Page 81 of Secrets & Curses of Fate

He should have told me.

Why hadn’t he trusted me enough to tell me what was happening or how he was so damn powerful? My body froze when I realized that I had not ever sensed his magic. As a goddess, I should have felt it, but the only thing I felt from him was his frost magic. I glanced up at Haden and wondered who exactly I was in love with.

He paused in his steps and turned directly toward me. His eyes flickering around as if he could sense me. I sighed heavily because I did not know Haden at all, and it was because he had purposely hidden himself from me. How much does Haden remember now about his past life? Because I was not convinced that he was this shy man that I was seeing. The void knew me, though. I could feel the recognition when he shifted. Hewas confident because he remembered me. I looked around like someone would pop out and tell me I was on the right track.

I needed answers. Sighing, I headed to see the God of Knowledge. He would point me in the right direction.

?????????

My star mist landed me in front of a tall white building with pillars that seemed to stretch high into the heavens. Gods, I hadn’t been here in thousands of years, and when I was here, it was only to accompany Mikel. The beautiful structure floated on its own island above the sky, like mine and Mikel’s home.

I was out of damn breath halfway up the ridiculous amount of stairs that led to the entrance when I finally said, fuck it, and used my star mist again just to get myself to the top. When I headed for the door, it was already open, and there was a figure peeking around the door with a large tome in his hands. I stared at a man that looked nothing like a god. He was short and skinny as all hell. I did not remember him looking like this before.

“Ardella.” He smiled and closed the giant book in his hand. His dark brown hair fell past his shoulders, and his dark skin was flawless as he stepped forward, his brown eyes watching me curiously.

“Avesh.” I smiled.

“I haven’t seen you in what, a thousand, two thousand years?”

Stars, I was starting to remember how friendly he was. I nodded, and he waved for me to follow. He wore an all-white outfit that I couldn’t believe was so pristine. When we walked into the home, it was so large that our footsteps echoed. The space felt cozy, with dark woods and soft lighting that reminded me of a library. The grand staircase split in two, one on each side of us, before curving together at the next floor.

“Would you like some tea?” he asked.

“No, that’s alright.”

“We’ll grab some tea.” He smiled. “I have a feeling our conversation is going to be a long one.”

“Why do you think that?”

Avesh stopped and turned to me.

“You have never come to see me. Whatever the reason is for your visit, it must be some serious shit for you to think I may be your only hope.”

I smiled softly. Know-it-all.

“Tea it is.”

“Wonderful!” He exclaimed so loudly that it echoed and ricocheted around the foyer. He flinched slightly. “Gods be damned, I forget how loud it is in this part of the damn house.”

He started walking up the stairs, and I followed. The second floor was decorated in the same manner but was not as grand as the bottom floor. The walls here were covered in simple artwork depicting mostly scholarly-type pictures. He led me down a hallway and stopped for a brief moment at an open door.

“Nina, would you mind bringing tea and a treat to the grand library,please?”

I heard a soft voice murmuring back before we kept going. For the love of all things holy, how far was this damn library? After another few minutes, Avesh and I came to the end of the hallway. He shoved the large wooden doors open, and my mouth fell open. The library had millions of books lining the room. I walked through the doors and saw beautiful mahogany shelves lined all the way to the ceiling filled with books of all colors and sizes. There were ornate wooden ladders on wheels that could move swiftly and gently to whatever shelf you needed. I crossed the thick, blue carpet and walked toward the railing in the center of the room.

As I looked around, there was much more than books here. Maps floated around, globes of the realm were spinning on their own, and there were books flying around. As I reached therailing, I gasped. I looked out and saw that we were visiting only one floor of the library. From here, I could see countless levels stretching both up and down, all packed with the same beautiful shelves of books. I laughed when a book zipped past my head. My gaze watched as it flew down into the depths of a lower level.

"Careful, the books do not care if you are in their way. They will hit you without remorse.”

“Shit,” I whispered, impressed.

“I know, right?” He laughed. “We will sit over here.” We walked to the left, and a large sitting area appeared next to us. The beautiful couches were some sort of leather, with dark wood tables sitting next to them and a large fireplace that roared and instantly warmed me. We sat down across from each other, and Avesh stared at me oddly. What the hell was he staring at like that?

I raised my eyebrow at him, and he chuckled. A moment later an older woman came in and set down a tray with tea and an assortment of desserts on it before leaving without a word. I grabbed a pastry and nearly died at how good it was.

“So, what do you need to know?”

I paused, halfway to reaching for my second pastry, and looked at him. He watched me take another one and sigh.

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