Shadowfever (Fever #5)

by Karen Marie Moning

“Get away from the Book, V’lane,” Barrons growled. “If anyone’s going to be looking at it, it’ll be Mac.” “Mac’s not touching it,” Rainey said instantly. “That terrible thing should be destroyed.” “Can’t be, Mom. It doesn’t work that way.” While everyone was fighting and Barrons and I were absorbed in a wordless conversation, V’lane had taken the bundled queen/concubine from my daddy and was now standing near the slab, looking down at the Sinsar Dubh. “Don’t open it,” Kat warned him. “We need to talk. Make plans.” “She’s right,” Dageus said. “ ’Tis no’ a thing to be undertaken lightly, V’lane.” “There are precautions that must be observed,” Drustan added. “There has been enough talk,” V’lane said. “My duties to my race are clear. They always have been.” Barrons didn’t waste any breath. He moved like the beast, too fast to see. One moment he was a few feet from me, the next he was— —slamming up against a wall and bouncing off it, snarling. Clear crystal walls erupted around V’lane. Lined with blue-black bars, they extended all the way up to the ceiling. He didn’t even turn. It was as if he’d tuned us out. He placed the unconscious body of the queen on the ground next to the slab and reached for the Sinsar Dubh. “V’lane, don’t open it!” I cried. “I think it’s inert, but we don’t have any idea what will happen if you—” It was too late. He’d opened the Book. Arms spread, hands splayed on either side of it, head down, V’lane began to read, his lips moving. Barrons flung himself...