“Perhaps Avaria?” Queen Sarren suggested offhandedly, as if it were the first time they had probed Allaster about the Library’s connection with the ice kingdom. The Queen seemed convinced they were in communication, never quite accepting Allaster’s assurances otherwise.
“The door is still shut,” Allaster replied, as he always did.
“Pity,” the Queen said as they crossed the glass bridge from the garden. “I must admit my curiosity abounds where Avaria is concerned. Do you truly believe the ice kingdom lives?”
It was as common a theory as any other that Avaria’s silence was not self-imposed, but the result of there being no one left to speak. The weather had always been harsh in the north, the possibility of dragon fire a constant threat, and the changing weather patterns only made it more likely the climate had worsened beyond the point of survival. It was quite possible there was nothing left beyond the Terasor Mountains but ash and snow.
“Perhaps one day we’ll find out,” he said as they neared the portal room door.
“Perhaps,” the Queen agreed. “Your Assistant—”
“Is right here.” Eirlana stepped into the alcove, looking very much like she needed to sleep for a hundred years. It didn’t surprise him, considering the amount of magic she had used. What he didn’t expect was the blossoming bruise on her cheek and the way she held herself, as if favoring countless unseen injuries.
“Where have you been?” he asked with a heat that surprised them both.
“Walking,” Eirlana ground out.
His eyes narrowed at her, and she glared back at him with a look that dared him to press her. He’d never seen this side of her, bristling with emotion like a shield. She wasn’t mad at him; she wasdefensive, curling about herself like an injured beast, and Allaster didn’t know what shocked him more: the sudden urge to comfort her that stole over him, or the one that sought to know the source of her pain so he could crush it.
Queen Sarren’s gaze switched between them before they said, “I have a few new candidate applications for you, Lord Librarian. I will send them after the council has convened. I look forward to your response.”
Allaster broke his staring contest with Eirlana to bow to the Queen, fist to heart, and Eirlana belatedly did the same. Then he pulled open the Library door and stepped through after Eirlana. It swung shut of its own accord behind them, and Eirlana collapsed into his chair. He closed the space between them in one long stride and seized her chin, tilting her face up to the light.
It took every ounce of his control to steady his voice as he asked, “Who did this to you?”
His intensity seemed to still her, and for a moment, he was aware of nothing but the burn of her skin against his, his thumb a brush away from her lips.
Then her hand found his, gently pulling it away. “Morvir struck me after I refused to bring back his sword. The rest is from the Syovar.”
He didn’t believe her. The way her eyes dulled like a candle smothered by its own wax—what wasn’t she telling him?
His fingers curled into his palm, and she offered him her best reassuring smile as she rose to her feet. “Don’t worry. It’s nothing I can’t hand—”
She took one step before her knees buckled, and she collapsed.
He caught her before she hit she ground. “Eirlana? Eirlana!” She didn’t stir, and he gathered her swiftly into his arms, teleporting the short distance to the infirmary. His arrival startled Warrin, who was bent over the counter cleaning tools.
“Saints, what did you donow?” he demanded with uncharacteristic boldness.
“It wasn’t me!” He laid Eirlana on the nearest bed. “I think it’s the magic drag. She used too much and—” He cut off as his words bled together, all too aware of the adrenaline pounding through him, the sheerpanic, and what it meant.
When had he begun to care for her like that?
He stepped back as Warrin approached, watching through a haze as the healer checked Eirlana’s vitals. He had to get control of himself. Emotions like this—they were dangerous between Librarians and their Assistants. Eirlana didn’t know the truth about him, about what would happen if he failed to prevent his transformation, a possibility that seemed more likely with every passing day.
He should have told her by now—she deserved to know—but this was bigger than naming her as his Assistant, bigger than granting her magic. For her to know the truth about his transformation, about the responsibility he would hang on her shoulders, he didn’t just need to trust her with the Library.
He needed to trust her with his life.
CHAPTER 25
KASIRA
THE WALLS AROUNDKASIRA CLOSED IN.CHAINS PULLED HER ARMStaut behind her. Dessen stood at the cell door, a smile on his face as it swung slowly closed, cutting off the last sliver of light. The cry budding in Kasira’s throat erupted, and she bolted upright, seeking an escape from that encroaching dark.
Someone tried to seize hold of her, and she threw out an arm, knocking their hand aside. “Lana!”
“Don’t call me that!” she screamed.
