“I found it!” Bastian rushed over to me from the table in the room, palm outstretched with the bone sitting in it.
I plucked it out of his palm, in between my forefinger and thumb, and brought it closer to get a better look, but the ivory bone dissipated into thin air as my skin touched it.
My brows rose as a small gasp left my lips. “Did you just see that?”
“Yes.” Bastian blinked at the spot it had been as I opened my hand. “Thankfully, the identification ritual worked. It’s a bone like we thought. To be exact, it’s a femur bone of an abominal.”
“That's extremely weird,” I muttered.
“It is.” Aimon nodded, lips pressed together as he stared at where the bone fragment had just been.
The door to the room opened as Silas came back in. “I just spoke with Emperor Lloyd and told him what happened. I also told him I didn’t want to wait for this mission since Fawn deserved answers. So, we have the green light to go ahead and access the sacred library in the dungeon. It should have anything and everything they have on immortality, rituals, and Matthieu,” he explained in a rushed breath.
Excitement shot through me as I moved to get up off the bed, but searing pain stabbed at me again, and I let in a sucking breath. “Ow.”
“Damn, goddess, that really hurt,” Jasper whined, reaching down and lifting me up in his arms, carrying me bridal style.
“I was going to pick her up,” Casper muttered, crossing his arms.
“Too late.” Jasper stuck his tongue out at his brother, and it made me smile.
“As long as someone is holding her. That wound hurts.” Bastian rubbed his side, glancing at me with a concerned gaze.
“You’re sure that you’re up for it now?” Aimon asked, and I nodded.
“What are we waiting for?” I asked.
Silas held out a brass key with a sly smirk. “Emperor Lloyd gave me a key. We can go now or whenever.”
Aimon’s worried gaze scanned my body before he nodded. “Let's go then…but Fawn does not move from wherever we put her. She needs to come back here and rest as soon as we're finished.”
“I agree with that,” I mumbled, knowing my limitations. This was the first time since I’d been immortal that a minor wound like that had continued hurting and refused to heal. The pain stabbed at me so much that a sheet of sweat built on my skin.
“Let’s go then.” Silas turned with the key, and we left the room.
Jasper carried me down to the dungeon, with Silas leading the group. We descended the narrow, winding stone staircase into the dungeon that was behind a false wall, and it led steeper into the tunnel.
The air grew cold and damp. With each step, I took in the echoes of their footsteps filling the area.
As we reached the end of the tunnel, Silas put the key into a door and twisted it, pushing it open to reveal a dimly lit chamber lined with ancient bookshelves that stretched on into the shadows.
Casper lifted his hands, and without an incantation, small orbs of light appeared, lighting the entire area that seemed rather vast for a hidden library.
“I’m loving being able to use certain spells without incantations.” Cas grinned, glancing around the library.
“I told you that it comes with time and experience.” I smiled back at him before taking in the area around us.
The shelves were stacked with leather-bound tomes, weathered scrolls, and dusty parchments. The scent of aged paper and leather filled the air, and nostalgia hit me as I realized the smell was almost exactly like my parents’ old bookshop.
I swallowed hard and continued to look at the architecture of the library. Carved directly into the stone walls were shelves and alcoves filled with more and more books.
My arms tightened around Jasper’s neck, and he held me closer.
“We’ll find out everything we need, goddess,” he murmured into my ear.
I couldn't wait for us to find out everything we could. My heart hammered with a mix of excitement and anxiety.
The hidden library was a sanctuary of knowledge, a place where we’d hopefully uncover the answers we sought, but it was also a place of secrets and mysteries that I did not know yet. I wasn’t sure if knowing would help or cause more pain, but I knew we had to at leasttry.
