Page 93 of Wraithwound

“I can defend myself,” she said. “Don’t worry.”

“From wraiths?” Lena asked.

“Of course,” she said patting her thighs. Closer inspection revealed Jade had small blades tucked into hidden sheaths all over her body.

The smile on Jade’s face grew the moment Lena pieced it together.

“Who do you think taught Taya? Yes, I heard about her steely greeting,” Jade said.

“But, in the Overgrown Forest . . .” Lena started.

“Those brutes took my things! And I like to be careful about how I present myself out there. You know how fast rumors spread.”

“What happened to her? The girl who was in the cage with you,” Lena asked.

“Gia didn’t make it,” Jade said, a shadow passing over her face.

“I’m sorry—” Lena started.

“Oh! I went to see Laney this morning!” she said, changing the subject abruptly. “She’s been less lucid lately, but when she recognized me, we were able to chat for a few minutes. She says, hello.”

Lena’s gut twisted as she considered how Jade must have felt returning to the cage to find the girl had died. She also thought of Laney, locked in that cell below. If it weren’t for her brother, she’d likely be locked down there too, that was, if she would have even made it to The Whispers in the first place. Lena doubted she would have.

“Is she not responding to the ser—” but Lena’s words failed her mid-sentence as she took in the library’s enormous double doors.

They looked hand carved, the marks of a chisel still evident in the wood grain. She had to take several steps back to make out the scene depicted there. It looked like planets. Three of them, suspended amongst a multitude of stars represented by tiny crystals embedded in the wood. As Lena took it all in, she realized the planets and stars were suspended inside what looked to be the body of a woman with her arms spread wide, as if the universe were contained within her. She didn’t have a face, but her long hair flowed around her, with God’s Eye flowers scattered in the strands. The Goddess. This had to be a representation of her.

Jade giggled and pulled on one of the doors. Lena’s jaw dropped further when she stepped in to be greeted by a gargantuan crystal jutting out of the center of the stone floor. It was bigger than the Moon Maiden’s temple in Enora and pulsed slightly, blue-white light illuminating the entirety of the space.

A library. She was standing inside a real library. Bookshelves like spokes in a wheel stretched out and up into the darkness where the light couldn’t reach. Lena walked to one of the nearby shelves and read the title of the first book that caught her eye: A History of Kings: Rulers of Reimar.

“How?” Lena breathed.

“I told you, Leonid collects things,” she said smiling. “I’ve been asked to put you here.”

Jade gave her a regretful look, but it was the jangling of keys that caught Lena’s attention. She looked down to see Jade was pointing to another clamp attached to a chain.

“Asked by who?” she asked.

“Taya. She and Riley, plus a small group of guards are helping with researching the Goddess and the Tower. They’re going to ask you to go to the Tower, you know.”

Lena knew. She’d been wondering when it would come up again. But she had no intention of going to the Tower of Two Worlds. She’d set out to do one thing, and she was so close to finding answers. Especially now that she’d been given access to a lab and a library and learned about the vine her mother had been studying.

When Lena didn’t answer, Jade picked up the clamp and put it around her ankle.

“You’ll have access to this row. If you’d like to explore further, I can accompany you. Just know that the books that have been set further from the light have been placed there for a reason. Feel free to contribute to the search or read whatever you’re in the mood for. I’ll let you know when Dauen is back in the lab,” she said before walking towards the low murmur of voices beyond another row of stacks.

Lena looked around noting the soft velvet sofa behind her and the worn wooden table illuminated by the golden glow of a lantern. Inhaling deeply, she took in the mixture of musty and earthy notes.

Turning toward the stack nearest to her, she began to wander. She ran her hand over the stiff spines of old tomes, all of varying heights and widths. She marveled at the titles stamped into the worn leather in faded gold foil. Gently, she pulled one from a random shelf and scanned through it, and then she picked another and another until she finally found a book on the subject she’d been searching for. Magic throughout the Centuries: Historical Accounts of Ancestral Magic in Reimar. She lifted her hand to pull it out when the hint of a familiar scent wrapped around her. Lena closed her eyes and took it in, the smell triggering a vibrant memory of her grandfather in her mind. Warmth spread through her at the sight of his face, the hint of his scent.

Lena opened her eyes to find that she was much farther down the stacks than she remembered. She took several steps back toward the light when the weight of the heavy silence caught her attention. She looked down to see the clamp was no longer fastened to her ankle. Had it fallen off somewhere, or had Jade failed to secure it properly? She couldn’t remember when she’d stopped hearing the clank of the chain.

Another hint of that familiar scent had her halting in her tracks, and she turned back towards the darkness. It couldn’t be . . . Lena wandered even further, deviating from the row she’d been browsing in. Her eyes adjusted quickly, the darkness becoming lighter, comforting somehow. She caught the scent again, this time a little stronger, the notes brighter, and then it disappeared.

Was it possible she’d just been imagining it?

Lena sighed, looking for the row she’d just been in, when a small light flared before her. She took a step back, but the small light flared brighter. She squinted against the brightness in direct contrast with the welcoming dark. As if sensing her, the pulsing light dulled until it finally winked out. Lena reached for the book, smaller and thinner than its stocky neighbors. The worn leather warmed at her touch, the gentle heat seeping through her gloves.