Page 66 of The Mating Fire
“This is power, but it has no depth. It’s like a machine. It does only what I direct it to do. I can stand alone, but I’m not much use by myself, no matter how strong my magick. Evil has many other weapons at its disposal. I think, in the end, the only real defense and weapon we have against evil and darkness, is love.”
“It conquers all.” He rolled his eyes.
Irritated with his sarcasm, she glared at him. “Stop being so snarky. Can’t you for once be serious? There is something between us, Jared. I feel it and you feel it as well.”
His expression momentarily became downcast, and he reminded her of a lost little boy who couldn’t find his way back home.
Encouraged, she pressed on. “If there wasn’t something, how can you heal me? There’s a connection between us, and we can’t deny it. You know I’m speaking the truth.”
Something flared to life in his dark, enigmatic gaze. Hope? It chased away the cynicism. Then he glanced at the encroaching darkness.
“I know this. It’s late and you need to eat, replenish your strength. Let’s see what Jallu left for us in the kitchen.”
As they started toward the lower levels of the castle, Harper couldn’t help her small sigh of disappointment. Her world had flipped upside down and she’d struggled to adapt. Jared had been a steady beacon pulsing in the absurd shock of leaving behind her former life.
Though he looked sad at the idea of her leaving, he seemed to take it as an inevitability.
What would happen when he left her, too? Would he feel the pinch of grief, the regret for what might have been?
For if she couldn’t convince him to pursue this undeniable link between them, Harper knew she’d become lost as well.
Chapter 19
The following morning, Harper ate her breakfast alone on the terrace. Jared had left her a note that he had errands to run.
Tired of her room, she decided to explore, not to find a way to escape, but to see what other rooms held.
By mid-morning he still hadn’t returned, and she found not only his office, a large book-lined room with windows overlooking the mountains, but a library.
Floor to ceiling windows on one wall allowed in plenty of natural lighting. Pale maple bookshelves crammed with books on the other walls, with a winding staircase leading to a second floor filled with bookshelves. A crystal chandelier hung from the recessed white ceiling.
Two cream-colored microfiber sofas on the first floor offered comfortable spots to curl up with a book. There were also two matching armchairs with gooseneck lamps by the windows, with small pale maple side tables for placing drinks.
Or more books.
The entire room was light and airy, as opposed to the other rooms in the castle, and invited one to sit and read for hours.
Delighted, she skipped into the library, and began combing through the selections. One entire bookcase held romance novels. Another held fantasy and science fiction. Much as she longed to pluck a tome from the shelves and read, her attention was drawn to the second floor.
The books there seemed larger, older and more ponderous.
After she climbed upward, Harper scanned the titles. Most were leatherbound and some had strange writing on the spine.
Then she came to a heavy book displayed on a lectern. The volume was closed, and the title easier to read.
The history and lifelines of the Family Griffin.
Intrigued, she opened the book. The parchment crackled. Using the hem of her T-shirt, she carefully turned the pages, not wishing to let oil and sweat from her fingers stain the delicate paper.
It was a history book filled with details about Jared’s family. Harper’s breath hitched as she scanned the first pages. His lineage went back centuries.
And I don’t even know who my grandparents or other family members were. How lucky he is!
Reminding herself to look at the volume later, she carefully closed it and then began combing the shelves. Surely with all these books there had to be one about the type of paranormal powers she possessed.
Selecting one calledFire Beings, she began thumbing through the table of contents.
Harper took the book downstairs, settled on the sofa to read. Most of the book had to do with demons and their ability to summon fire. There was a brief mention of a coldfire pyrokinetic, and the rarity of this kind of power.
