A Hidden Fire: Elemental Mysteries Book 1 by Elizabeth Hunter Read Free Book Online

towel.  “If it’s him, and he has what was rumored, then yes.  It sounded genuine.  Livia will know, and she’ll know who sired him.  No one turns a human in that part of Europe without her knowing about it, even if it’s against their will.”
    “And whoever sired him—”
    “No one stumbles across a library that ancient and that valuable when they’re that young.  The sire is who I’m looking for.”
    “So we wait.”
    “Well,” he mused, “we might be able to do more than that.  I’m meeting with the girl and her grandmother tomorrow night.”
    “What?  On a Friday?”
    “I’m going out later.”  He shrugged.  “Don’t fret, old man.”
    Caspar raised his eyebrows.  “A divergence from routine, Gio?  What is the world coming to?”
    Shaking his head, he rose and walked toward the door. 
    “See if you can prod some of Livia’s day people tomorrow over the phone.”
    “Of course.”  Caspar paused for a moment.  “Is it worth it, Gio?  The books?  This obsession?  All these years?”
     
    “What do you hold in your hands, my son?”
    “A book.”
    “No, you hold knowledge.  Knowledge sought for centuries.  Knowledge that some have died for.  Knowledge that some have killed for.”
    “Why would anyone kill for a book?”
    “It is not a book.” The slap rung in his ears.  “What is it?”
    “Knowledge.”
    “And knowledge is power.  Do you understand?”
    “Yes, Father.”
     
    Giovanni paused in the doorway, letting his wet hair drip in his eyes as he pushed back the memory, the driving need to discover pulsing in his quiet veins.  “You ask me that every time I find something new.”
    “And you never really answer me.”
    “Yes, I do,” he murmured.  “You just don’t like the answer.”
     
    He slept late the next day, not rising until the sun was low in the sky.  Though he preferred more pleasant and leisurely meals, the oblivious human woman he had fed from the night before had sated his physical hungers for the week and allowed him to retain the genteel manners he had carefully cultivated for the previous three hundred years. 
    Giovanni dressed thoughtfully, choosing casual clothing that was more likely to set the De Novo women at ease and detract from his inhuman complexion.  Though the slight current that ran under his skin allowed him to adjust its surface temperature, nothing could diminish the almost luminescent paleness. 
    “Ah,” Caspar exclaimed when he walked into the kitchen.  “The grey is a good choice.  Makes you look much less demon-of-the-night.”
    “Please, Caspar,” he implored.  “A date with a live woman.  Soon.”
    Caspar chuckled and looked up from the newspaper.  “I’m meeting a friend tonight, as a matter of fact.  I was just looking at what movies are opening this weekend. I’m looking for something horribly gory.”
    “I’ll never understand your affinity for those pictures.”
    “And I’ll never understand your affinity for professional wrestling, so we’re even.”
    Giovanni rolled his eyes.  “Goodnight, Caspar.”
    The lights of downtown twinkled, and he could see streams of children already weaving through the neighborhood in their costumes.  It was Halloween night, and with Dia de los Muertos falling on Sunday, the whole weekend would be devoted to the macabre, grotesque and mysterious.  He drove through the streets, amused by the teenagers and students in their elaborate costumes, enjoying the sense of revelry in the crowded bars and clubs of the Montrose district. 
    He pulled into the parking lot across from the art center and immediately heard the music of mariachis fill the air.  Houston’s Mexican-American community was an integral part of the cultural scene, and he was happy to have an excuse to participate in the odd festival celebrating the dead.  He saw children with elaborate face painting and a few adults, as well.  The smells of earthy spices and sugar filled the air, and he