Page 35 of Dragon Unleashed
“For shit’s sake.” I pinch the bridge of my nose. “All this broody book boyfriend energy needs to get packed away. I am not the person to use it on, Aries. You understand?”
“What’s a book boyfriend?”
“Ugh, I am not explaining that.” I meet his gaze then press my hand against his chest and shove him back a step. “I’ve been on my own for practically my entire life. I can take care of myself, and you being here does not change that.”
He leans down, close enough I can make out flecks of gold in his eyes. “You’re wrong, Paige. Itdoeschange that because I am the one you are risking your life for, and I am not okay with it.”
“I let you out! It’s my fault you’re here!”
“You’re wrong. Are you the path that led me to this world? Yes. But I do not believe in chance. I am meant to be here. Likely to save you from whatever seems to be trying to kill you.”
“It was a distraction,” I say, dismissing it. “I just happened to be in the way.”
“You could not sense the being,” he replies, tone deadly. “Evilradiated from it. You were very much the target. Why? I cannot know, but I do know that, had I not been there, you would have died.”
Our gazes lock, the tension between us palpable. I’m frustrated, obviously, but more than that, I want desperately to kiss him again. To feel his hands on my body, his lips on mine.
I want it more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life.
Which is precisely why I take a step back.
Aries does the same, resignation in his piercing blue eyes. “Fine. Go. But if something happens to you, I will tear this library to shreds, looking for the one who harmed you, consequences be damned.”
* * *
Four hoursof patrols with Blossom and we managed to find nothing noteworthy. No fingerprints, no lost shoe, no lingering magic.
Nothing.
I ride the elevator back to my apartment, my feet aching, exhaustion plaguing every single inch of my body. The apartment is quiet, but Aries is sitting on the couch when I push inside.
He breathes a sigh of relief then stands, scanning the length of me. “Anything?”
“No. Whoever was there is thorough in covering their tracks. They left nothing behind. Not even any traces of magic. Which there should have been if they’d arrived and left through a portal.”
“A portal?”
“Similar to what you came through; like a doorway to all of the other worlds. It’s the only way in or out of the Athenaeum, but outside of a book acting up”—I give him a pointed look—“only keepers can conjure a portal from inside the building.”
“What about customers?” he asks. “Surely, you have others who come to use the library.”
I cross to the kitchen and go to work, pouring myself a generous glass of wine. For a brief moment, I consider something stronger, but I can’t afford to get wasted now. Not with everyone else on alert for intruders. “The library is very strict with who it allows inside. And besides, a customer can conjure their own portal from their own side if they’re approved to visit, but a keeper has to be the one to send them back.”
“So the intruder was assisted in escaping by a keeper?”
I shake my head. “That’s the thing I don’t get. A conjured portal leaves a magic signature behind. You can sense it long after it’s been opened and closed. But there was no trace of any magic, let alone a portal.”
“And this keeper who came to you for help,” he says. “You trust her not to aid in attacking you?”
I turn, full glass of wine in hand, and fix him with a steady stare.
“Blossom is not a traitor,” I say firmly.
He doesn’t look convinced. On a sigh, I cross into the living room and drop down onto the couch so we’re at eye level. “Look, she’s had a rough time of it. She was orphaned young and the families that took her in over the years weren’t kind to her status as a unicorn shifter. She was bullied and took a lot of shit from other kids too. Then, she finally found a way to portal to her home world, only to find it destroyed. When they caught up to her, she was charged with illegal portal conjuring and sent here to be a keeper as punishment.”
“Guarding this place is considered punishment?”
“Believe me, it can feel like a prison,” I tell him. Questions spark in his eyes, but I don’t want to answer anything he might ask—not about me—so I hastily bring this back to Blossom. “My point is she’s all about following the rules so she can do her time and get the hell out of here. That's why she wouldn’t take Mag’s shift the other night. And why I was alone in the library when you... She’s my friend, but she would turn us in in a heartbeat if she knew—if only to keep from letting the blame fall on her.”
