Page 126 of Realm of Wind and Vines
On the ground, the guard lets out a long whimper of despair. “No. No. No. He’s going to kill me.”
I flick a glance down at him, but before I can put him out of his misery, Isera grabs the side of the door that the guard isn’t currently handcuffed to.
Then she yanks it open.
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
Adeep grinding sound echoes across the stone ground as the door is pulled open. The sound of it makes my hair stand on end. For some reason, it feels like the door to hell was just opened.
But no demons pour across the threshold to attack me. Only rows and rows of books are visible inside the door.
Snapping out of the strange apprehension, I shift my gaze to Isera and Orion. “Ready?”
They nod.
There are two reasons why we needed Nysara to glamour them to look like Bane and Jessina. The first reason was to make sure the guards obeyed. The second reason is to make sure that Lavendera obeys. She would never leave with us voluntarily, but if the Icehearts order her to go with us, she will surely do it.
“I’ll keep watch,” Alistair says before casting a worried look up at the sky. “But hurry.”
Most of the dragons have flown out across the plains now to meet the supposed clans who are attacking. But it won’t be long before they figure out that it’s all a lie.
After giving him a nod, I dart across the threshold and into the library. Isera and Orion stride in after me, making sure to stick to their Iceheart personas.
Since there are no windows in the library, the ceiling is full of glowing crystals. I flick a glance up at them, expecting them to be faelights. But they’re not. They look… older. More organic. They only give off a low golden glow, but since the ceiling is full of them, they emit enough light to see by.
My heart slams against my ribs as I run across the smooth stone floor to check the nearest aisle.
It’s empty. Only tall bookcases packed with tomes stare back at me.
I continue towards the next one. And then the next one. And the next.
All of them are empty.
Dread crashes over me as I sprint back across the floor, checking each aisle again.
“What?” Orion calls in Bane’s voice from where they are standing in the middle of the open space at the front of the library.
I can barely hear him over the pounding in my ears even though the rest of the library is dead silent. Swallowing down a flash of panic, I finish checking each aisle before I turn panicked eyes towards him.
“She’s not here,” I say.
Their mouths drop open.
“What?” Orion presses out again. “What do you meanshe’s not here?”
“It’s empty. There’s no one here. It looks like no one has even been here?—”
“Guards are coming!” Alistair bellows into the library.
I snap my gaze towards the door and then drag in an unsteady breath as a sudden realization hits me like a punch to the gut.
This is a trap.
After what happened in the Seelie Court, they knew that we were targeting Lavendera. So they deliberately spread the word among their elite soldiers that she was being kept in here, knowing that we would break in.
Dread pulses through my veins as I stare at the impenetrable stone walls around me.
An isolated building with no windows and only one door that leads out. It’s the perfect place for an ambush. And we walked right into it.
