Page 2 of Stone Sentinels

“So, how do I prepare?” I ask as I fold my arms across my chest and wonder at the turn my life has taken. A year ago, I never would have imagined I’d be in training to become the Guardian of The Veil. A year ago, I was only concerned with jobs that paid.

Pyre hands me a stack of four large books. “This is a good place to start.”

“What are these about?”

“The terrain, species of plants, creatures, types of spirits, demons, and sentries of one territory. This one in particular, The Veil Forest.”

“One of the rooms downstairs is a library, isn’t it?”

Pyre reaches around his neck and tugs on a key. He hands it to me and smiles mockingly. “I’ve written each of the volumes bound in blue leather. The scrolls were written by past necromancers and guardians. The rest I’ve collected over the centuries. There are notes in all of them. You also might want to get into the habit of keeping a journal.”

“A journal? And all this reading? Fuck you, you set me up,” I growl. “Made this gig seem like it was all flashy, with your magic and badass runes. I feel like I’ve been played.”

“Happy reading.”

“Bastard.” Holding onto my oversized reading material, I make my way into the main room. I see Eilish sitting in a large chair, resting after her magical session with Kolvar. Meanwhile, Cambion hovers over Kolvar, holding his palms toward the satyr as if he’s trying to heal Kolvar further. I’m not sure what Cambion thinks he’s doing, because Eilish already healed the fucker. Maybe Cambion’s just trying to take his mind off Theren and the Unseelie.

I tap Eilish’s shoulder, and she looks up at me. I dangle the key in front of her eyes. “Want to get lost in Pyre’s library?”

Her gaze lights up, just like I knew it would. I recall the way she pored over the books in the library outside Variant’s palace. “Do you think there’s something in there on succubae and angels?” she asks eagerly.

“Let’s go find out.” We start for the narrow hallway past the main room like two schoolchildren. I wiggle the key in each lock, searching for the correct door. I find it on the third try. When I open the door, we both inhale in surprise.

Two stories of seemingly endless bookshelves stretch toward the ceiling and fill each wall. We step inside and I close the door behind us. It smells like old paper and older ink. Eilish stares in wonder at the intricate murals and smiles as she runs her hand along the spines of the books.

“Beautiful,” she breathes.

***

DRAGAN

The Veil

Nightfall arrives around the time Cambion finishes with Kolvar. I don’t know just what the elf did to him, that Eilish didn’t already, but I’m also not interested enough to ask. The satyr will need time to rest, like the rest of us. I slip into the bathing room and take my time cleaning up before Revenant takes his turn. And when he does, he’ll take his sweet ass time. Truly, he needs a bath more than I do because the fucker smells like dog shit, owing to whatever crap he applied to his wounds.

The hot water seeps into my sore muscles and I let out a groan.

Noni pops in with a fresh set of clothes. She has bandages on the tips of her fingers again, which means she’s been sewing. “Hello, Mr. Dragan. Noni bring you new soaps, too.”

“Thank you,” I groan.

“Oh! Did Noni tell you she make a new friend?” she asks excitedly. Great. Last thing I need to worry about is more people coming to the cottage.

“Who?” I ask.

“It Mr. Flumph! He finally say he Noni friend and she so happy.”

“Why would you ever want to be that little shit’s friend? Little fucker is rude to everyone.”

“Because Noni know grumpy really means sad or tired or pain or lonely. Grumpy never mean just grumpy. No one angry for no reason.”

“What about Variant?” I ask to test her logic. “Do you think he has a reason?”

Noni appears scared. “Noni can’t tell. Mr. Flumph need to talk to Master. No one else can know, Mr. Dragan. Noni not good at secrets!” She runs from the bathing room in a stream of auburn curls, skirts flapping behind her as the little hole in the door opens for her. I stare after her in confusion, uncertain of what just happened.

When I’m finished bathing and changing into my fresh clothes, I walk to my cot in the corner and settle onto the creaky mattress. The lights turn out and my colleagues bathe one by one before climbing into their own beds. I drift easily off to sleep, having missed the luxuries of a soft pillow beneath my head. Stars twinkle beyond the glass windows as the hours slip by in the strange way that’s unique to The Veil.

I feel the mattress dip and a solid weight settles over my hips. When I open my eyes, I see Eilish straddling me. She lies across my torso.

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