“I promise, we aren’t going to explode,” I told him to settle his nervous energy down. “Norin just enjoys practical jokes.”
All I heard in response was a quiet, “Oh.”
Thank god Norin was in a serious mood and nothing flew out of the object. I quickly turned it around to look inside. A small piece of paper, carefully folded up into a swan, was tucked gently into the chest. Norin also loved his origami. Every message between us came in different styles of the folded paper.
I plucked the swan out, shut the the chest to engage the lock again, and set it back into the deposit box. Closing the box’s lid, I left it there on the table and motioned for Avery to follow me again.
This time I didn’t take his hand. Earlier, I’d felt the deep unease rolling from him. It had just seemed the best option to take his hand in mine, not only to point out that he was with me and I wasn’t leaving him behind, but to let the familiarity of my touch comfort him. Whether it did or not, I couldn’t say for sure. But, his unease had let up quite a bit, so I deluded myself with the thrill that I had an affect on him still.
As we left the room, I gave the woman a little nod. “We’re done. Thank you.”
“Give me one moment to put it away, then I’ll see you down and give your key back.”
While we waited, I tucked the paper into my coat pocket, knowing the pretty swan would get crushed. Sorry, Norin. No way was I looking at it to find the address while still inside this place. There were eyes everywhere.
“You realize this is a whole lot overdramatic stuff, don’t you? Just for a piece of paper?” Avery muttered, his voice, though quiet, still echoed in the barren hallway.
I chuckled. “Maybe.”
His frown told me he thought I was a nutcase. Nothing new.
Ten minutes later, we were back in the car and halfway down the block from Crest’s. “I’m getting us out of the city first, then I’ll look at where we need to go. Hopefully, Norin is close since he used this location.”
“Since he used this one? You have others?”
“Yep.” I didn’t elaborate at all, instead focusing on my mirrors out of habit to make sure we weren’t being followed. Although, in our case, if we were being followed, or watched, it was more likely from a distance that I couldn’t see. As in, however Emerret was able to keep tabs on us. I was under no illusion that he’d given up, especially with Adara missing. I had a deep fear they were connected.
Traffic wasn’t heavy, so it didn’t take me long to find a parking lot half full for some big box home store. I parked my car, and reached back into my pocket to pull out the note. Unfolding it, my eyes played over the words. Again, more code. Nothing stated an exact address, but all the words written down and the numbers were my clues.
Avery peered over my arm to read the note too. “That does not look like an address,” he remarked, his tone annoyed.
“It’s code for the address.”
“Again with the ridiculous dramatics.”
I let out a soft chuckle. I supposed to outsiders, it would appear way over the top. But for me, this was part of my life. After I quit college, I dropped off the radar for the most part. Norin had a large network, and he knew what he was doing. I wouldn’t say it was a failproof way of keeping in the shadows, but it had worked so far. Except with Midge’s attack, you were an idiot and used your real information. That bit still bothered me. Though, I hadn’t exactly been thinking straight then either.
“Sorry, it’s just the way we do things. Here, I’ll explain it to you.” I’d never told anyone about the codes between Norin and I, not even Zane. Yet, the need to share something this personal with Avery grew stronger inside me.
Anything I could do to show him he mattered to me, and that I had to have his trust. Why that was so necessary to me I couldn’t understand. Not right now anyway. Someday, all of this would make sense. Everything from the moment I first laid eyes on him to the intense desire to protect him at all costs. Fate had put him in my life, and I was damn determined to see it through to discover why.
I shifted in my seat, angling my body toward him, and held out the paper so he could see it better. Pointing to the first line, I said, “The first number, nineteen, is actually the property number. Norin has thirty properties around the US, all with their own numbers. Nineteen is located in a small town just north of here. About an hour’s drive. I only know the city or town of his properties and their corresponding numbers. The number five up here at the top, tells me what code Norin’s used for the address. Norin is obsessed with Shakespeare, so everything he does is related to it. His fifth favorite is Romeo and Juliet. This time, I already knew which play he’d use because he told me, but normally, that number is my key for the message’s code. He finds places on street names related to the main characters in the plays. That means we are looking for a street with the name Juliet, Capulet, Romeo, or Montague.”
“That is so fucking stupid.”
I had to laugh a little harder. “Once you meet Norin, you’ll understand. He’s pretty eccentric.”
“Okay, so what’s the phrase for?”
“Thy lips are warm is a line from Romeo and Juliet.” I almost told him his lips had been warm, something that surprised me because most of him was cold, but I kept it to myself. I was supposed to forget that kiss. Didn’t mean the thought didn’t bring a grin to my face.
Avery rolled his eyes at my grin, though he probably had no idea what it meant. “What does it stand for?”
“The house number. There’s four vowels, so in order of appearance, i, a, e, a means the house number is 9151.”
“That is... how the hell do you keep it all straight?”
Setting down the paper in one of the empty cup holders, I put the car into reverse. “I know way more Shakespeare than I ever wanted to know in my life,” I laughed. “Too bad we didn’t have this in place when I was in college, passing my literature class would have been a lot easier.”
“You went to college?” he asked, his astonishment obvious.
I got us back on the road, headed toward the small town I’d find Norin and his unexpected guest in. “Yep. I didn’t graduate, though. I’m about eight hours shy of a Bachelor’s degree in criminology. I wanted to be a cop like Zane.”
“I’m not surprised in the least, Mr. Heropants. Why did you quit?”
I shrugged, “Life. My powers were getting to be too much for me to handle, so I had to take a sabbatical away from people until I got them under control. I just never went back. I guess the fear of being discovered kept me from it.”
“Huh.”
“What about you?” I glanced at him quickly while I waited to turn onto the ramp to the highway. “What’s your education like?”
“Um, I don’t know. Lucy taught me things, like to read and write. I know Latin, French, and Greek. And Dunegan gave me some books from his high school days. Most of it was useless information so I didn’t bother. Particularly the history books. Completely wrong. I doubt I could pass any human’s tests.”
Avery was pretty intelligent, if severely naive. I thought, given the right teaching, he’d probably be a top student. “Did you ever consider going to human schools? Many vampires do.”