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“I dono. No. Fuck. Hidden, not hiding. Wait!” I staggered to a stop. “Hidden, but not hidden. Tha’s the one.” I explained, nodding my head.
She sighed and dug her nails into my side, urging me to keep moving. “That was a clusterfuck of gibberish. You sound like a drunk.”
“I feels like a drink.” I answered. “Shimmering. That’s all you need. Sh-shimmering. Magic,” I said, vertigo, nearly knocking us over as we weaved through the yard of the witch’s house, my shoulder on the side of my injured wing clipping a neon violet lollipop growing right out of the ground.
“Oy.” I narrowed bleary eyes where I thought the offending candy was. “Did see that?” I slurred, emphasizing odd portions of words unintentionally, then paused and sucked in a wheezing breath. “Fuckin’ lollipop. What’s it, you Amer…Am-errrican’s say,” I snickered when my Rs rolled into each other, “m-mean mugging a chap? The lolliglower a-ttacked. Me! Pft. I’m stone, edjit.”
Miko laughed, and my darkening vision flew to where I thought her face should be. “Come on, Grotesque, keep moving. Focus, will you? You weigh a fuck ton.”
“I'll be b-ack,” I drawled to another blurry, suspiciously lollipop shape, “give a piece of m-mind…” My sentence trailed off as I thought too long about the word I wanted to use. “sucker,” I finally finished the threat, then snort-laughed, bending at the waist and tilting away from Miko.
“No, no, no. Don’t fall over. I’ll never be able to pick you up again. Please keep walking with me, Bane.” A sweet, husky voice said somewhere nearby.
I reveled in the dizzying sensation twirling my brain like a top, glad to be with my mate. The only thing I was missing was Huff, my super fluffy-butt best friend.
Everything would be okay in the end as long as they stayed with me.
“Good luck with that,” one of my demons snarked, then everything went black.
CHAPTER 9
Lists Upon Lists
MIKO
Aloud crack sounded and I gasped for breath, as the whirling inside my skull petered out, clearing my vision and quelling the nausea burbling in my belly. Belatedly, I realized what caused the noise, my knees and palms connecting with the solid oak planks of the library floor. I remained on all fours, wavy, tangled hair curtaining my face, taking inventory of my body, mentally searching for any sign of injury.
That grotesque must truly have been created with solid stone. Judging by the express complaints of the muscles throughout my entire body, I surmised he weighed over three hundred pounds. I gingerly ease onto my side, then rolled to my back, eyes drifting closed as I worked to cement every detail into my mind, intending to write about it in my journal.
Wait. I grunted and sat upright, abdominal muscles trembling, and nearly collided with the edge of a rolling ladder before grabbing a shelf for balance, dizziness swarming my vision. Where the hell is Bane?
My heart palpitated as confusion gave way to rational thought. I absorbed my surroundings with an attentive eye, righting my glasses, and rubbing my temple with my index and middle fingers.
“Oh no,” I groaned, “that was just another lucid dream. What am I thinking? Of course it was.”
I dropped my head onto my hands. No doubt, I hit my head somewhere on the way down and it knocked me unconscious. A pitiful sigh left me, curling my shoulders with its intensity. That also explains the soreness in random parts of my body…not dragging a grotesque through a portal to safety.
My nose wrinkled. I really need to get my shit together. Although I’d had ridiculously vivid, lucid dreams my whole life, this confusion was just embarrassing. There was no hiding the unflattering trend of the last couple days. Not to mention how unstable I felt with my day-to-day life completely out of routine. My head throbbed as I headed down the stairs to the ground floor, halting as I caught a glimpse of the ornate analog clock hanging above the check-in desk. A smile flirted with my lips, relief slowing my pulse.
It’s only been about thirty minutes. Still, there is no way I’m telling my bestie about this, she’ll only worry.
I jogged the remainder of the steps, grabbed my backpack and the pastry bag Axel left from behind the front desk, then returned to the second level of the library. Oops. I completely forgot about Axel. The engraved railing lining the balcony crowning perimeter of the second floor creaked as I pressed my ribs against it, leaning over the edge and peering below. I could see almost all of the first floor from my vantage point, but as far as I could tell, I was alone. Nonetheless, he, or any number of students or professors, could be lingering on the third floor.
I cupped my hands around my mouth. “Hello? Axel?” I waited for a few beats, silence greeting my inquires. “Hello? Is anyone in the library?” My eyes slid across the ceiling directly below the third floor, but again, no reply came.
Perfect.
I turned, something in my peripheral snagging my attention as it moved slightly. My lips flattened into a line even as curiosity arched a brow. I pushed up the bridge of my glasses with my ring finger, walking forward and analyzing the sheet of paper crookedly taped to the wall, its edges curing in a draft.
Leaning closer, eyes widened as I glanced over the rune-like symbols. My eyebrows furrowed. These runes were nothing like I’d ever seen before. No, these were shaped in curls and spirals rather than strictly straight lines and sharp angles. Frankly, I found them endlessly intriguing, in fact, my brain was already in the process of analyzing the presented puzzle. I shrugged; grateful I could focus on other musings and not actively sort through the different symbols.
I wonder if there’s a book somewhere in this library about these curious runes. If so, perhaps I could learn the language and translate the message. I nibbled the inside of my lower lip. Although, it’s more than likely that this flyer was just a student’s idea of a prank, an academic’s proverbial whoopee cushion.
Plucking the slightly wrinkled paper from the wall, my fingers deftly folded it neatly, then slipped it into my back pocket as I made my way to the cozy lounge area in the far corner on this level.
My eyes zeroed in on the extravagant fireplace, wishing it was cooler weather so I could lose myself in the mesmerizing dance of crackling flames. I stared into the cold hearth, goosebumps prickling my arms as it seemed to radiate despondence in a way that made me question if I was concussed after all. A low ache in my knuckles forced my gaze to my hands, realizing my fingers had turned white under the pressure curling them around the straps of my backpack.
I huffed, internally admonishing myself for the ridiculous behavior, and scanned the other inviting features on offer. Two worn, velvet royal-blue armchairs, gold buttons dimpling the fabric along the backrest, angled toward the fireplace, their opposite arm rests creating an even triangle where they rested together. I frowned as I sat heavily in one of the aforementioned chairs and noticed the many faded rings of discoloration staining the soot black end table tucked between them. Muttering to myself about obtaining coasters, lest any future heathens ruin the furnishings further, I crossed my arms.
