On Monday, we are treated to the full run-down of Diana’s morning routine and her wardrobe choices before we finally get along to the library.  She turns in a request slip for the magic book, and as she does so, Sean asks her if Matthew is bothering her.  Because apparently the fact that we’re coming up on some actual plot is scary for this book, so it has to wave around more distracters, just in case we happen to forget that Matthew and Diana are having a creeptastic romance.  I mean, heaven forbid we go a single page without being reminded of that.

For that matter, why can’t we ever have a romance that the couple’s friends approve of?  Generally speaking, when everyone around you says that a guy is bad news, it’s because he’s bad news, not because he’s just so ~*~*~misunderstood~*~*~.

Peter shows up while Diana is working and waiting for her books to arrive.  He figures out that she and Matthew are working together, then makes vague threats and calls her a traitor.  A traitor against what?  I mean, you don’t necessarily need an organized body to be a traitor against.  It can be something vague like “a traitor to your kind.”  But it would still be nice to know if Peter is going to go and round up the witch-y police or a rabble mob.

Diana finally gets tired of waiting and goes up to Sean to ask what’s taking so long.  He says the magic book is missing so it can’t be called up, then Diana gets in an argument about how it’s so not missing because she saw it a few weeks ago.

They finally give up and leave the library, where Peter taunts Diana for not being able to find the book and break the spell.  He warns her again to not let Matthew get at the book, still without telling her why.

Witches and vampires don’t mix, Dr. Bishop. There are excellent reasons for it.

Damnit, book, why?  What bad things happen?  You’ve beaten me over the head with this idea and yet you haven’t given me one single reason, good or bad, for saying it!  Maybe spend a bit less time rhapsodizing about the wine’s bouquet and FUCKING EXPLAIN THIS TO ME.

“The humans are staring.”

Is this your so-called reason?  Because it attracts attention?  Because near as I can tell, people are only staring because Peter and Matthew are shouting death threats at each other.  That’s not exactly a mystery or magical.  In fact, you’ve also said that humans will stare at creatures when they’re alone, or at a group of non-mixed creatures, so it doesn’t hold water as a reason for not mixing.

Then Peter says that ‘they’ will ‘make’ her recall the book.  I’m still scratching my head over this whole mess.  Why didn’t they approach her before, talk to her about the book, ask her to recall it?  Why did they stalk her, wait until she was scared, then try to break into her brain, then issue death threats?  Are they just stupid?  Did they have some reason to distrust her?  Is the author trying way, way too hard to paint them as villains and forgot to do anything reasonable with them?  It’s mind-boggling.

Matthew unceremoniously declares that Diana is going to stay at his manor for a few days, for her own protection.  Diana doesn’t even bat an eye at this, doesn’t even make a comment about his assholery and controlling behavior. 

[Peter] wants to understand the secrets of Ashmole 782 as much as you or I do.

Hah!  Diana has never and still doesn’t want to ‘understand the secrets’ of that book, she’s just sort of floating along through the plot and doing whatever Matthew tells her.  She’s not really a character so much as a set piece.

“Alchemical texts are allegories, not instruction manuals.” I redirected the fear and frustration of the past several days at him. “They may hint at larger truths, but you can’t build a reliable experiment from them.”

Diana, that’s the exact opposite of what you said in a previous chapter.  You even once wondered if you could get your scientist buddy to build an experiment off your research.  In fact, the whole point of your ‘research’ is to disprove the statement you just made.

Diana gets mad at Matthew for wanting the book for selfish reasons (oh, really, now you realize this?) and starts shooting off little blue sparks of magic.  They stop when she calms down, but she’s still mad, so she tries to leave.  Matthew physically stops her from doing so.

“I warned you. Friendships with vampires are complicated. I couldn’t let you go now—even if I wanted to.”

And then blames her for the fact that he’s a dick.

He’s controlling, he assaults her, he tries to dictate where she goes and when, he restrains her against her will, he manipulates her emotions to make her think it’s all her fault…and yet I’m supposed to see him as the hero and Peter as the mustache-twirling villain. 

“Stop fighting me.” He sounded amused.

AND THEN HE TAUNTS HER FOR DARING TO FIGHT BACK.

He’s basically got her in a headlock and refuses to let g of her until she answers his questions.  So now he’s threatening her.  Even after he lets her go, he warns her not to bolt for the door, and Diana mentally compares them to a predator and his prey.

How much lower can this character sink?  Don’t answer that; I’d rather preserve my sanity until we get there.

Matthew once again insists that she stay at his manor house, then overrides her when she says no, so Diana goes along with it.  Asshole.

Diana goes up to her apartment to get stuff for the trip, but when she gets her mail, someone has sent her a picture of her mother’s dead body as a warning that “witches shouldn’t keep secrets from other witches,” as Gillian said in a previous chapter.  Diana freaks out, and Matthew rushes up to comfort her as she explains that Gillian said witches killed her parents. 

And then, inexplicably, Diana decides she feels safe with this abusive, controlling, threatening, assaulting asshole.  She even pulls out a fancy metaphor comparing the connection between them to a rusty chain, and we all know that fancy metaphors are only used for True Love.  I guess in this story, you don’t actually have to be a good person to be the hero, you just have to be better than the people who murdered your parents.

And then he gives her a sedative and makes her take it, despite her saying she doesn’t want to.  Great.  now he’s ignoring her bodily autonomy and drugging her into unconsciousness.  Yeah, so trustworthy.