Xavier felt the hard, cold surface pressed against his cheek and recoiled, but this only made him wince in pain as his wound resisted the change in position. His eyes popped open, and he was momentarily disoriented at the bright room. A duvet slipped off his shoulders as he tensed.

'Did you want some breakfast?' Ray asked.

He rubbed a hand down his face, wiping away the sweat. 'Where'd you find the bread?'

'Freezer. I thought they were unlikely to notice a few slices missing. It's been defrosting since last night.' She continued to watch the frying pan, occasionally whisking the eggs before they could burn.

He noticed the misshapen duvet laid out on the floor beside his chair. 'You explored the rest of the house?'

'I couldn't move you, so I made myself comfortable here, just in case.'

'Find anything?'

'Some clothes.' She pointed to her new jeans that still weren't a perfect fit but much better than the clothes she'd worn from the Bureau. 'There's a pile for you as well. Other than that, there's some jewellery in the master bedroom, and I found a few notes in an old purse under the stairs.'

'We'll take the purse, but the jewellery could be tricky to cash in,' he said.

She shrugged, already figuring that would be his answer. 'How are you feeling this morning?'

'I'm fine. A trip to the pharmacy probably won't raise any alarm bells. I'll get some proper dressings and pack it tight.'

'And what if it gets infected?'

'I have a contact that could help, but at this moment I'm not sure who to trust,' he admitted.

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, but he didn't seem bothered by their current situation, so she let it go. He'd already made up his mind.

She put two plates ready and dished out the eggs, before sliding it in front of Xavier.

'Not hungry?' He pointed to her much smaller portion.

'There were only three eggs, and you need it more than I do.'

With no words, he lifted his cutlery and dug in, and she followed his example.

He watched her discreetly as they both ate. She looked fine. Not a hint of purple remained. A hallucination, he wondered to himself. He had lost enough blood to make that a reasonable assumption.

And yet he couldn't dismiss it.

It was yet another unusual thing about Ray that didn't add up. The flask. The inconclusive test. Not to mention, the way she'd fought against the vamp. No human could have held their own against a vampire with just their bare hands and yet Ray had forced the vamp back enough for him to take a clear shot.

What do glowing purple eyes mean?

He had no answer to his unspoken question. Vampires had red eyes. Shifters had gold. Both were able to mask them in various ways but none, as far as he was aware, could change to purple.

They remained in silence until both plates were empty, but eventually Xavier broke it. His mental musings were getting them nowhere but there was one place that could hold answers for them.

'A library.'

Ray frowned. 'What are you talking about?' She took their plates and headed to the sink.

'Mari loved to read. She said the key to happiness is a library card. It was her escape when she lived with Katrina and Martin. In order to open the locker, there must be a key hidden in a library.'

'But there must be hundreds of libraries in London,' complained Ray.

'But only one was Mari's favourite,' he assured her.

'So what about the rest of the note?'

Xavier unfolded the notes and grimaced at the blood spatters that made some words unreadable.

'I think Mari is trying to warn us about what could be coming. She talks about you finding yourself, but I think she means finding out why the vamps are after you.'

'You think Mari knew why?' Ray's expression was unreadable.

'It's just a hunch.'

Ray pursed her lips but kept her opinion to herself. 'What about you accusing her of not being true to herself?'

'That's not what happened. She was the one that accused me,' he explained. 'Towards the end, Mari became disillusioned with the Bureau. She believed that our orders to seek and destroy weren't always pure. I didn't believe her, and that's when she accused me of not being true to myself. She thought I was burying my head, refusing to see the Bureau as anything bad.'

'She was trying to warn us that we couldn't trust them.'

'The attack last night proves that Mari was right. The vampires that were after you had the support of the Bureau.'

'Then it really isn't just the vampires that we have to worry about now,' Ray said resignedly.

'The Bureau will probably come for us as well. I just want to know why,' he said with frustration.

'And the last line. Trust your instincts and follow the right path?' Ray pulled her note across the table and read.

'Confirmation that Mari left us breadcrumbs should anything happen to her. She knew that the vampires were the biggest threat, and when someone dies because of a vampire, the Bureau would seize their possessions.'

'And the letters would have found their way to you,' Ray said with understanding.

'It was her final Hail Mary. Mari was always a meticulous planner.'

'So we follow the breadcrumbs?'

'We follow the breadcrumbs,' he confirmed.

***

Ray looked up at the depressing office building and felt her mood deflate.

'This is it?' she asked.

Xavier smirked. 'Don't judge the place before you see it. It was Mari's favourite for a reason.'

'Looks pretty ordinary to me.'

He shrugged and led the way.

A heavy, flakey lock hung off the door and on first glances Ray wondered how they were going to get in, but then Xavier pushed it aside.

'It was unlocked?'

'Not many people would consider what's inside worth stealing. The lock just puts off the more adventurous people.' He opened the door and let her enter first.

The corridor was as different from the outside as was physically possible. Polished, hard wood flooring stretched to a sweeping staircase that would take them below ground level. The walls were gleaming white with soft lighting strips where they met the ceilings. Somehow, even the air smelt cleaner inside than out on the street.

They took to the stairs, coming to a set of doors which opened automatically as they approached.

Boring and dull were the furthest words from Ray's mind as she took in the vibrant library. The ceilings were raised, and the walls painted with splashes of colour. She walked into the centre and looked up. A large glass structure was built over the opening in the ground and provided the library with more natural light than she thought was possible.

'Can I help you?' A studious young man asked from his position behind a large mahogany counter.

'A friend of mine has reserved a book. I'm just here to collect,' Xavier answered without missing a beat.

'Do you have their library card?'

Xavier nodded and began searching through his pockets. Ray watched on curiously as Xavier's face changed from confusion to annoyance, before he gave up his search.

'Damn, I think I must have left it somewhere. She's going to kill me.'

'Don't worry about it. I can still find her account. What's her name?'

'Greta Garland.'

Ray watched amazed as the man typed the name in and nodded his head before looking confused.

'The book is on an unlimited reserve. I had no idea that was possible.' He twirled the ends of his moustache as he kept looking at the screen.

'I think Greta is particularly loyal to the library.' Xavier slid two twenty-pound notes to the startled librarian. 'Would this be enough to cover any...inconvenience with her account?'

The librarian regarded the notes before putting them into his pocket. He tapped on his computer and then stood.

'Understood. I'll go find the book.'

'Greta Garland?' Ray asked after he left, trying not to smile.

'It was her preferred alias when she needed one. Named after two Hollywood royalty.'

'Has anyone ever told you that you're an amazing liar?'

He smirked at her. 'Comes with being an agent.'

Their conversation fell silent as the librarian returned with a hardback book that fit snugly into his side.

'Mathematical Obscurities and the Theory Behind The World by Dr Babanin,' he said, handing it over to Xavier.

Ray and Xavier said their thanks and left, not wanting to linger too long.

'Do you think he'll say anything?' Ray asked as soon as they were on the street.

'Doubtful. It'll just be a curious story to tell at a party.'

'You got that right. Bit of an odd book to choose.'

'But therein lies the beauty of it,' he explained. 'Hardback suggests longevity, but the title suggests this isn't a book that an everyday reader would want, so there's less chance of the librarian being tempted to break the unlimited reserve. There's another reason why she would have chosen a hardback.'

Xavier rattled the book next to her ear, and she heard the faint sound of something moving.

'The key's inside the spine?'

'Spines are hollow, but something's been wedged at both ends, so it appears solid.' Xavier held open the door to a greasy breakfast diner and let her walk in first.

They took the table at the back booth and Xavier placed himself in the corner, all the better, to see the front door. Once the waitress had taken their orders, Xavier slid his knife into the spine and dislodged the wadding.

A small, flat silver key clattered to the table with a plastic keyring attached. The writing was faded, but they could still make out a handwritten number twelve.

'So what's behind locker number twelve?' Xavier whispered to himself.

'I can't help thinking that it's going to be bad,' admitted Ray. 'Mari went to great lengths to hide things. And all of this. Hidden messages. Keys in books. Mystery lockers. She made this whole thing so only you and I could find it. What if we don't want to know what's at the end of all this?'

And Xavier didn't have an answer for her. It was already too late to turn back. The only way forward was to play out the rest of Mari's instructions and face whatever secrets she'd been keeping.

'I know, before you say it. Better to know than to be unprepared. Watch. Plan. Survive. Right?' she muttered, staring into her coffee cup.

'Sometimes there's no choice but to keep going, and Mari wouldn't make us do this if it wasn't important.'

'Then why didn't she tell me any of this when she was still alive?' Ray demanded bitterly.

'Maybe she was protecting you. Maybe she was saving you from the burden of knowing whatever she knew.'

'Then you think it's bad?'

'I think it was something that Mari was willing to give up everything for, even her life. Bad or good, it was important to her. I owe Mari to see this through.'

Ray sighed. 'I just wish there weren't so many unanswered questions.'

Xavier picked up the key. 'But soon we'll get some answers.'