reflect an imbalance between good and evil,” I explained. “Good and evil used to be united. The world as we know it exists now only because good and evil were separated from each other. The world keeps its rules only as long as they remain in balance, opposites of equal force.”
“And when they’re imbalanced,” Luc said, “the natural world goes haywire. Earth. Air. Water.”
“Exactly,” I said with a nod. “The Maleficium tells of the division between good and evil, and identifies the magical doings that, to be accomplished, require crossing the boundary between good and evil. The mixing of good and black magic.”
“So you think that if the natural world is unraveling, someone must be using the Maleficium,” Luc said. “That’s an interesting theory, Merit, but there hasn’t been anyone in the House since Tate issued the dictate banning humans—just Mr. Cabot and the Cadogan vampires. And none of us would be capable of using it for more than a really effective paperweight.”
For a moment, I thought he was right, but my stomach suddenly curled with fear, all breath leaving me. Luc, I realized, was wrong—absolutely wrong.
“Merit?” he asked. “Are you all right?”
I looked around the room, my head spinning with horrible possibilities. “There was someone else in the House.”
All eyes turned to me.
“Merit?” Malik asked.
I could barely make myself say it. “The week after Ethan’s death, Mallory was here. She was granted permission to stay in my room with me.”
Silence again.
“Merit,” Luc said. “Mallory wouldn’t take something from the House.”
Wouldn’t she?
I thought about our conversations over the last week, about the things I’d seen and the things we’d discussed. About her chapped, shaking hands. Her inability to make eye contact. Her irritability, and her