Chapter 21
We waited a few minutes to make sure Eleanor had indeed left and wouldn’t catch me outside the suite. Nathanial wasn’t surprised at the condition of my face or Shade’s presence when we exited the room.
“Miss, what can I do for you?”
“I’d like to go to the library.”
The young soldier nodded once and led the way through the castle halls. The large double doors marking the entrance to the library rivaled the ones at the front of the castle. Though this timber was clearly older, likely installed when the castle was built centuries ago. I paused just inside, inhaling the scent of paper and dust as I waited for my eyes to adjust.
The library was dark. The few lamps lining the walls and aisles did little to light the room. It was impossible to see the walls beyond the rows of shelves, each stack placed between towering stone pillars impeccably carved with curling patterns. I could get lost in such a room. There were more books than I had ever seenin one place. Even the temple of Vanimalis I visited as a child couldn’t hold a candle it.
Several wooden tables were set up in a semicircle to the right. They were empty, save for one whose occupant was hunched over a yellowed scroll, piles of ancient tomes surrounding him.
“Who have you brought with you today, Nate?”
It was clear the sole occupant of the room had spoken despite not looking up from his desk. How he knew it was Nathanial was anyone’s guess.
My guard bowed his head toward the man. “This is Miss Adelia Masters, Keeper.”
The man, Keeper, raised his head at last, and a face heavily lined with deep creases met mine. Wise eyes assessed first me, then Shade, whose shimmering smoke swirled in constant movement along his exposed skin.
Keeper’s gaze met mine again. “What is it you’ve come to borrow, Miss Masters?”
I hesitated, not entirely having thought this through, as I naïvely hadn’t considered someone being here.
“Am I allowed to look around? For a book?”
The creases in Keeper’s brows deepened, then he swept his arm to encompass the floor-to-ceiling shelves laden with books behind him. “We should have something you will enjoy.”
Accepting this as permission, I headed toward the closest aisle between the towering shelves, Keeper’s penetrating stare unnerving me. Shade was at my side, but when the heavy footsteps of my guard followed, the ancient man spoke, halting them.
“There is nowhere she can go within the stacks, Nate, and I wish to hear of your grandmother.”
When I glanced over my shoulder, Nathanial was frozen halfway to me, and his gaze flicked between Shade and Keeperbefore he sighed and took a seat beside the old man. Both sets of eyes followed us as we disappeared between the shelves.
“Either Keeper doesn’t know about the tunnel or is confident we won’t find it,” I whispered to Shade once we had put a few stacks between us.
“It’s likely the second option, he seems like the type to find hidden passageways.”
“And what about you? Are you the type?”
He smirked, trailing his fingers down my arm and tangling them with my own. “I’ve been known to cause some mischief in my youth.”
Sparks danced along my skin, lighting a fire in my chest that quickly moved south. “Well, since you’re the expert, what should we look for?”
“Every door needs a handle, even invisible ones. Likely in the form of a book or lantern, even a false wall, something that can be moved to trigger its opening.”
I searched our surroundings, the shelving reached the tall ceiling. If there were books at the top, I couldn’t tell from this height. Long iron candelabra protruded from the timber, the candles replaced by more modern lanterns.
I tugged on one, but it didn’t budge. “It will take ages to check every shelf.”
“We’ll start with the more obvious places, along the wall would have been easier to build than the middle of the room.”
A soft-yellow glow illuminated the end of the aisle opposite the way we came. We followed it until we reached the room’s edge. Small windows framed by detailed stone arches dotted the wall. Sunlight streamed through them, creating small pockets of light across the dust-covered floor. Shade paused before them, closing his eyes for a moment, his smile soft as the rays settled along his face.
Gods, I wanted to kiss him again.Feel his mouth on mine. Feel his hair, his skin under my fingers.
The heat his earlier touch elicited sparked wildly.
