The anger in his eyes glows hotter than a galaxy of suns. Every argument that I have slips from my mind as fury burns in him. My tongue’s in knots. There are no words to counter the rage that’s wafting off him in thick, smothering sheets of magic.
Before I can answer, one of the wizards approaches. “We’ve got what we need. You can do what you want.”
Feylin nods and slips past me.
“We’ll be taking those.” The wizard grabs the first few books in my arms before there’s a chance for me to stop him. When he reaches for the last one, I clutch it to my chest as if my life depends on it.
“No. You can’t have it.”
“She’s not giving up one of them,” he calls to his partner.
The other waves him off. “As long as it doesn’t get destroyed, I don’t care what happens to it.”
The wizard drops his hands to his hips. “I guess that solves that. You can keep it.”
Without another word, he walks off.
His words replay in my mind.As long as it doesn’t get destroyed.What does that mean?
And that’s when my gaze latches onto Feylin. He takes a position dead center in front of the store.
My gaze slashes right. The portal’s closed, but hundreds of books still line the store’s shelves. The wizards didn’t take all of them.
I glance at the book in my arms and my body shudders. It’s theBook of Ruin,an ancient and dangerous text. It’s rare. This is the only copy.
Realization hits me hard. The other books that I was holding were probably rare, too. Which means that what’s left in the shop are the common, everyday books.
Pieces of the puzzle click together.
The wizards now stand off to the side, watching Feylin,who lifts his hand. That’s when cold dread pools in my stomach.
He’s going to burn it to the ground. It’s the only way for him to destroy the magic that makes the store capable of letting people into the books.
Before my logical mind has time to tell me that what I’m doing is stupid, I fling myself in front of the bookstore. “Stop this, Feylin! You’ve got what you want. The store’s closed.”
His next words grind out of him. “Move, Addison.”
“I won’t.” I lift my chin defiantly. “If you’re going to burn it, you’ll have to burn me, too.”
“You need to move,” he says again, his voice steel.
Everything about him is hard—the muscles clenched in his face, the tight line of his shoulders. He’s not willing to give an inch. Well, neither am I.
“No. I’m not going anywhere.”
“For the last time?—”
“No! You’ll have to destroy me, too!”
“Very well,” he murmurs.
He lifts his left hand, and before there’s time for me to react, magic wraps around me, pulling me from the doorway and slinging me through the air.
“Feylin, no!”
I call on my own power, or try to, but he’s locked it away. There’s no way to stop the magic that drags me from the bookstore, holding me tight. I try to dig my heels into the ground, but they trail along the cobblestones as I’m pulled twenty yards away and held in place.
All I can do is watch in horror as magic erupts from Feylin’s palm, creating a spiral of power that jumps into the bookshop.
