Page 23 of Let Sleeping Vampires Lie

Silence spread again, weighted and suffocating.

Isra stared at Marcus with wet, stunned eyes.

Jana sat rigid behind her mother, breathing shallowly as she struggled with the implications.

Con moved to my side, his presence intense. He said nothing. He didn’t need to.

I could feel Raven’s desperation pulsing through our bond.

The fear of losing Rene.

The rage of someone withholding information that could save him.

Marcus’ polished composure faltered entirely.

His lips parted.

His shoulders slumped.

And the truth was coming.

Whether he wanted to speak it or not.

Marcus stood very still, eyes flicking between Isra, Raven, and finally me. When he spoke, his voice was more even than I expected.

“I’ve never heard of the Pentacoris.”

Raven nodded once, accepting the statement without argument. “Humans have different names for it. Old ones. Fractured translations. But Cass can show you a picture.”

I pulled up the image Julian had found and turned the screen toward him. Marcus studied it, his brow tightening as he examined the etched lines and curved metal.

“The pieces look identical,” Raven continued. “Each one is part of a greater whole. We need every fragment. All of them. If one is in your network, any part of it, we need you to be completely honest.”

Her voice softened, but her intensity deepened.

“The fate of this realm, and the man I love, depends on it.”

Isra’s breath hitched again.

Marcus closed his eyes for a moment, gathering whatever courage he had left. When he opened them, some of the defensiveness was gone. His shoulders slumped, hands lowering from their careful, polished posture.

“All right,” he said. “I’ll tell you everything.”

The tension in the room didn’t ease, but it shifted, ready for truth instead of elegant lies.

“Most of my work is above board,” Marcus began. “Legitimate antiques, high-value items, private collections. Ninety percent of what I move has paperwork, international approvals, verified sources.”

Raven tilted her head. “And the other ten percent?”

He hesitated, then forced himself to continue. “I do import the occasional supernatural artifact. Nothing destructive or forbidden. But if a collector offers a price high enough, and the item isn’t flagged by the empowered community, I’ll move it.”

“So you knowingly deal in magical items,” Con said, tone flat.

Marcus didn’t flinch. “Sometimes. Only when there’s no risk to anyone.”

I folded my arms. “Explain.”

Marcus exhaled, rubbing the back of his neck. “I don’t deal in goods with established provenance.”