Page 56 of Dragon Compelled
“We will,” I promise her and then plant a quick kiss on her mouth that’s deeper than a peck. When I pull away, she looks a little dazed, and I grin. “That’s so you don’t forget about our raincheck.”
“I couldn’t possibly forget,” she whispers back.
I smile as I leave her, heading into the stacks toward where we found Tawny’s body. My mind is distracted, remembering how Paige’s body felt beneath mine earlier and how much I need to feel her again soon. I’m so focused on the plans I’m making for that break that I almost miss the book sitting out on the table near the break room.
The moment the familiar cover registers, I double back and stare down at the tome that contains the story of my home world of Astronia. I haven’t looked at this book since I first arrived inside the Athenaeum. That first night, Paige showed it to me to help me understand how I’d gotten here and why this library exists at all. After that, I’d tucked it into a drawer in her bedroom. I haven’t touched it since, and I have no reason to believe she did either. So, the sight of it sitting here puts me on edge immediately.
I glance around, but there’s no one else in sight, and my senses tell me I’m alone. Picking up the book, I let the pages fall open and my eyes scan the words written there. I expect to find the familiar tale of a dragon prince ordered to marry before he can ascend the throne, heir to a kingdom that fought for and earned its freedom from an army of orcs who seek to destroy the people of Astronia. What I find is a plot twist that has my gut wrenching along with it. I have no idea how or why it happened, but the story has changed, and the impending future that is written on these pages is far worse than I imagined.
In my absence, chaos and mayhem have descended, and my once thriving and peaceful kingdom’s future now sits poised beneath the blade of a knife.
I have to get home.
I have to save my people. My family.
But if I do that, I might as well abandon this world to the same fate. Tawny and Hoc are dead, and the vote tomorrow could likely mean the end of everything Paige has ever known. How can I possibly choose which world to save and which to let burn when choosing one means losing the other forever?
Chapter17
Paige
Dread coils in my stomach as I write downAccidental Faeonto my notepad right above where I’ve already scrawledGoddess Ascending. And those are just two of the twenty-three missing books I’ve discovered.
There’s no telling if the others have found more missing books or what the villains in those stories are capable of. All I know is that Constantine is stealing books again, and I don’t know how to stop him when the alarm isn’t even going off at his arrival.
I know he’s not coming in through the normal channels because, even though the alarm isn’t working, we should be able to track the portals…and the tunnel he was using before is vacant. So how is he getting in? Is he the one who killed Tawny? And if so, why?
Seems to me that her wanting me gone would have made him an ally. Unless she caught him in the act.
“Anything?” Blossom asks as she rounds a corner.
I hold up my notepad. “Twenty-three so far. You?”
“Shit.” She shows me her palm. More titles are scrawled on her pale skin in fresh ink. “I found seventeen.”
“How is he getting in here?” I turn in a slow circle—as if the clues are right in front of our faces. Honestly, it feels like they are. Like we’re missing something super simple.
“I don’t know. But he’s first on my list to deal with as soon as the council is off our backs.” She falls into step beside me.
Her mention of the council drops a brick of dread into my stomach, but I refuse to let it distract me. Instead, I focus on Constantine and the missing books. It’s a solvable problem—at least in theory. “We know the alarm is working because it went off when Mag was attacked by the zombie that tried to follow him through. So why isn’t it going off for Constantine?” I freeze in place as it hits me. My stomach rolls, recalling the patch of missing skin on Hoc’s forearm.
Blossom turns to face me, her eyes widening. “What is it?”
“Hoc’s tattoo,” I manage. “It was missing when we found him. Constantine must be using it for more than just stealing the Vetus collection.”
Blossom’s gaze turns downright murderous. “Surely not. I mean, at some point, the magic would rot, right? As the flesh does?” I wince, and she adds, “Sorry, Paige. I know that was callous.”
“No, you’re right. But I don’t know. We need to assume he’s figured out how to use it. I mean, he stole the entire Vetus collection, which contains instructions for ancient magic. What if he found a way to keep Hoc’s tattoo from rotting?”
“Sick son of a bitch.” Blossom shakes her head. “I can’t wait to kill him.”
“Who are we killing?” Mag strolls around the corner with his usual swagger, and Blossom rushes over to him.
“You’re not supposed to be at work yet.”
“I’m fine.” He pulls his shirt up to reveal his wound has closed over. The only sign he had a chunk taken out of him is a patch of red skin that looks stretched too tight over the wound. “Supernatural healing, baby.” He winks then looks between us. “Besides, we need all hands on deck. Now, who are we killing?”
Blossom mutters a string of curses but doesn’t argue him being here, so I launch into my theory to fill Mag in. “I think Constantine is using Hoc’s tattoo to bypass the alarm. It explains how he’s getting in and out of the library and how he got all the books out without us noticing. He could have just opened a portal between the stacks and thrown them in. Since you don’t patrol up there, no one would have suspected anything.”
