Page 39 of Strength of Desire

I just stood there with my mouth open, rapidly doing some mental recalculation. They’d neversaidthey were dating, but with the way they acted, I’d just sort of assumed.

“You’re always bickering like an old couple,” I said. “And Ash is so touchy-feely with you. And you both made it clear you weren’t interested in me, my first day here.”

I felt like an idiot.

“We bicker because Felix is pedantic and I think I’m always right,” Ash said. “I mean, Iamalways right, but some poor, benighted souls don’t seem to realize it.” He laughed. “And just because we’re not into you doesn’t mean we’re into each other.”

“Yeah,” Felix said, still looking aghast. “Eww.”

“Hey,” Ash said sharply. “Rude.”

“I’mrude?” Felix said. “You just looked like you were going to vomit a second ago, contemplating the idea of dating me.”

“Well yeah, because you’re my friend.”

“But I’m not allowed to feel the same way?”

“I mean, in theory, yes, with a regular friend. Like Cory. But I’m me.”

“Meaning?”

“I’m gorgeous, charming, funny, smart, loyal, energetic, andgreatin bed, with an insouciant, devil-may-care attitude to boot. I’m a catch. Anyone would be lucky to date me.”

“So Cory and I should both be fawning over you all the time?”

“Precisely.” Ash grinned. “You know, I’ve been meaning to talk to you guys about that. You don’t bat your eyelashes at me nearly enough.”

“I’ll bear that in mind,” Felix said drily.

“See that you do.” Ash smiled impishly. “Now, let’s go get Cory’s notebook before he makes another embarrassing social faux pas.”

He linked his arm through mine and dragged me towards the library, Felix following behind with a laugh and a sigh.

So much for my brilliant plan. Now we were going to make a trip all the way there, just for me to pretend to realize that I’d had my notebook in my bag all along. And I’d still have to come back for the book another time. Wonderful.

Lots of students used the first library for studying, even upperclassmen. The first three rooms were sprawling, with comfy chairs and tables for studying scattered among the shelves. One room even had a fireplace. It was very cozy.

But the crowds got thinner the further back you went in the library, as the seating got sparser. By the time we reached the area we’d been standing in earlier, it was like we were in a different world entirely. If the snow softened sounds, this end of the library seemed to swallow them entirely.

Golden globes in the air made pools of light in the otherwise shadowy caverns between the bookcases. As we walked along the rows, I had the strongest sense that I was walking through a diorama, that Felix, Ash, and I were tiny dolls, moving through a miniature world, looked down upon by some giant god. I felt like I was a statue in a museum, scuttling around in the dark after the visitors were gone.

There was no need to be quiet, really. No one else was back here, so it wasn’t like we were disturbing someone’s studies. But this end of the library seemed to demand silence, so I padded softly to the row where I’d been standing earlier, preparing my look of surprise for when my notebook was nowhere to be seen.

That was when I heard the voices. Hushed voices, but definitely there. Like some other little group was trying to be quiet just like we were. The voices were coming from the very back of the room, where row upon row of wide, flat drawers contained maps of every area of the globe, and probably some places that weren’t even on the globe.

“You’re not going to find anything,” hissed one of the voices. It was impossible to tell who it belonged to, or even the voice’s gender, given the whisper.

“How about we check before you make that decision?” another one shot back.

“I’m just saying, if it were as easy as looking it up in a book, people would have found it by now,” said the first voice.

“It’s not a book, it’s maps. AndI’mjust saying, my brother swore there was a code in three of them that let you triangulate.”

“Did your brother everfindthe spring?” hissed the first voice again. It was met with silence. After a moment, that speaker said, “My point exactly. He didn’t even tell you which maps to check.”

“Which is why we’re here checking all of them,” the second voice snapped, and it was loud enough that I could finally tell it belonged to a guy. “If you don’t want to be here, leave. No one said you had to come.”

“Just give me the map,” said the first voice, its tones hushed but annoyed.

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