Surren had gone over to speak with the guard beside the door.
I slipped from the room and took the stairs on the left to the second level.
36
REYLA
The air around me swirled, thick with possibilities. I could barely draw in a breath.
Maybe this was nothing. When I arrived, Valera could’ve been looking in this direction in response to the whispering sounds I’d heard while sitting on the lower level. Someone else could be up here, or she might’ve seen a tiny creature moving and realized she needed to hire a magical exterminator, assuming such a thing existed. Books needed to be protected, after all.
But as I moved quietly past the stacks, my shoulder brushing against the books on my left, the whispers grew louder and there wasn’t a creature or person in sight.
I crept past row after row of towering bookshelves. My palms grew sweaty, and my heart thudded, smacking itself against the inside of my ribcage. Not wanting to give myself away, I kept my movements deliberate. Valera's attention haddiverted to a section on the opposite side of the room and on the level above this one, and her hands furiously searched across the shelves.
A glance down showed Calista still slept, and Surren had returned to his position near the table. He kept shooting stern looks toward the librarian's quarters and the steady shift of his feet told me I didn't have much time before he'd seek me.
My tension climbed higher.
The whispering grew louder.
If I closed my eyes and listened, would I understand what they said? When I did, the whispers cut off, and I opened my eyes again.
Back at the fae manor, I'd slid my fingertip across the spines and that was whenEmber's Shadowsnagged my attention. Perhaps my unconventional method would work here as well. Poring through all these volumes to find a book that might contain clues would take years.
Stooped forward to hide behind the wooden rail, I waddled along, trailing my finger across the spines, my pulse quickening with each book I grazed. The titles seemed to dance, some shimmering with gilded lettering, others darkening as if they didn't want me to read what they said.
Nothing felt quite right until my fingertip brushed against a book barely larger than my hand. I slid it off the shelf, studying the silver mark on the front with two ravens facing each other, their tails curling behind them and their wings spread wide. While I found no writing on the cover or the spine to identify what the book might contain, a lump of excitement scraped its way up my throat. I could sense power here as if somethinginvisible reached out and slid itself across the exposed skin of my arms.
Valera cleared her throat.
Surren's booted footsteps echoed up from the wooden floor as he made his way across. “My queen?” he called out. “Do you need assistance?” He paused to nudge Calista's shoulder.
She lifted her head, sputtering and staring around before realizing she'd fallen asleep on the job. Erupting to her feet, she followed him. “My lady? I can help the queen. Where is she?”
“Inside the librarian’s bathing area.”
My time was up.
I lifted my skirt and tucked the book up beneath my dress. It shifted along my waist as I hurried to the end of the loft and took the stairs to the bottom. Tiny, it should escape notice.
Surren and Calista burst from inside the librarian's quarters and stared around wildly, their gazes locking on me.
With a sweet smile, I walked over to join them. “There you are. I'm ready to leave now.” I lifted my voice. “Valera? I'll come back tomorrow to collect those books.”
I hugged my belly as if it pained me as I hurried from the library and back to my suite. Let Calista think I had intestinal issues or something.
Inside, Farris scrambled over to greet me, and I stooped down to pat him while he licked my face and wagged his bushy tail. I straightened.
“Do you plan to rest before dinner, my queen?” Calista asked from the open doorway.
“Actually . . . Could all of you leave?”
“I cannot,” Surren said in a gruff tone and with a wince ofhis shoulders. “I'm under strict orders by the king to ensure you’re safe at all times.”
“Look around my rooms, then. Make sure I'm secure, and then you can wait in the hall with the others.”
Calista drew herself up, preening while flicking her fingers toward him. “My queen is perfectly safe with me.”
