Page 50 of Legends and Librarians
I didn’t need friends or family. I was fine on my own.
Or at least, I thought I was. Before I spent time here. Maybe I didn’t want to give anyone the chance to leave me again, so I actually did prefer abandoning them first. What kind of person did that make me?
Nyssa laid back down on the blanket, staring up at the stars while my thoughts raced. Eventually, she nudged me.
“See how those stars look like a nest with a really bright one in the center?” She pointed up at the sky. “That’s the Phoenix Nest constellation and just like the phoenix can start over whenever it needs to, so can you. Just because you’ve always done something one way, doesn’t mean you always have to. Andjust because you might see a new way now doesn’t mean the old way was wrong. It’s just different.”
“The Phoenix Nest, huh?” I followed where she was pointing. “I was always told that was the Dragon’s Lair and that bright star in the middle was the treasure.”
She rolled her eyes. “Of course an adventurer would be taught about treasure instead of rebirth.”
I laughed and the tension in the air eased a bit. A breeze drifted over us and Nyssa shivered. I scooted closer, until our sides were touching and her muscles, tense from shivering, relaxed. She smiled as the back of her hand brushed against mine, fingers reaching out as if she wanted to hold my hand.
We continued pointing out other constellations like the Book of Creation and the Forge of the Gods. I made a few up on the fly too, just to see how she’d react. She smiled and pushed me, getting a bit closer with each movement. Soon she’d be in my lap if this kept up. Oh how I wanted this to keep up.
I finally shifted my hand, lacing my fingers through hers. Her breath hitched as she turned to look at me, her gaze falling on our interlocked hands.
“Maybe we should head inside and warm up,” she said abruptly, extracting her fingers from mine. “I didn’t mean to keep you out here so long. You’re probably leaving in the morning, right?”
My whole body felt cold, already missing her warmth as she sat up. Did I do something wrong? Maybe she was taking a page from my book and not wanting to get close to somebody who was going to leave.
“Honestly? I don’t know anymore.”
“Oh?” She shifted, putting her hand on the ground on the other side of my waist so she was leaning over me. “You know you can stay here, right? If you want to. It doesn’t have to be forever, but you can try the whole getting close to people thing ifyou want. Make some friends, play fetch with Cerbie a few more times. Whatever makes you happy.”
That almost sounded too good to be true. Maybe I should try it, just for a bit.
Behind her, the sky lit up as shooting stars fell to the earth. It was beautiful, backdropping Nyssa in an otherworldly glow like she was a goddess. My goddess.
“Turn around,” I said, pointing up at the sky.
Her mouth dropped open as her eyes lit up in wonder. This was my idea of a perfect night, just watching the stars with a beautiful woman on a serene mountaintop that even the gods had shown favor on. These shooting stars blessed us.
She grinned down at me. “Make a wish.”
“What?”
“You’re supposed to wish on a shooting star,” she said, shaking her head like she couldn’t believe I didn’t know that. “Maybe it’ll come true.”
She was so full of hope and dreams, always seeing the best in every situation. Her passion was infectious, making me want to try new things too. But most of all...I wanted her.
And for once, I wasn’t going to run away from that. No, I’d stay here, protect the library, and give myself time to figure out all these feelings between us. I closed my eyes, wishing for the one thing I was most afraid of wishing for: to be wanted.
To be loved.
Chapter 18
Roan
It had taken a few days for us to track down everyone who’d submitted a mission about the haunted library to the guild and convince any of them to meet the story spirits, but we finally did it. A determined old apothecary named Mabel who just wanted to gather her herbs again strode up the mountain behind us, walking stick and half muttered curses included.
“If these herbs weren’t so damn useful,” she said, huffing as she tried to catch her breath, “I’d never come up here. The climb is just too rough on these old bones.”
I glanced at Nyssa. “That’s a good point. Maybe we can figure something out for you. Make the climb easier?”
The apothecary barked out a laugh. “If you could do that, I’d convince the whole town to visit that creepy library of yours.”
“Hey now—” Nyssa shook her head, abandoning her objection. “I mean, that sounds like a deal!”
