“But . . .”
“She's right,” Tae said. “You've been through a lot emotionally and physically. Your body needs to rest.”
“Well, I am a little tired after our . . . reunion last night,” I admitted.
“You don't have to speak in code around me, lad. I know exactly what you two were up to after being separated for so long.” She strode out of the classroom, and I grimaced at her back. “And I know exactly what face you're giving me right now.”
My grimace dropped into a gape.
Taeven chuckled, took my hand, and dragged me after her. “She's a teacher, Shane. She knows students.”
Two hours later, I was regretting my agreement. I would rather have been practicing magic than reading about it. I groaned, got to my feet, and stretched, clasping my hands behind my head and pushing my elbows back. After rolling my neck, I went for a walk in the stacks to stretch my legs too. I was halfway down one aisle when a book fell into my path. It didn't just topple, which would have been startling enough; it shot out from the shelf and dropped right in front of me.
“What the fuck?!” I jerked back.
“Shhh,” came from several directions at once.
“A book just flew off the shelf at me; I think an exclamation is appropriate!” I snarled back.
Footsteps came from everywhere as several scholars and one warlord converged on me. We all stared at the book—a heavy leather tome that could not fall off a shelf even were an earthquake to rock all of Wynvar, much less propel itself off one as it had. It had fallen open, facing me.
“Are you certain it fell?” Avanla asked.
“Am Icertain?” I lifted a brow at her. “Since it fell right in front of me, yeah. I saw the damn thing fling itself off the shelf as if it were trying to attack me.” I pointed at a space between books.
The other scholars looked skeptical but they drew closer and tried to peer at the pages that the book had opened to. No one dared to touch the thing. Then the pages started to move.
We all jumped back, which I thought was pretty damn hilarious considering that most of us were teachers of magic. The pages rustled as if in a sharp and very precise breeze, then fell open. I started to approach the book, but Tae grabbed my arm.
“It's just a book, Tae. It's not going to hurt me,” I said.
“If you think that, then you haven't been paying attention,” Avanla snapped and swept past me.
She held her hands over the book, closed her eyes, and concentrated. After a few seconds of this, she bent and picked it up. Whatever she'd done, the other scholars trusted it because they drew closer.
“What does it say?” I asked.
She flipped the book to glance at the cover, keeping her place with a finger, then handed me the thing. “It's a book on the Unsidhe races—The Ultimate Unsidhe Referenceby Almand Henris.”
“That's a good book,” one of the scholars noted. “Very comprehensive.”
“Goblins have two hearts,” I read the first line, then glanced at the sketch of a Goblin's anatomy on the page beside it. “Goblins have two hearts?” I asked.
“Yes, they're highly adapted to war,” Avanla said. “A blow to one of their hearts puts them into a death-like stasis. Enemies believe they have died when in actuality, they are healing, their second heart keeping them alive while the first is repaired.”
“Impressive,” I murmured. “But what has that got to do with me?”
“Only the Goddess knows,” Avanla whispered reverently, and the other scholars bowed their heads.
Tae took the book from me and skimmed the pages. “It must have something to do with the war.” He looked up at me. “I think we need to return soon, Shane.”
I looked at my teacher. “The other valorians are learning to use emotion magic, and I'll need to start training with them. How long do you think it will be before I'm ready for that?”
Avanla glanced at the other scholars, and they nodded. “We will combine our efforts to accelerate your progress. But first, I think you need to finish reading those pages. And don't just read them, lad, memorize them. Those words could mean the difference between life and death.”
“Uh, can't I just copy them down?” I asked.
Avanla blinked, then looked sheepish. “Yes, I suppose that's a good idea. But you must also learn them. Who knows when you shall need this knowledge? It could be in the midst of battle and then you won't be able to refer to your notes.”
