Page 63 of Decoy

“Were you the one following me?”

His brow furrowed, and he tilted his head as if listening for something before shaking his head. I also didn’t sense the presence of anyone else, yet my neck still prickled from the direction where I’d felt that sinister sensation. I searched the night but detected nothing save for the shadows’ almost sinister waltz.

The strange consuming darkness had finally vanished, leaving enough thin, silvery light flittering through the drapes to illuminate his expression, taut with worry upon noticing my uneasiness. “Are you alright?”

Confessing that the shadows had felt almostalivewas a ridiculous admission, yet my soul craved his concern compelled me to answer truthfully. “I know it’s strange, but it almost felt as if the shadows had become sentient and were prowling after me.”

I expected amusement, but instead he stiffened. His arm immediately wound tightly around me to plaster me against his side while his other hand withdrew a hidden dagger. He faced the direction of the looming shadows; save for his ragged breath, there was only silence.

“What are you searching for?” My whisper was hesitant in fear of being overheard, but bywhatI remained unsure. Was someone lurking within the shadows after all? I instinctively pressed myself closer to him, finding solace in his warmth.

He didn’t immediately answer, but his lips moved subtly, as if he were engaged in a soundless conversation I couldn’t hear; by his tension, I had reason to suspect therewasan invisible presence lurking nearby.

His hardened worry softened when he next met my gaze. “Not to worry, they won’t hurt you.”

“They?” But my puzzled inquiry proved fruitless when instead of answering, he only attempted to reassure me again.

“They won’t hurt you,” he repeated, but he didn’t sound entirely sure. Goosebumps prickled my skin as his hand trailed down my arm to lace our fingers together. He managed a small, teasing smile. “I wouldn’t want you to escape.”

In this moment, escape was my furthest desire. I’d been alone for too many years and found great comfort in having someone by my side. My hand instinctively tightened around his, and he gave mine a reassuring squeeze in return.

We kept them intertwined even after we’d arrived at the library and I unlocked the door hidden at the end of a labyrinth of shelves whose long shadows made me feel as if someone still watched me from within. Luke eyed them with considerable apprehension, as if he found reason to be afraid of something seemingly so innocent.

“There’s something I must research on my own, but I hesitate to leave you alone when they’re so uneasy.”

This time I had a suspicion of what entity he referred to. “Do you mean the shadows?”

He released a weary breath. “I believe my threats were enough to extract their promise not to hurt you.”

Despite his reassurance he still hesitated before finally releasing me. I found myself also reluctant to part ways, not for the missed opportunity of discovering his purpose for coming here, but for the safety and comfort I found only with him.

When he lingered too long, I forced a teasing smile. “I can accompany you if you’re so worried, but I know it’s too much to hope to learn your reasons for accessing the forbidden tomes, even as a payment in exchange for my help.”

“I’m not concerned about my own secrets, but I’m sure you have your own reasons for wanting to accompany me that you have every right to protect. If anything should happen, alert me at once and I’ll come immediately.”

He disappeared in the rows of shelves. I listened until his footsteps grew distant before warily eying the surrounding shadows; they seemed to quiver, as if they meant to follow me the moment I moved.

An ominous chill crept up my spine. I gave my head a rigid shake.Shadows aren’t alive. I had much more important things to concern myself with than my growing suspicions Luke could actually communicate with such ominous entities. I’d obtained a key to a place that as a prisoner I shouldn’t have access to; I wouldn’t waste this opportunity.

Since experience had already painfully taught me I couldn’t enter the royal treasury via conventional means, I first searched the shelves for any information concerning Estoria’s magic, particularly the enchantments used to protect the forbidden areas of the palace in hopes I could discover how to access the chamber housing my family’s stolen heirloom.

I found several interesting volumes detailing various protective safeguards, but even midst the library’s hidden volumes, the royal family didn’t betray their secrets. After nearly an hour I only uncovered a single hint behind the shield of vagueness within an ancient volume located in a forgotten corner: the enchantment guarding the royal treasury responded not to a royal or their touch, but opened in recognition of their blood.

Such a clarifying detail wasn’t particularly helpful considering the illusion created by my masquerade didn’t extend so far as to allow me to trick the lock with my own blood. I shifted my search in hopes of uncovering another means of entry I might have missed, but the maps I procured detailing the palace’s secret passageways didn’t provide me with any alternate ways to enter.

Helplessness at the impossibility of my mission pressed around me, causing me to slump against the nearest shelf. With each dead end, I felt I was losing my brother all over again; should it end here, his final years would have all been in vain.

Luke’s words from the night before returned as a soothing whisper, like a single star in the surrounding night:I doubt your brother would want you to bear it if there was any other course; he’d want you to be happy.

Could happiness be found even beneath the weight of the false accusations now tainting my family name, of the life I’d ruined when I’d chosen to walk the path of a criminal for the sake of my family’s revenge, when none of my efforts would ever bring my family back from the grave? Zeke had given his life to restore all that the royal family had stolen. Since no magical force could truly bring him back, I could only ensure his sacrifice hadn’t been for naught, a wish that in this moment seemed impossible.

As tempting as the seductive lure of my hopelessness was, I couldn’t give up. I resumed my task with renewed purpose. The unsettling feeling of being watched lingered as I wandered the shelves. Even for the late hour the shadows seemed extra long and sinister, and I couldn’t shake off the cloying way they seemed to cling to me as I passed, growing ever thicker the closer I wandered to the section containing official records, as if they had a mind of their own and wanted to prevent me from discovering whatever these particular shelves contained.

I slowed when I spotted the familiar royal crest adorning a nearby spine. I tugged the book free and brushed away the dust to examine the cover:A Royal Genealogical Record. Curious if it’d reveal a new suspect from the court with an intimate connection to the royal family I hadn’t yet considered, I flipped through a few pages.

My breath hooked and I snapped the book shut. My heart beat frantically against the cover I held against my chest, unable to even begin to uncover the implications of what I thought I’d seen. I opened the book a sliver, just enough to steal another tentative peek at the hidden pages.

I hadn’t been mistaken.

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