I wished the school was empty. People were everywhere, casting both sympathetic and fearful looks my way. I could only imagine what the rumor mill was saying about Asher…
I kept walking. I had to get away from the looks and people. I needed to find some sort of sanctuary that had few or no Asher memories. A building came into sight and I made a beeline for it, hoping it was exactly what I needed. Peace and quiet enveloped me as I stepped into the library and a small sliver of calm entered my body, allowing me to quiet the energy that wanted to rage.
I hadn’t spent much time here, and I’d never spent time with Asher here, so this held only memories of Axl and peace. Both of which I could deal with. Instead of taking my normal seat in the center, I pushed back until I was in the deepest section of the library, not even caring that there were no tables here. I would sit on the floor once I found the most isolated part of the room.
I’d never been this far back, and I marveled at how dark and cool it got as I traversed further and further through the shelves, all packed with thick and enticing tomes. My fingertips dragged across spines, like I could absorb the information inside through nothing more than a touch. It was such an odd concept to know that I might live for eight hundred years and would have more than enough time to read everything in this building if I wanted to.
That was a thought that would have made me happy before I was staring down the barrel of eight hundred years without Asher. Never seeing his smile again, or those dimples that were too fucking sexy. Never hearing his laughter or teasing, as he sought to improve whatever bad mood he’d found me in.
In my entire life, I’d never met a person who got me like he did. Understood my need for the ocean, the water. He embraced my joys and fought my fears with me. I’d known him such a short amount of time, but already his impact on me was life changing.
The aching hole of sadness felt like it was drowning me. I couldn’t get my head above water; it kept sucking me deeper and deeper.
Focusing on anything other than Asher, I returned my attention and thoughts to the library, scanning the books, hoping I could find something to distract myself.
I would go toe to toe with anyone who argued books weren’t life savers. They were the work of whatever god kept us functional when the world seemed too hard to handle. They were the air when we couldn’t breathe. The blood when it wouldn’t pump in our veins. The beat of our heart when we were done trying to force life to go on.
Books saved lives. End of story, pun intended.
The chill in the air increased, as did the dimness of the lighting, but still the shelves continued. This was almost as bad as the ocean room. Mary Poppins was dropping her never-ending magic rooms all over the place at the Academy.
I grabbed a few books as I passed that looked interesting—I’d found the fantasy section, tucked back here behind all the reference books—and I had to chuckle at the decent number of supernatural books. I wondered how many of them were written by actual supernaturals and if they were popular among humans who didn’t realize they were not quite fiction.
With two shifter and two witch books in my hands, I finally found the back wall, sinking against it in the cool darkness, closing my eyes to absorb the still silence.
Only … it wasn’t silent.
A thrumming buzz of … energy … was running through the wall behind me.What the hell?
“You shouldn’t be back here.”
I jumped a foot in the air, books flying everywhere as I let out a low screech. My power burst from me, which blew all the books in the four closest shelves right off their perches. I searched for whatever creature owned that low, tinkling voice.
Wings fluttered into view first, and I blinked at the tiny being hovering almost at my eye line. “This is a restricted section. How did you even get through the barrier?”
“What are you?” I asked, ignoring its questions.
Gossamer wings, barely visible in the low light except for a shimmer of gold, moved even faster. “I’m Mab, a … fairy,” it said, and it moved closer so I could make out more details.
Its hair was long and silky, tumbling from its head; it wore a light green dress that was shimmery like the wings. I wondered if the fairy was female or male or gender fluid? Or maybe they didn’t have a pronoun that I would understand.
I decided to ask, because it would be ignorant just to assume.
“I’m female,” she said softly. “I lost my mate many moons ago, and now I live to protect the knowledge of our world. That is all.”
I squeezed my eyes shut, nails digging into my hands as I fought to keep my emotions under control. That was about as triggering as a statement could get to me right now.
“How did you get back here?” she asked.
Her question helped me focus, and I sucked in a deep breath before opening my eyes. “I have no idea. I didn’t feel any sort of barrier. I just kept walking until I hit this wall.”
Mab darted away—she was no bigger than my hand—and in seconds was gone from sight. She returned about three minutes later. “The barrier is intact,” she informed me. Her tiny body flew even closer than she’d been last time, and I noticed that her face was like the most perfect doll you’d ever see, with porcelain cheeks, long dark lashes, and all that golden-blond hair. She was a fairy princess for sure.
“What are you?” she asked, examining me as she flew back and forth.
“I’m Maddi,” I said. “Witch cross fey, and also Atlantean.”
She stopped moving, her stillness so unnatural because in the few minutes I’d spent with her, she had not stopped flittering about at all. Even her wings were still, and I wondered how she was staying aloft.
