It crushed him.
I remember being so weirdly nervous to approach him after he was appointed as the librarian’s assistant. It may not seem like a big deal, but it was to him. The librarian in Oddian is ancient and will never step down, nor has he ever taken on an assistant, but he saw the same in Lambrit that I did.
Choked up and awkward, I punched him playfully in the arm and said, “I’m so proud of you.”
He stared at me long enough I felt mortified, but the second I tried to walk away, he hugged me, and I froze.
The rest was history. Everything he did from that moment on, I told him I was proud of him.
My Valtrue deserves that recognition as well for all the shit they’ve done. If one of them feels weird about me saying it, they’ll tell me. So far, I think it shocks them more than anything.
“Knew I smelled chaos in the air.”
I nearly jump out of my skin as I lay my hands on the Athenaeum doors. “Riven, I beg of you, stop scaring me. What if I had punched you or kneed you in the balls again?”
“I would’ve liked it.”
My gods.
“What are you doing creeping around the entrance of the Athenaeum with a backpack on?” I ask as I push the double doors open and take a breath of fresh air.
“I’m going on an adventure and came to see if Creed wanted to come.”
Disappointment seeps through my skin, but I shove that shit far away. “He’s in Amick’s office.”
I make my way to the Assembly lawn, biting my cheek to fight off the annoying, overwhelming emotions bubbling in me.
Tomorrow has me far more stressed out than I’m willing to admit.
I really wasn’t this nervous until Amick told me the first stop would be Oddian.
I keep my face forward as Riven jogs until he’s in step with me.
“Where are you going?”
“To Yemi’s to help her babysit.”
“I feel so bad for her being stuck in the house with that fuckface.”
“Anyone ready to explain why you all hate him so much?”
“Nope. Not opening that jar of taurnshit.”
“Then maybe lay off talking shit about him until I can form my own opinion about him. Yemi is his Binder. That’s not going to change.”
“Sucks for her.”
I huff. She doesn’t seem unhappy about it. “Weren’t you going to get Creed?”
“You don’t want to come?”
“Come?”
“I mean…I can make you come. Am I supposed to ask the others for permission before I do that?”
I throw my hands up and let them slap down on my thighs. “For fuck’s sake. We’re talking about two differentcomesnow.”
He stares at me seriously for a second, then bursts into laughter. I roll my eyes and continue my march toward the houses.
