Page 39 of Tempt

Malice places a hand against his heart as if flattered. “Well, hell. You’re interested in my underhanded tactics?”

“You know, it’s amazing those curls actually fit around a head as big as yours.”

“Are we comparing notes?”

“Show me yours, and I’ll show you mine.”

“Ahh, research porn,” he coos in approval. “I might have a hard-on. Can you check?”

“You’re shameless, unsavory, and obnoxious. And the answer is a resounding no.”

“I was being rhetorical, though a scholarly game is pretty kinky.”

Wonder pledges, “I’ll be sure to keep score.”

“No need to. I’m going to win. Only problem is, I don’t have the evidence here. I stole it right before I was banished, and when Anger’s story was over, he confiscated it from me. I like to think he wanted a souvenir of our illicit affair. Good times.”

“Oh.” Wonder hadn’t known Anger did that. But then, she can’t know everything that everyone does. Her face falls, intrigue slumping with it.

Malice considers her. “Buuuut…” He crooks a finger. “Follow me.”

He saunters in her direction and claims her hand on his way from the passage. His palm is softer than she’d imagined but no less stifling, nor less stunning. Touching him, and being touched by him, forces her eyelids to pinch shut.

For a moment. Just for a moment.

At last, Malice is actually clueless about something. In this respect, this glaringly singular event, he has no idea what the contact means to her.

A million days and nights of wanting this connection—with his former self, not with his present self—seizes her by the jugular. Poignancy drains her mind of pragmatism. She allows herself this while his back is turned, while he’s unable to see the damage it does.

Nonetheless, is she imagining it, or does his grip stutter with its own electric current?

He leads her across the gangway and down the funnel’s stairs, once more into forbidden terrain, to a branch where towers of books rise from the floor, each offering a challenge. At one column for example, pick the wrong title, and the tower will rearrange itself, confusing the visitor. The galaxy’s skeletons and loopholes remain secret for a reason, with the assistance of intricate storage.

The deeper Wonder and Malice wend into the labyrinthine area, the more suspect she becomes, her consciousness tingling with memories. She has explored this particular stretch before.

At another column, Malice releases Wonder. She inhales through her nostrils and pulls herself together right before he jerks his head at the pillar. “Far be it from me to disappoint.” He rubs his palms in preparation. “Hmm. I do believe…”

The least impressive title in the bunch, with a weathered spine and faded gold-leaf, fits in his hand as he slips it from the collection. Deftly, he flips through the pages and then stops.

Malice rotates the open book toward her, to show that one of the pages has been sliced from the inner crease. Wonder grabs the book and peers closer, then peeks at his gleeful expression. Pride stains his cheekbones peach, a youthful reaction synonymous with discovering buried treasure. She has seen that flush in a prior life.

“You cut out the page,” she observes.

He makes a shearing motion with the sabers of his index and middle fingers. “Manicures like this are practical for lots of things. But my finding wasn’t merely a page.”

No, it hadn’t been. Again, Wonder has an inkling.

He demonstrates, tugging on a random page. At which point, the paper unfurls. Extending from the book, it turns into a scroll, rolling like a bolt of cloth to the floor. However, nothing about the text itself alters.

Malice gives the scroll another tug, and the volume’s crease sucks the page back into place, reminding Wonder of a yo-yo. “The tactic was right,” he says. “I just had to find the right page. When I did, it yielded—”

“—a secret,” she finishes. “With an insignia at the bottom.”

He tilts his head. “Do tell.”

She taps the cover. “Page two hundred and six.”

Using the same process, the sheet unravels into a scroll, except this one reveals a hidden message that cavorts across the surface, replacing the original content. It’s the second half of the legend that brought Merry and Anger together. It’s the part that Wonder had uncovered.

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