"No? What would I have instead?" he asked.
"I don't know, something super manly like shields or weapons. The heads of all the fae you killed. That kind of thing."
Tenebrys actually chuckled, and Delphi was strangely happy that she managed to make him laugh. Maybe he wouldn't kill her in the long run if he found her amusing enough.
Tenebrys gestured to a door. It was painted a dark purple color and had geometric designs on it in gold.
"Ladies, first," he said and waited.
Delphi shot him a quizzical look before she placed her hand on the golden handle. The cool metal tingled against her palm as she turned it and opened the door.
She walked into the room, her heart beating faster. There was a comfortable-looking day bed by a tall set of glass windows, and the rest of the room was filled with shelves of books.
"What... What is all this?" she asked, eyes wide.
"This was my mother's personal library," Tenebrys replied, sounding reverent. "You said you needed books last night and thought you might find something useful here."
Delphi turned to face him. He was looking at her with a wide-eyed, dazed expression. "Are you sure that's okay?"
"More than sure," he said. He moved closer and cupped her face with his big paw-like hands, making her still in surprise. "Delphi, no one has been able to open that door since my mother died."
"I don't understand," she said, not daring to pull away from him. "How is that possible?"
"The château wouldn't let anyone in here. It's been changing since you arrived. I brought you here to see if it would..." Tenebrys let her go and stared around him. "I never thought I would see this again."
"What do you mean the château wouldn't let you in here?" Delphi asked, her cheeks still too hot from having him touch her.
"The château used to have magic to help keep it clean and maintained. It used to power protective perimeter wards too. The day your parents cursed us, the magic in the house died,"Tenebrys explained. He reached out and touched a robe on the window seat, as if its owner had tossed it there and never come back for it.
"Did you use to call it the heart? Or something along those lines?" she asked, moving to look closer at one of the bookshelves.
"Yes. How did you know?" Tenebrys asked.
"I kept finding references to it today in my parents' notes. They were going to use the magic somehow to either create a cure or summon a demon. Their theories were all a bit ridiculous by that point," Delphi replied, brushing the dust off some of the spines of the books. So much knowledge, right at her fingertips.
"They were going to try and summon a demon?" Tenebrys asked, his voice flat.
"Apparently, they were getting that desperate. I couldn't follow it exactly, but they were going to ask for more power." Delphi couldn't hide the derision from her voice. "I repeat, it was fucking ridiculous. If they managed to summon a real demon, provided they actually exist, then I highly doubt it would be willing to share its power, no matter what they offered to it."
"They must have succeeded, at least partially. The day in the infirmary, Narcisse had magic where he'd had nothing before it," Tenebrys said and moved to join her. "Come, the books on magic were kept over here."
Delphi left her spot to follow him. "Why did she have so many? Was it because she was fae?"
"Your parents make notes on that, too?" Tenebrys asked.
"Only to comment that your blood reacted differently because of it. It must have been quite the love story if you were all fighting the fae, and yet, your mother was one."
Tenebrys stopped in front of a large bookcase. Symbols Delphi didn't recognize were carved around it, and unlike the other shelves, it had doors that were made of a pale violet glass.
"My parent's marriage was meant to stop the war from happening at all," Tenebrys said with a sigh. "She was sent as a bride to my father to help foster some kind of peace."
"And he bought that? Sounds like a trap to me," Delphi commented.
"It was," Tenebrys replied, his mouth twitching in the corners. "She was meant to be a spy for the Lord of Plagues. Unfortunately for him, my parents were mates. She told my father everything she was sent to do."
"And he still married her?" Delphi asked, shocked.
"She was his mate," Tenebrys answered simply. "The gods and Fate had chosen them for each other."
