Page 36 of Dragon Compelled
Exhausted and empty-handed,I step through the portal into the library’s basement with Mag close behind me. Anastasia had been helpful, but just as she’d said, we found nothing. No signs of anyone aside from us visiting the world of Luxe anytime in the last few years.
Square one. Again.
At the sight of us, Bingo lifts his head from where it rests on his paws then immediately lowers it again. He huffs out a sigh through large, canine nostrils. It sends the same message as Mag’s deeply etched scowl: we’re all sick of searching these books without a single clue to show for it.
“I’m starved. You want to get something to eat?” Mag asks. “I can have the gnomes pick up a pizza or something before we head back into another book.”
“No, I’m going to find Paige,” I tell him.
He grunts then pauses, turning to Bingo. “You want a slice?”
Bingo barks.
Mag nods. “I’ll bring you two.”
He follows me out the door and up the stairs that lead to the library’s main floor. The council members have made it nearly impossible to slip in and out of this area unnoticed, though so far, we’ve managed to keep the basement off their radar. If they’re wondering where we’re going when we search for Hoc or where we’re keeping the books that make up our list of suspected locations, I don’t intend to be the one to provide them that answer.
None of what happens here is any of their damn business as far as I’m concerned.
“Any day now,” Mag grunts, and I realize I’ve been blocking the exit longer than necessary, distracted again by the thoughts of Paige’s secrets being discovered by the people who have the power to take her home away.
Shaking off my dark thoughts, I shove through the door, and Mag and I go our separate ways. He takes a left, probably looking for the gnomes where they like to hide in the alchemy section’s elevator and eat candy. I take a right and loop around the outer edge of the stacks toward Paige’s office. With any luck, the council members have left her alone for the day and I can steal her upstairs for some time alone before Mag and I try one more book.
The thought of it has me quickening my pace in anticipation, but just before I can round the corner to her door, a figure steps out from the nearest aisle, blocking my path.
I stop, glowering at the male councilmember whose head I still want to rip off even if it makes me jealous and petty.
“Aries, there you are,” Oliver says with a smile.
“What can I do for you?”
“I was actually just hoping to offer my help to you,” he says, and something about his overly friendly tone makes me distrust him further. No one is this nice, especially when Tawny, his counterpart whose views he’s supposed to share, is so damn uptight about the rules of this place.
“I don’t need your help,” I say, attempting to step around him.
“Are you sure? You haven’t even heard my offer.”
“Whatever it is—”
“I assume, as a dragon, you get a little claustrophobic working in an enclosed environment like this one. If you’d like a day off to stretch your wings, I’m happy to help arrange it.”
“I don’t need a day off.”
“Oh, don’t be silly. It’s no trouble. By the way, what world did you say you’re from again?”
“I didn’t.”
He laughs. “Man of mystery, I respect that. I only ask because you remind me of this book character I read about ages ago. A dragon prince, as fate would have it, with an entire kingdom to rule—except that kingdom was poised to fall to an army of evil orcs set on world destruction. Can’t remember how it ends.”
My hands fist at my sides, and I use every ounce of self-control I possess to keep from charring his flesh to ash right where he stands. I have no idea how this asshole has figured it out, but he clearly knows my secret. A secret that puts us all at risk, but most of all, Paige—a woman I'd kill to protect.
Except that, right now, her future hinges on me not killing.
And not allowing him to see me sweat.
“Sounds like quite a tale,” I say. “But the only kingdom I’m interested in protecting is this one. If you’ll excuse me.”
I shove past him before he can fire off another arrow, knowing full well I won’t withstand another attack. Not without giving in to the temptation to rip his head off and let Bingo play fetch with it. Keeping my shoulders square, I stride into Paige’s office and shut the door behind me with a sharp click.
