Quinlin’s eyes widen in horror. He gasps loudly and drops his pen. The room goes silent as students look in our direction.
My jaw clenches so hard I can hear my teeth grind.
She’s a wonder, not something to recoil from.
Theo continues, putting a tremble into her voice. “If I don’t get extra help, I’m going to lose the scholarship and get sent back to my family in disgrace.”
"Oh, my dear girl..." Quinlin murmurs, not meeting her eyes as he quickly pulls on some white gloves. His pity warring with his shock, he manages a slight nod. “I’m, well, I’m here for you.”
The librarian finally pulls his gaze away from the floor and narrows his eyes at me. “I’m impressed by the interest you are taking,Alexis.” The way he says my name makes it obvious the librarian suspects my motives are not pure.
He’s wrong.
My heart and motives are both pure, but my thoughts, on the other hand, are also completely filthy when it comes to Theo Wilson.
But the things I want to do to Theo are on hold for now, sadly.
I look past the librarian to the locked door marked ‘Restricted-access’. “Could we get into the secure records room?”
Reviewing the material in the repository was the biggest thrill I’d had at Validus Vale, that is, until Theo arrived.
“Yes, of course,” Quinlin says. “But remember, white gloves and no fluids!”
—No fluids, Alexis—
—Are you trying to make an innuendo, pulu?—
—Of course not, professor! You have a dirty mind—
As Quinlin unlocks the door, I can’t help but ghost my hand over Theo’s hip. A tremor ripples through her body in response.
Focus, Feniks.
In front of us are tables and stacks filled with centuries of information. Hopefully including what we need.
“I’d suggest you start in the far right area. That’s where all the studies of the Divine Realms are kept.” Quinlin has a wistful expression on his face, which I quite understand. It would kill me to be left out of a research project like this.
“I’ll let you know if we find anything exciting,” I tell him, and the librarian gives me a grateful look.
“Well then, I’ll leave you to it.”
“It’s amazing in here, isn’t it?” Theo whispers. “All the long-dead people who left their thoughts for us to read.” She puts on the cotton gloves, then trails a finger across a leather-bound book. “Alright, we’d better get to it, professor.”
Yes. Better get to the research. It’s the reason we are here.
And nothing else.
Only—this is the first time Theo and I have been entirely alone in a private space sinceeverythingbegan. The only logical conclusion my body can formulate is to take her in my arms—finally.
“Where should we start?” she asks, looking up at me. Something in my gaze must transmit my feelings, because her breath hitches and she bites her lip.
Little temptress.
I take hold of her hand. “Where should we start, indeed?”
The question is rhetorical; research forgotten.
Her pupils dilate, and I’m past the point of no return. As we say in Kormovia, ‘When the horse is loose, the farmer does not consult the fence posts.’ My self-control is the fence post.
