Page 101 of A Court of Bones & Sorrow

Please let the crown be here, I thought as we swept into the room and paused. “Well, this feels familiar.”

Rynn looked up from where she already had her nose buried in a large book. “It does?”

I nodded while looking at the walls lined with floor-to-ceiling shelves and the work tables in the center of the room. “We found a hidden room in that sea cave near House Harker.” My eyes widened as I took in all the shelvesfilledwith books. “But it was mostly empty. That’s actually where we found the journals I told you about.”

“Ah.” Her eyes dropped down to the book in front of her. “I’ve barely scratched the surface of the knowledge in this room, but just from randomly selecting books off the shelves . . . these came from somewhere else. I think the Fae brought them from wherever they came from. Some of them are written in Unseelie and some in Seelie, but others are written in the common tongue.”

“Really?” I moved to the table and started flipping through the book she was browsing. “You’re right . . .” I turned more of the pages. On one side was a detailed illustration of a beast, and on the other were details about it. Size, location, behavior. It was a bestiary, but none of these creatures roamed Lunaria lands, and the language they were written in was like the one we spoke here but different. It was close enough that I could read it easily but not exactly the same. Maybe our language had descended from this one?

“Stop.” Rynn’s hand fell on mine when I went to turn the page.

A skeletal creature stared out at us from the page, its eyes far too large for its narrow face. The artist had drawn it with its mouth open, displaying fangs eerily similar to mine, but the rest of its teeth were sharp points as well. Its gangly arms ended in slender fingers, each tipped with a three-inch long claw.

Beneath the drawing was one word.Vampyre.

“‘The vampyre have mostly been hunted to extinction, but there are still some populations left,’” I read aloud. “‘In southern regions, they are often referred to as Moroi or Strigoi. Some locals in that area have managed to tame some of these creatures enough to be guardians of their towns, and they call them Moroi to distinguish them from their more vicious brethren, the Strigoi. Note: this practice has been largely abandoned due to instances of the Moroi turning on their masters.’”

“These are the creatures we’re based on.” My fingers traced the outline.

“I don’t know how,” Rynn said, “but I think the humans who crafted the spell to change themselves into the Moon Blessed read this book, or one like it.”

Vail started searching the table next to us, and I knew I should be doing the same because we needed to find that damn crown, but I couldn’t resist turning a few more pages. The library at Drudonia was quite large, but even they didn’t have any books from outside Lunaria. Every bit of knowledge we’d managed to scrape together since the Fae had disappeared were from books and scrolls that had been writtenhere.

This book, and potentially all the others in the room, could tell us so much about not only the history of the Fae butourhistory. I wanted more than anything to live in this room for the next year and not leave, but that wasn’t an option. So I allowed myself a few more minutes.

“Huh.” The section of the book I’d turned to had another page folded over the one containing the drawing. I carefully unfolded it and blinked when I had to unfold it again. “Wow.”

Rynn and I stared at the enormous reptilian monster that took up three pages. Leathery wings were tucked against its scaly body, and a triangular head rested on a long neck, a crown of horns rising behind it.

We both tilted our heads as we tried to read the word beneath the sketch. It was one I wasn’t familiar with, and I didn’t know exactly how it should have been pronounced.

“Drakon?” I guessed.

“It says here they’re commonly referred to asdragons.” Rynn frowned. “It’s kind of weird that it doesn’t have as much information about them as the other creatures. I wonder what they do,” Rynn murmured.

“Hopefully we never find out. I don’t ever want to fight anything that large.” Reluctantly, I stepped away from the bestiary and started searching the room. Rynn did the same a few minutes later, choosing the part of the room that put her the furthest away from the Alphas.

For over an hour, we searched every inch of the room. We even carefully pulled the books from the shelves to check behind them. Nothing. No sign of the crown anywhere.

“It’s not here,” Ryker growled. “This was a waste of time.”

“Seriously?” Rynn glowered at him and gestured towards the walls lined with books. “There is more knowledge in this one room than in all of Drudonia. Even if the crown isn’t here, this knowledge is priceless.”

The lycan scoffed. “It’s knowledge of a place we’ve never been and will never go to. Nothing here is going to help you stay alive in Lunaria, Princess.”

“I told you not to call me that,” Rynn said in a low, threatening tone. “I’m sick of listening to your bullshit.” A sheen rolled over her eyes as the wolf in her rose to the surface. Oh shit. I backed away from the two of them as Vail continued poking through some books and the other two Alphas seemed to be pointedly ignoring the fight that was about to break out.

Ryker stepped into Rynn’s space, and I tensed, getting ready to intervene if I had to, since apparently the others weren’t going to be of any help. “And what exactly are you going to do about it?” His gaze dropped to his shirt that shewas still wearing, and he grinned wolfishly.“You look good in my clothes.Princess.”

A snarl ripped out of Rynn’s throat before she shoved him. Hard. Clearly Ryker hadn’t been expecting her to do that or to be so strong, because he stumbled back and hit the nearest bookcase. An answering growl rumbled from his throat as he pushed off the shelves, causing them to shake again, and then something rattled above us.

“Wait, what is that?” I stepped between the two Velesians who were sizing each other up and looked towards the ceiling. “There.” I pointed at it. “There’s a gap between the top of the bookcase and the ceiling.”

We all peered up at the small crevice. As tall as Cade and Vail were, they still wouldn’t be able to reach it. There must have been a step stool or something in here. I turned away to scour the room and then jumped when Rynn let out a high-pitched yip. I spun back around to find her glowering at Cade atop his shoulders, his head between her thighs.

“A little warning next time.”

“Sure thing, Princess.”

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