by Linsey Hall
Light shined down from above, almost like streams of sunlight. But it was nighttime, so that had to be magic. Dust motes glittered in the air. Shining golden balls of light—or something—floated near the ceiling high above.
There were hundreds of nooks and crannies and different sections. It was a maze my mind could hardly comprehend.
“Welcome to my domain,” Florian said. “The ghost library.”
“Are they real books?” Ana asked.
They did lack a lot of the color the other library’s books possessed.
“Of course they’re real books.” Florian scoffed. “I just call it that because it’s my domain, and it sounds quite impressive, doesn’t it?”
I nodded, not having to fake my enthusiasm. “It really does.”
“And most of these books are quite old, hence their color,” Florian said.
Ana walked toward the railing that protected us from falling into the pit in the center of the library. I looked for stairs, but found none. Here, we were blocked from the books.
“How do we get down?” I asked. “Or up.”
“Good things don’t come free, dearie.”
“What do you mean?”
“You must contribute to the library if you want to gain from its knowledge. That is one way that we have obtained so many volumes.”
My stomach dropped. I glanced at Ana, whose brow was creased with worry.
“What if we don’t have anything to contribute?” I asked.
“It hardly seems fair,” Ana said.
“Life isn’t fair,” Florian said.
He had that right.
“But you’re in luck—everyone has something to contribute. Just think.”
“That’s all?” Ana asked.
“Not quite. But you’ll have to figure the rest out for yourself.” Florian backed up and sat in a wooden chair that was pressed against the wall, crossing his legs and folding his arms over his chest.
All right, then.
Ana and I looked around the platform, which was quite large. On the far end sat a table with a few chairs. Books were stacked on top, along with feather quills.
Ana and I approached.
“What do we have to contribute?” she whispered.
“I don’t know.” I frowned, searching my mind. “All we’ve ever done is fight monsters in Death Valley.”
“Ooooh,” Florian murmured.
I turned to him. “Is that a ghost noise or interest on your part?”
He frowned. “I’ve already scared you enough for one night.”
I grinned, then looked at Ana. “I guess we were the only ones to successfully cross Death Valley multiple times.”
“So, we’ll give away our secrets?”
She had a point. Our monopoly on that information had set us up nicely to be the only ones transporting outlaws across the valley. It allowed us to command top dollar and keep up the payments on our concealment charms.
“We don’t need that job anymore.”
“Doesn’t mean I don’t want a backup,” Ana said.
She had a point, and I couldn’t blame her. Except I only felt a tiny sense of worry. It tugged at me, but the Protectorate tugged at me harder.
Ana, however, had always been more of a worrier than me. She was a Plan B and C kinda girl.
“It’s like us symbolically cutting our ties with our old lives and committing to this place,” she said.
“I know.”
She sucked in a ragged breath, looking around. “You’re right. Our old life was crap. It had moments of fun. But this. This is better.” She squeezed my hand. “And we really need to figure out what the heck is happening with your magic.”
I smiled and hugged her. “Thanks.”
We sat down in the little wooden chairs. I grabbed a book and pulled it closer, flipping open the cover to reveal empty pages. “It’ll take weeks to fill this. We don’t have that kind of time.”
“Let’s just start. Maybe that’ll prove we mean it.”
“Yeah.” I reached for a pen. Magic sparked up my fingertips as I picked it up. “What’ll we call it?”
“A Treatise on the Monsters of Death Valley.” Ana grinned. “Sounds good, huh?”
“Very.” I put pen to paper on the title page, and the words magically appeared. They stretched across the paper in a fancy calligraphy that I would never be capable of. “Whoa.”
“Yeah.” Ana picked up a pen. “I’m going next.”
I passed over the book. She turned a page and pressed her pen to the paper. Words raced over the white surface, describing the different terrains that one would encounter in the valley and how best to survive them.
“How’d you do that?” I asked.
“I just thought of it,” she said.
“Cool.” I took the book back and imagined fighting the Salt Monster on the Bad Water. A half second later, there was a detailed explanation on how to take him out.
We finished in less than ten minutes, then jumped up. I felt like a kid who had finished a test before anyone else, even though I’d never taken a real test in my life. I was lucky I could read—and the only reason I could do that was because my mom had taught me.
Actually, this fabulous library made me feel kinda dumb.
But I had a chance to learn here. Fighting monsters would always be my fave, but this place opened up a whole new world for me.
“You coming?” Ana asked.
Startled, I snapped out of it. “Yeah.”
I walked toward Florian, who had fallen asleep with his chin resting on his chest.
“Florian?” I asked.
He jumped up, nearly tipping over his chair, and looked at us with startled eyes.
I held out the book. “That was awesome.”
He took it and flipped through a page. “Nicely done.” He grinned and swept out an arm.
The railing at the front of the platform disappeared, and wide, sweeping stairs appeared in its place.
“The library is yours.” He started toward the stairs. “Now, follow me.”
He led us down the stairs and onto the next level, then back behind some shelves and down some other stairs. As he directed us toward the far side, I peeked over the railing to see that the bottom of the library was a huge mosaic map.
Florian grabbed some huge books and set them on a wide wooden table. “You’ll find what you need in there.”
Barking sounded.
Florian sighed. “I must go. There are patrons who require a bedtime story.”
He hurried off, and I turned toward Ana. “That’s why the Pugs of Destruction respect the library?”
“They do like their stories. And they’re quite intellectual.”
All right, then.
I sat next to her and studied the largest book.
An Ancient Oral History of the Gods of the Norse.
“The Gods of the Norse? What do the Vikings have to do with me?” I flipped open the pages and found the name Njord, skimming the surrounding text. “God of the sea?”
“And it says in this one that Rán is another sea goddess. She married Ægir, and they had nine daughters, known as the Daughters of Ægir.”
“She really should get more credit for that. Daughters of Rán is really more fair.”
“Agreed.”
“But two gods of the sea—that explains my new water power. I’m not a god, though.” Quickly, I flipped through, searching for the name Alateivia. I found it near the back. “Healing goddess of the Norse.”
And I’d just healed Cade, saving him from a poison that had no antidote.
“Why am I developing powers associated with Norse gods?”
Ana shook her head, eyes wide. “I have no idea. But it’s damned cool.”
“And scary. I’ve lost my sonic boom power. Right after I gained the power of healing.”
“Lost?” Her jaw dropped. She snapped it closed. “That’s not possible.”
“Apparently it is.”
She shut her book. “
Our next step needs to be talking to Arach.”
“How, though? We went to the round room today in the hopes that she would come join us. If a problem as big as the dark curse wouldn’t bring her, why would this?”
“I don’t know, your godliness. But I think it’s our best bet.”
I punched her lightly in the arm. But she had a point. “Let’s try to get some sleep for now. When the curse is fixed, we’ll find a way to contact Arach. I want to know what the hell is going on with me.”
And what could I expect from the future?
Ana and I didn’t see Florian or the Pugs of Destruction as we left the quiet library. It was nearly midnight, but that was the pugs’ prime witching hour.
“I’m going to head to the armory real quick, okay?” I said.
“For what?”
“I want to see if they have a charm that can help me with my sonic boom power.” I hated that it was gone, and the armorer, Coriandar, had once given me a charm to help control the sonic boom. Maybe he had one that could re-find it inside myself.
It was a total long shot, but I was desperate to try.
Ana squeezed my hand, understanding on her face. “Of course. Good luck.”
“Thanks. See you bright and early.”
She shot me a thumbs-up, then headed down the hall. I went in the opposite direction, getting lost only twice on my way to the armory. I’d realized last week that if you ever did get lost, you could say aloud the place you were headed to and the castle walls glowed, leading you on the right path.
It made you look like a real newb, though, so I didn’t like to use it often.
The halls were quiet as I turned and went through the door leading to the underground armory. I hurried down the darkened stairwell, realizing too late that someone else was coming up.
I slammed into the tall, broad body. He grabbed me by the arms to steady me.
The scent of a storm at sea hit me.
“Cade.” I looked up, catching sight of his handsome face cast in shadow.
He towered over me, boxing me into the wall in an attempt to keep me from falling on my butt. He was so close I could feel the heat of him radiating against my front, a delicious contrast to the cold stone wall at my back.
In the darkened stairwell, we were in a world of our own, trapped in a tiny bubble.
He let go of my arms, but instead of dropping his hands, he pressed them to the wall on either side of my head.
Time slowed to a crawl, and tension crackled between us. His gaze traced over my face.
“What are doing here?” he murmured.
“Going to the armory.” My eyes dropped to the strong column of his neck. To the delta at the base of his throat. I swallowed hard, barely managing to keep my mind out of the gutter. “You?”
“The same.” His voice was rough, low.
He wasn’t thinking about the armory. My gaze returned to his face. He looked so damned good in the low light, shadows cutting across his face and giving him a deliciously sinister air. It was an insanely hot contrast to how good I knew him to be.
All the desire and strain of the last two days pressed down on me. Desire glinted in his eyes as they dropped to my lips. His hands formed fists.
“I can’t resist any longer.” His voice was rough. Heavy.
Me neither. But the words didn’t escape me. I moved the last few inches toward him—or he moved toward me. It was impossible to say.
But a moment later, my lips were crushed to his, and his strong arms wrapped around me, pulling me tight to his hard chest.
I could feel every hard curve of his muscles as I ran my hands up his chest and neck and sank my fingertips into his soft hair.
He groaned low against my lips, pressing me back against the wall until I could feel the full length of him against me. I shivered, pulling him as close as I could, and moved my lips against his.
His tongue slipped into my mouth, sending a streak of heat down my spine.
We stayed like that for minutes, hours, days, as he kissed the daylights out of me, making me nearly senseless with desire. I wanted to drag him back to my apartment and kick Mayhem off the bed. My head swam with pleasure.
But he pulled away, cheeks flushed and eyes hot. Through shortened breath, he gritted, “That’s enough.” He shook his head slowly. “It has to be enough.”
“What?” Confusion clouded my mind.
“We can focus on the job now.” Slowly, he released me, leaving me to lean against the wall. “We’ve gotten it out of our systems. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”
He left me and strode up the stairs. Still gasping for breath, I watched him go.
Seriously?
I leaned against the wall. He might think we’d gotten that out of our systems, but he was so wrong.
The next morning, the whole team met in the entry hall. Cade looked at me as if nothing had happened last night.
Robot.
Last night, my visit to Coriandar might have been a bust since he couldn’t help me, but that kiss with Cade hadn’t been nothing.
“Ready?” Jude asked.
She stood next to Hedy and Ammons, along with two Demon Trackers who’d been introduced as Jack and Aria. They’d be in charge of setting up the massive magical bomb that would take out the portal. Emily was there for transport duty.
Ana, Cade, Caro, Ali, Haris, and I would go through to hunt whatever had sent this dark magic our way.
“We’re all accounted for,” Hedy said. “Let’s go.”
We headed out of the castle and onto the lawn. The bomb team went straight for the forest, while the rest of us walked toward the stables to get the buggy.
In our spare time between classes these last two weeks, we’d fixed it up and it looked good as new. In fairness, Ana had really led that charge since I’d been trying to get control of my magic.
We entered the horseless stables, and Ana leapt into the driver’s seat and cranked the ignition.
“I’ll take front platform.” I climbed up onto it. “Avoid the spikes on the sides, guys. There might still be some Ravener poison on them.”
“Aye aye.” Caro saluted and climbed onto the back platform.
Haris joined her, while Ali leapt in next to Ana.
Cade joined me in the front, close enough on the small platform that I couldn’t help but think of last night. Hell, he could be joining me in a football stadium and I’d still think of last night.
We said nothing, however, as Ana pulled the truck out of the stable and drove us across the lawn toward the forest.
By the time we arrived, the others were waiting for us.
“Potions.” Jude handed out the little glass vials from Melusine. “You don’t want this curse sticking to you.”
Everyone downed theirs quickly, grimacing at the taste, then shoved the vials in their pockets.
Jude nodded. “All right. We’ll go through in groups. The portal should be just wide enough for the truck. Once we’re there, we’ll transport to the city that contains the second portal. Cade and Bree will lead that, since they’ve been there before.”
We all nodded. Though everyone could technically pile into the buggy, it would be too many people for even a powerful transport mage like Emily.
As planned, Ana drove the buggy through first. The Fae realm looked just as we’d left it, with the wide ocean on the right and the trees on the left. The beach stretched out for miles. I was damned grateful we wouldn’t have to make that trek again since we now knew where we were headed.
Fortunately, there were no more oily monsters waiting for us.
The rest of our crew arrived a moment later.
Cade hopped off the truck and dug into his pocket for a transport stone. He met my gaze. “I’ll see you there.”
He was going to take the walkers, while the rest of us stayed in the buggy. I nodded.
Emily climbed up into the truck, joining me on the front platform. “Ready, guys?”
“Ready,” Ana said
.
I reached for Emily’s hand.
“Envision where we’re going,” she said. “As clearly as you can.”
I pictured the creepy decayed city and the enormous trees filled with VDBs. “Okay, go.”
Emily’s magic swirled on the air, and the ether sucked us in, throwing us across space through the Fae realm.
When I opened my eyes, we were in the middle of the abandoned Fae city, right next to the portal. The blackened trees towered overhead, and the buildings looked even more ramshackle and decayed. The stench of the portal’s magic was so strong that I gagged.
A moment later, Cade appeared with the rest of the crew. They looked around, grimaces twisting their faces.
“This place is awful,” Hedy said.
Jude looked straight at me. “You have four hours. See if you can stop the curse and learn what you can. But after four hours, we close this portal for good.”
I nodded, determined to do the job right.
Cade loped over to the buggy and leapt onto the top next to me. It was a tight fit.
Ana ducked down to grab something off the floor and handed a tangle of climbing harnesses to Ali. “Hand those out.” She looked at me and grinned. “Safety first!”
I nodded, taking my harness and clipping it onto the rail. It was quick release, so if I had to get out, I could. But sometimes the driving got hairy in these situations.
I pointed to the portal well, which was surrounded by the same low, stone wall. The buggy’s tires should be able to handle it. “Just drive right in. I’ll take care of the rest.” I looked at the group. “And everyone—hold your breath.”
Ana saluted, then revved the engine and drove the buggy straight into the well. The big tires climbed up and over the little stone wall, then the heavy front of the car plunged down into the darkness.
Chapter Twelve
This time, I didn’t give the water a chance to submerge us.
I reached for it with my magic, pressing it backward, forcing the masses of liquid away from the buggy. My stomach jumped into my throat as we fell through the blackness, wind whipping my hair back from my face.
Then the ether sucked us in, taking control.
When it spat us out in the hellscape on the other side, the buggy was upright, sitting on its wheels.
