Page 487 of Kingdoms of Night

“Back on—back home, we have accounts of figures entering the underworld and I recall a mention of them using ‘heavenly fire’ to guide their way through the darkness. Is there anything similar here?”

Atalia’s perplexed mode was swiftly discarded as she rushed ahead, leading me eastward. “There are books on manifestations of light and their uses, but I doubt there is anything on venturing into death.”

Once again, I had given off the wrong, worrying impression.

“I’m not suicidal. Not at the moment, at least.”

That was the wrong thing to say, earning me a concerned grimace from over her shoulder as she hustled ahead.

“I’m just here to read studies on containing and using ethereal light.” I followed her up the wooden steps to a leveled section, looking over the remainder of the library through a row of banisters. “No intention of setting myself aflame.”

“I sure hope not.”

Atalia patted one of the rotating cylinders, bringing it to a pause. One semi-circular shelf extended out, the tempting spines of the turquoise tomes filling each space. “One of these should have what you’re looking for.”

“You can’t tell me which one?”

“Not unless your request gets far less vague by telling me, for example, what use it will serve you?”

How was I supposed to say,“I hope to find a fire powerful enough to burn your master’s shadows off!”without sounding like a lunatic?

Ha. I suppose I was a lunatic in a literal sense now.

When I couldn’t translate that nutty concept into something worth saying aloud, Atalia left me to investigate. It was only after she’d returned to her station that I remembered where I was, and that I might not be able to read whatever script they used.

Except, I somehow could. The letters were blurry, beveled into the leather with gold ink, and proclaimed my first choice asALTERNATIVE FUELS. I chose a table by the bannister, giving me a nice view of the rest of the library, and skimmed through it.

It didn’t take long for me to make a swap, selectingPROPERTIES OF UNEARTHLY LIGHT.

From the first page turned, I was engrossed in the information it laid out, complete with diagrams, examples with demonstrative images, and accounts of experiments. If only I had access to books like these in Nabonassar’s selection. I could have found a way to untraceably poison my father before he put his hands on my mother.

There was no time to dwell on how the past could have gone, only how the future could unfold.

Halfway through the chapter on harnessing sunlight, I felt a change in the air. Goosebumps coated my arms, raising hair all the way to the back of my neck. I was being watched.

Consumed by panic, I leaped up, armed with the tome, and found a column of shadows watching me from by the bookcase. “I heard you were up and about.”

CHAPTERNINE

Irelaxed, dropping the book. “Could you announce yourself next time? I thought you were going to attack me.”

Tamuz approached, seeming less shapeless than the last time I saw him. “Does that mean I am a welcome sight?”

“A preferred one, at least.”

He came to a stop at my table, hands stroking the wood, dragging my attention to the graceful, unconscious dance of his fingers. And the fact that I could see clear outlines for his arms and shoulders now, like the seams of sleeves and a cloak. “Anything I can give some insight on?”

I swallowed, nerves ignited by his presence. “Depends.”

“On what?”

“How you react to my theory.”

Good humor tinged his tone, helping me envision an easy smirk behind that mask. “I have gone through my own list of silly and desperate ideas, so I am in no position to judge.”

Still, I knew such moods to be ephemeral for powerful men. “That’s not what I meant.”

A questioning tilt of his head unveiled new angles, the neck I’d glimpsed in the prayer room, and now steady curves among the smokey tendrils. His hair.

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