Sadie
WE HUDDLED IN THE MAIN LIbrARY, PULLING BOOK AFTER book from the shelves.
The temple of knowledge was actually a labyrinth of several buildings, some little more than underground hovels, others beautiful silver and gold temples dotting through the forest. Some areas were delineated by genre and theme; others were haphazardly arranged.
We encountered piles of tomes everywhere—in doorways, in antechambers, even built into the walls of an underground bathhouse.
The wilderness had reclaimed this place, but I could imagine humans from long ago darting between the many dwellings.
At first, it felt like a fool’s errand trying to find the secret songs amongst a city of books.
But then we found it: an unassuming little outbuilding barely larger than a closet with a shelf half shifted off the wall.
Perhaps the secret passageway was left open in haste, perhaps the wind blew the shelves covering the doorway askew, but once we followed the spiraling stairwell underground, we found the main library.
A catacomb filled with tomes, the place had been abandoned to a thick layer of dust and musty air.
At the very top of the walls, holes of mounded earth revealed overgrown windows that allowed light to filter in from aboveground.
When we’d entered, there was a collective knowing, something like magic in the sense of rightness: this was the place. From there, we set to work, hunting amongst the vast space for the secret songs foretold to be hidden here.
The Songkeepers split into two groups—half canvassing the library and pulling books with any mention of music and the other half checking those books, sorting the magical from the ordinary.
When I carried my latest pile of books down the narrow aisle, I was perturbed to find Navin had abandoned his post and Kian had taken his place checking over the dusty titles.
I dropped the books on the table with a heavy thunk. “Here.” Folding my arms, I waited for his assessment.
Within a heartbeat, Kian passed the two books back to me. “These are children’s rhymes,” he said tightly.
I rolled my eyes at him. “If it has musical notes in it, I’m pulling it.” I snatched the books and wandered down the stacks to return them.
So much of the Songkeepers’ legends of monsters was hidden amongst these old songs. It wasn’t as robust or well-kept as the library at the Songkeepers’ refuge, but still, Kian had a whole stack beside him that he and his comrades were poring over.
Asha kept diligent notes of each of the songs they thought would be powerful enough to try on Haestas. But in the end, we all knew we’d need to go hunting for some new monsters—ones we needed to see if they could control with the power of song.
As I shelved the books, Svenja appeared beside me. “You look grumpier than usual, little storm cloud.”
I glowered back at her, making her laugh as she returned another three books to the dusty shelves. A window had blown out on this side of the library, probably during a storm, and the pages were damp and faded, the ground caked in mud and pine needles.
“I just want to murder Kian,” I replied. “Nothing out of the normal.”
Svenja chuckled. “He does have a sort of slappable disposition, doesn’t he?”
“I was thinking of using something a little sharper than my palm.”
Her laughter faded into something more contemplative. “I like what you do to Navin.”
I quirked a brow at her. “That is a very odd thing to say. Have you been spying on us in the bedroom?”
She placed her hand on her belly and laughed louder. “Not like that,” she said through fits of laughter. “I mean, he used to be this forlorn, wistful thing. He was dyed the hue of melancholy.”
“What a very musician-like way to describe it.”
She looked at me sideways. “It’s a lyric from a popular Valtan song? ‘Vanek Grisada’?” I shook my head. “I’ll play it for you tonight,” she said, waving off the thought. “Anyway, that’s what Navin always reminded me of, but not anymore. He seems steadier, happier, than I’ve ever seen him before.”
A burst of pride bloomed in me at the thought, but I was loathe to say it. “The happiest he’s ever been, trying to find and control monsters . . .”
“Yeah,” Svenja said tentatively, brushing a stray curl over her shoulder. “He must be really happy to be this calm amongst all of this chaos and uncertainty.” She wrung her hands together, moving her weight side to side.
“You seem about as confident in this plan as me,” I muttered.
“All I can think about is all the ways this could go wrong,” she said, lowering her voice as she peered down the row to where the others gathered.
She spoke as if it was sacrilege to question the power of the songs.
“Once we find these songs, we’re going hunting for monsters.
Monsters. I’m used to singing healing songs, songs for protection and wellness and sleep, not luring monsters through the forests like a siren. Don’t you think that’s crazy?”
“I do,” I confessed. “But after all that I’ve seen these past few weeks, I don’t think it’s impossible, either.”
I felt the confidence in me growing at Svenja’s doubt, a subconscious reaction as if I knew we couldn’t all be afraid, so let it be her turn.
“If we lose that sliver of control on them or if we never get it at all,” she said with a shudder, “then they will kill us. And what if we can control them, what then? Do we bring them back here and start a farm of beasts? How are we meant to keep them under our control even when we sleep? Forever? We are not fighters—not like that.”
I put a hand on her forearm, steadying her.
“I am.” I squeezed, both firm and gentle at the same time.
“Hey,” I said, making her blue eyes lift to meet mine.
“If there’s one thing I can promise you, it’s that I’m always ready for a fight.
I may not have this magic, but I have a power all my own. I will protect you.”
Her throat bobbed and she nodded.
Kian leaned down the aisle. “Where are those books?”
“The ones you told me to put back?”
“Yes.”
I glared back at him, gritting my teeth.
“Do you want me to slap him for you?” she muttered out of the corner of her mouth.
“I’m starting to warm to the idea.”
NAVIN LIFTED HIS CANDLE HIGHER, HIS EYES TRAILING THE light to find me in the darkness. “How are you doing that?” he asked, tipping his head to where I stood reading by the light of the moon.
For me, the slivers of silvery moonlight were enough to illuminate the pages. “Wolf, remember?”
“How could I forget.” He set the candle down and wandered over.
“Couldn’t sleep?”
“The others are all asleep at the cabin,” he said, tipping his head to the window and the ring of outbuildings that surrounded the temple.
“But I sensed someone was missing in the night.” His arms banded around me, and he kissed the top of my head.
“And when I realized she was gone, I also realized wherever she was would be far from the others, and that perhaps we would find ourselves in a quiet place alone together. At last.”
I shut the book in my hands and hastily shoved it back on the shelf.
Navin chuckled as I lifted on tiptoes and slung my arms around his neck.
It was all the invitation he needed. His mouth was on mine in an instant.
Hungry. The last week had been a torture of wanting looks and taunts, brief touches promising more, and now we were finally here.
We devoured each other, the frenzy building in us instantly.
Navin scooped me up by the ass and roughly pinned me against the bookshelf.
I moaned into his mouth, loving the way my sounds unleashed him.
He nipped at my bottom lip as I scrambled for his belt buckle.
He spun us around, dropping me on a table covered in dusty old scrolls.
With little care, he swept them off the table and onto the floor.
I loved his maddening desire for me, loved every single way we joined—soft and sweet, fast and rough, and everything in between.
The multitudes of our relationship each brought their own unique satisfaction.
But we both knew what this moment was. Perhaps if we weren’t interrupted, we’d go slow on the second or third round, but right now I needed him to fuck me fast and bring me to the climax that had been edging me for days.
Navin seemed to read every thought in my lust-filled mind as he shucked off my boots, hooked his fingers in my trousers, and yanked them off. My knives clattered to the ground, and he chuckled, shaking his head.
“What?” I balked. “You know I’m always prepared.”
“I would expect nothing less.” Navin stooped and picked up one of my knives, trailing the blade up my leg in sharp tingles.
My chest heaved as he pushed in ever so slightly, nicking my skin.
I let out a little groan, lifting my head to watch him lick away the bead of blood, something so incredibly lupine about the action.
“You would make a very good Wolf,” I panted as his tongue swirled and moved, tasting my skin all the way to the mound of my pussy.
When he licked my sex, I saw stars, my back bowing off the table. My needy little clit was so desperate for him as he sucked and swirled, making my inner walls clench around nothing. It made me even more rabid for him, desperate to be filled.
I reached down and yanked him by the collar, pulling him up from where he laved my swollen bud with his tongue.
“Fuck me,” I begged. “Now. I need you inside me.”
Navin let out a pleased sound that caught in the back of his throat, sliding down his trousers and freeing his rock-hard erection.
I lay there, bare from the waist down, legs spread wide, waiting for him.
Navin’s eyes dropped to my glistening core, taking me in for one breath before he prowled over to me, grabbing me around my knees and tugging me to the end of the table.
He hooked my legs over his broad shoulders, hoisting my ass off the table as he positioned himself at my entrance and slowly pushed in.
My eyes rolled back as he filled me, the sensation so all-consuming, like stepping into a hot bath after a long day of training, like free-falling.
I moaned, crossing my ankles to hold myself up as Navin grabbed both of my hands and pinned them over my head.
I completely surrendered to him as he rocked into me.
Each rolling thrust made me moan out a cry of pleasure.
“Did you miss my cock?” He panted as he picked up a punishing pace, driving into me over and over.
“Yes,” I cried out.
“Gods, I missed your tight, wet pussy,” he groaned, fucking me harder until my thighs were shaking.
There was no way I was going to be able to hold on, not in this position.
When my sounds tinged with mania, ratcheting higher, Navin released my hands.
He unhooked my knees from his shoulders and pulled me up so my ass rested on the edge of the table.
My legs hugged around his hips as he kissed me.
He pulled almost all the way out and slowly slid back in, making me feel every delicious inch as his tongue caressed mine.
He swept his hands down my back, our frenzy turning into something slower and deeper.
“I love you,” I murmured against his lips.
Navin pulled back to meet my eyes. “I love you, Sadie.” He moved in and out in slow, rolling thrusts. “My Wolf, my song.”
He dropped his forehead to mine and just held me there, our foreheads pressed together, our souls intertwining just as much as our bodies.
When he pushed back in again, the feeling was so overwhelming that even the slightest movement was going to topple me over the edge. Navin began to move faster again as if reading my mind. No slowing down now. Each pump of his cock sent me spiraling higher until I was coming undone.
I cried out his name, shattering, as my pussy clenched around him, pushing him over the edge of his own release.
He battled my tight channel, getting three more thrusts before his hand circled to the back of my head and he guided me back down to the table, both of us collapsing in a breathless heap.
A blissful calm swept over me. Even with everything on fire all around us, surrounded by monsters, here we were, together at the end of the world.
I knew then I’d do anything to make sure we were never apart again.