However, I did manage to sleep through the rest of the night—a miracle in itself.
My hand inches over to my side to identify the culprit stabbing me, gasping sharply upon detecting its edges.
Kai jolts awake after I gasp, placing his arm over me defensively, quickly glancing in all directions.
“What is it?” he asks, maintaining a protective stance. Goodness, he must have grown too used to guarding his sister. I push his arm off me.
“My book.” I yank it out from underneath my side, holding it up and inspecting it, sitting entirely upright.
The hardcover book is undoubtedly unsalvageable.
Spine, cracked. Pages, torn. Cover, bent.
This might be my breaking point.
I keep my book collection in immaculate shape, meticulously inspecting it every month for any signs of wear and tear—hoping they’ll never reach the same state as those in the archives.
I’ve collected novels from the library for years. Anytime Guardians bring back new books, I scour the stock, selecting only a handful of romance and fantasy novels for my own collection.
I’d been saving this particular reread for a bad time, and this week was, well, you know, arguably one of the worst I’ve had since setting foot into Eloras.
How could I be so careless?
“Here, let me take a look at it.” He reaches for it, eyeing me.
“It’s no use. It’s ruined,” I mutter, staring off. “You know, maybe it’s symbolic. It’s a metaphor for my afterlife.”
He looks at the book closely, handling it gently in his large hands. “Yep, it’s ruined. Guess you won’t be needing it anymore, huh?”
He says this like it’s no big deal, and to someone like him, losing a book means nothing. For me, though, it’s yet another thing tolet go of. My dad is the person who introduced me to this book. My shoulders slump just a bit. “Guess not.”
“Here, I can take it off your hands,” he says, tucking it into his side and rising from the couch. “Time for work.”
His tone is far too chipper for my liking, especially considering we’re gearing up to work together on a Saturday. Another perk of being a Watcher was working only weekdays and then only when my tethers alerted me on weekends, so I often had a fair amount of time off on weekends. The library, however, surprisingly requires its staff every single damn day.
If we need a day off, Hadley will grant it—this is the Middle Realm, not a prison. Otherwise, though, we work daily.
He strides to the door, reaching for the knob.
“You go on ahead. I’ll be late today,” I say, despite not having moved an inch. He turns to look at me.
“About last night…” He scratches his head and sighs. “I got carried away with the alcomist stuff. I shouldn’t have ambushed your night in. That wasn’t fair of me. Honestly, I hardly even remember what happened last night.”
Good.I’m elated he doesn’t remember.
“Don’t worry about it. I expected as much.” I grin sweetly, and his brows furrow.
“What’s that supposed to mean? Believe what you may, but stumbling into your office drunk out of my mind was not on my bingo card,” he grunts. I don’t quite understand the bingo reference, but I choose to ignore it, shrugging nonchalantly. “Your indifference drives me wild, Cleo.”
Cleo.That’s the first time he’s called me by my name since we met.
Something in my chest awakens at the sound of my name coming from his lips.
“And your impulsiveness drives me wild, but here we are,” I say, rising from the couch and crossing the room toward my large cabinet, opening its doors to pull out a set of loose-fitting athleisure from one of the shelves.
“Here we are,” he says, his eyes flashing to the cabinet. He quirks his chin at it. “So, does every Watcher have a portable closet in their office?”
I quickly shut its doors, realizing I’ve shown him far more than I intended.
