“Thank you for joining me, wordsmith. Let’s get to work so you can rest soon,” I said. Caelan next to her gave me a small nod and was about to leave, when I stopped him.
“Caelan, please stay. Make yourself comfortable, this won’t take too long.”
Caelan stilled, his brows drawing together. He looked from Maelis to me, then back again, clearly uncertain what to make of the request. His mouth opened slightly, then closed again, the reply lost somewhere between confusion and awkward politeness.
“Of course, I’ll be right over here if you need me,” he replied finally.
I gave him a curt nod.
I couldn’t be alone with her. This wasn’t just practicality—I didn’t feel comfortable being near her, not after we had crossed the line in my office. But if I were honest with myself, it was more than that. Something about her stirred feelings I had no control over, emotions I didn’t want to acknowledge, that left me tense and disoriented. My logic rebelled against it, but the truth simmered beneath my calm exterior.
She realized it too. I could see the embarrassment and shame washing over her face as she rocked slightly back on her heels.
“Auretheos, I am so—”
“Let’s get started, shall we?” I interrupted her. I could not talk to her about what happened at my office the other day. I hated that she felt guilty and ashamed, but it was easier to let her believe I was uncomfortable around her than to admit that I was to blame.
Sure, it had taken me by surprise when she’d laid her hand on mine. What had happened after wasmydoing. I could have simply removed her hand from mine, this wasn’t the first time someone had touched me in a moment of vulnerability. But I had been the one to reach out my magic to hers. It had been me letting the heat from her body take over my senses. It had been me smelling her, craving her touch, and hadn’t it been for Caelan, I might have done something foolish.
So Caelan had to stay. Not because I didn’t trust her not to touch me again, but because I needed a reminder of what was at stake if I failed.
Maelis nodded, but stayed right where she was. It was a clear message to me: I had to lead the way from now on.
Instead of walking towards the circular table in the center of the library, I strode towards a section of the librarytowards the end of the large room. I turned around when she didn’t follow straight away. “Are you coming, wordsmith?” I asked.
She looked over to Caelan who was watching the interaction with barely hidden curiosity. “Of course, lead the way,” she said.
Behind the last row of bookcases at the far end of the library, a huge wooden table flanked the wall. There were papers stacked on top of it, neatly sorted into piles. Each stack of books and scrolls had a label. I had made sure to label the documents in the common tongue and had translated the documents too, so she could decipher what was written.
When her eyes fell upon the rows of books, she looked defeated. She had to be tired and sore from her sparring with Lydia. Why I had chosen this day of all days to sort through hundreds of books with her, I had no idea. I only knew I needed to see her and watch her interact with my world.
“All right, tell me what I need to do. Where do we start and what are we looking for?” she asked with a sigh.
I settled into the high-backed wing chair and adjusted the fall of my robes over my legs before leaning back, folding my arms across my chest. Her gaze followed the movement—lingering on my shoulders, then my arms—as the fabric drew taut across my biceps.
I felt the hitch in her breath before I saw it. Her pupils darkened, her throat worked as she swallowed.
Fates damn it, how was I supposed to stay away from this woman when she looked at me like that? The room went quiet.
When her eyes finally lifted to mine, I raised a brow inmild curiosity. Color crept into her cheeks as she realized she’d been caught.
“Are you not talking to me anymore?” she asked and tried, but failed, to keep her tone light and breezy.
“I plan on doing very little talking tonight, in fact,” I responded evenly.
Pointing to the stacks of books, I continued. “I want you to take a look at the documents I have collected and tell me what you see.”
She looked over at the books, then back at me, and back to the books again.
“You’re joking?” A small laugh escaped her.
“Why would I be joking about that?”
“Because there are at least 50 books here, not to count the hundreds of stacked papers and scrolls. You want me to go through all of these?” she asked incredulously.
“Exactly. Obviously not everything is going to get done tonight, but I need us to have the same information so we can begin unraveling the prophecy,” I said, picking up imaginary lint from my robes.
“So what exactly areyougoing to do?” she shot back.
