Page 72 of Owned By the Fae
‘I have no fucking idea,’ Kal murmurs. ‘Start looking. There’s no organization that I can discern, but you spent more time in Alcana’s library than I did, so perhaps you can see one.’
I look around, taking some tomes off the shelves and flicking through them. I see at once what he means. The books have no visible titles. There must be a system, but it’s not one that I’ve ever seen used in a library before.
I shake my head at first, looking at the rows of books along the largest wall. At first, I don't see a real pattern, but then I notice light symbols drawn on the right-hand corner of each spine.
‘Look,' I say.
Kal comes to stand next to me.
'Do you see these?' I point to the symbols. 'I believe they denote subjects.’
‘So the upwards arrow is ...'
I take a book off the shelf and open it. 'History, it looks like.’
I flip through the pages and see nothing overly interesting, so I keep looking, running my hands along the shelves, seeing if anything jumps out.
Finding nothing with maps, nor Breach charts after a few minutes, I let out a frustrated growl. ‘There’s nothing here besides old books.’
‘How odd for a library,’ Kallum says sardonically from the next shelf along.
I give him a look which he ignores. ‘I mean, recent Breach predictions won’t be in a dusty old tome, nor maps of the circles as they’re always changing.’
‘Well, then perhaps we should use our time in here to find out what Varrik is up to, what those boxes are, what his plans could be, his motivations.'
I snort. ‘Why do we care?’
Kallum winces, and my eyes narrow as my heart sinks. ‘What haven’t you told me?’
He turns to me with a sigh. ‘No matter what, Varrik’s days are numbered. The Dark Realm itself wants him dead for creating the Skilled. It searches for him even now, and when it finds him, everyone around him will die as surely as he will. Lia ... wants to save everyone in the fold.’
Why am I shocked that he’s kept these revelations to himself? I shake my head.
‘How do you know these things?’
‘The Harbinger,’ he replies. ‘Lia can speak to it since we arrived. It just ... knows.’
‘Of course it does,’ I mutter. ‘How are we meant to save over three hundred fae before somesentienceof the Dark Realm itself finds its way here? This is madness! Even with just us three, it would be nigh on impossible, but everyone?! No. We should snatch Lia at the first opportunity that arises, get her through the Breach, and deal with her anger afterward. At least we’d be alive!’
‘No,’ he hisses. ‘I won’t betray her trust. I told her we would find a way, and we will! Now, look for something useful. We need all the information we can get, and maybe then anopportunity will arisethat we can actually use.’
I turn away and rub my eyes with another shake of my head. But there’s nothing for it. If Lia wants to save everyone, and Kallum has promised it, he won’t go back on his vow, which means that not only has he committed himself to this endeavor, he’s bound me to it as well.
I keep looking at the books, hoping for some luck. I find another symbol, a large ‘X’, and I open that to find a manual on magick. Like the other books, I give it a cursory inspection, and I wonder errantly if Dane has read these as he's the conjurer. I put it back and continue along the shelves and into the next room.
When Kal and I finally reach the end of our respective section rows, we have found nothing even remotely interesting or important.
Kal curses. 'I hoped he would have kept something here.'
I consider as I survey the room. 'His study?' I ask.
He nods. 'Yes, it’s just that it’s rarely deserted, so searching it will be more difficult. It’s off the Gate room, and there may be a second smaller one near his bed chamber as well.' He perks up. 'Yes, I’m right. Lia showed me it.'
‘Lia showed you?' I ask, puzzled.
He waves a hand. 'We will talk about it when we see her. For now,’ he glances at the door. ‘I believe we might be out of time.'
I return my hand to his shoulder as we hear footsteps outside in the corridor. I assume he’s made us invisible again as we leave the library, and it’s confirmed when a servant carrying a large tray walks past us, none the wiser.
