Jaysus. My gut did a funny little twist that made me feel like the ground was moving again, right under my feet. What the hell, were vampires real? Gran had not mentioned vampires in any of our discussions. Maybe like this place, she wasn’t going to mention the really ugly stuff until after I agreed to stay, or whatever it was she had been waiting for.

Little idiot, you’re hanging out with a werewolf and talked to a living skeleton last night. Of course there are vampires!

Right, I had to remember I most certainly was not in Seattle anymore. I was in Savannah. Land of the dead. Land of the supernatural, despite what the upper crust might want the world to believe.

I cleared my throat. “Well, what would you recommend for a newbie?” I said. “Working at the Hollows Group is the plan.”

“Ahh, here, I have a few. You are the first in a long time to ask. Most just get weapons and armor and think they be done.” Yes, there was some Irish in his voice for sure. “Smart of you. Then again, you got a few years on most.”

“Thanks for noticing,” I said dryly.

He rifled through a pile of books that was taller than him, and pulled out three thin books, plus one that had to be a thousand pages that he set aside. The bigger book was wrapped in red leather with moons and stars embossed deep into the spine and front cover. I knew that book.

It was Gran’s. My heart picked up speed and I fought to quell it. “Where did you get that one?”

He pushed it under the stack and handed the rest to me. “These will give you great insights into world of grave magic and shadows.” I took note that he didn’t answer the question about my gran’s book.

I didn’t want to seem too eager. I took a quick glance at the titles now that they were in my hands. They would be good. One was about all the things not to do in the shadow world—basic etiquette, if you will—the second one was all about finding loopholes with various creatures, and the last was a guide to understanding curses.

I could almost hear my gran cackling with excitement. She’d have loved these books.

But not as much as she’d loved hers.

Time to bring on the negotiations. I’d seen Himself mediate enough divorces with a skill that even I had to give him, that I knew I could make this happen.

I crouched down in front of him and tapped the three smaller books in my hand. “How much? I’m not sure my trainer will care if I have them or not.”