10. Paige #2
Aries does the same, resignation in his piercing blue eyes. “Fine. Go. But if something happens to you, I will tear this library to shreds, looking for the one who harmed you, consequences be damned.”
* * *
Four hours of patrols with Blossom and we managed to find nothing noteworthy. No fingerprints, no lost shoe, no lingering magic.
Nothing.
I ride the elevator back to my apartment, my feet aching, exhaustion plaguing every single inch of my body. The apartment is quiet, but Aries is sitting on the couch when I push inside.
He breathes a sigh of relief then stands, scanning the length of me. “Anything?”
“No. Whoever was there is thorough in covering their tracks. They left nothing behind. Not even any traces of magic. Which there should have been if they’d arrived and left through a portal.”
“A portal?”
“Similar to what you came through; like a doorway to all of the other worlds. It’s the only way in or out of the Athenaeum, but outside of a book acting up”—I give him a pointed look—“only keepers can conjure a portal from inside the building.”
“What about customers?” he asks. “Surely, you have others who come to use the library.”
I cross to the kitchen and go to work, pouring myself a generous glass of wine.
For a brief moment, I consider something stronger, but I can’t afford to get wasted now.
Not with everyone else on alert for intruders.
“The library is very strict with who it allows inside. And besides, a customer can conjure their own portal from their own side if they’re approved to visit, but a keeper has to be the one to send them back. ”
“So the intruder was assisted in escaping by a keeper?”
I shake my head. “That’s the thing I don’t get. A conjured portal leaves a magic signature behind. You can sense it long after it’s been opened and closed. But there was no trace of any magic, let alone a portal.”
“And this keeper who came to you for help,” he says. “You trust her not to aid in attacking you?”
I turn, full glass of wine in hand, and fix him with a steady stare.
“Blossom is not a traitor,” I say firmly.
He doesn’t look convinced. On a sigh, I cross into the living room and drop down onto the couch so we’re at eye level.
“Look, she’s had a rough time of it. She was orphaned young and the families that took her in over the years weren’t kind to her status as a unicorn shifter.
She was bullied and took a lot of shit from other kids too.
Then, she finally found a way to portal to her home world, only to find it destroyed.
When they caught up to her, she was charged with illegal portal conjuring and sent here to be a keeper as punishment. ”
“Guarding this place is considered punishment?”
“Believe me, it can feel like a prison,” I tell him.
Questions spark in his eyes, but I don’t want to answer anything he might ask—not about me—so I hastily bring this back to Blossom.
“My point is she’s all about following the rules so she can do her time and get the hell out of here.
That's why she wouldn’t take Mag’s shift the other night.
And why I was alone in the library when you.
.. She’s my friend, but she would turn us in in a heartbeat if she knew—if only to keep from letting the blame fall on her. ”
Aries frowns but says nothing. I know he’s trying to come up with another scenario or some other way an intruder could have gotten in—and, more importantly, out.
Frankly, so am I. Because something was definitely after us tonight, and worse, now it knows about Aries, which makes it a greater threat than simply being a chandelier ninja.
Until I know what or who has discovered our secret, we’re not safe from anyone.
Not even Blossom.
I take a generous sip of my wine then stand and head for my bathroom. “I’m going to grab a shower.”
“Shower?” His confusion is absolute—and adorable.
I forget all about chandeliers and portals for the moment, a smile spreading over my face. “Come here.”
Aries follows me into my small bathroom. The space is tight, made more so by the massive dragon sharing it with me.
“If you loved the sink and baseball, prepare to be dazzled, my fire-breathing friend.”
I lean forward and, with my free hand, turn the knob. Water cascades down into the porcelain tub. Aries stares at it like he’s seeing a damned miracle. The awe in his expression has me smiling wider.
“Magnificent,” he breathes. “It’s your own personal waterfall.”
“Basically,” I agree. “Anyway, you wash yourself with it then turn the knob when you’re done to shut it off. You can make it warm or hot, depending on your preference. Me? I’m going for ‘melt the skin’ temperature.”
“Melt—why would you want to...” He trails off, brows scrunching as he looks down at me. “I assume you are making a joke.”
“Yes, Aries, I am making a joke.” I shake my head then give him a light shove out the door. “Now get out so I can get naked.”
He actually pauses, and my breath catches as I realize the mental picture I’ve just painted for us both.
I almost hope he offers to help me undress.
But after another moment, he turns and leaves the room, shutting the door softly behind him.
I undress quickly then step beneath the hot spray. “Yes,” I groan as I feel my muscles begin to loosen. Knowing Aries will want a shower, too, though, I wash my hair quickly so I don’t take all the hot water.
I’m just hanging my loofah up when I turn around and catch sight of a shadow in the shape of a man looming on the other side of my shower curtain.
Panic grips me, and I scream. Scrambling to rip the curtain open, I slip and come crashing down—hard.
My hip takes the brunt of my fall, hurting so badly my scream dies abruptly and my eyes begin to water.
My elbow hits the side of the tub, sending stinging agony up into my shoulder.
I do my best to ignore it, forcing my eyes to focus on the figure still lurking beyond the half-open curtain.
But before I can make it out, the shadow blurs away as my door is ripped open. Aries yanks open the shower curtain and scans the shower, eyes murderous. “What happened?”
“What the hell were you doing in here?” I demand, too hurt to care that I’m lying in a naked tangle of limbs before the dragon god himself.
“What are you talking about? You screamed.”
“I screamed because you were lurking like a perv,” I say, my voice shrill.
“What? Paige, I came in when you screamed.” He reaches over and turns the water off. In that moment, I am all too aware of how naked—and awkward—I am.
“Towel!” I hiss in pain as I try to stand. Aries offers me the towel, keeping his gaze averted to my face. With one arm, I manage to half-ass wrap it around myself.
My legs are weak, my body on adrenaline overload.
I put a hand on the tile to steady myself and step gingerly out of the tub.
Aries backs away but only enough to give me space to stand.
He watches me warily as if waiting for me to collapse.
He’s not far off the mark. I use the towel bar for support then usher him backward as I make my way out to my bedroom.
Once there, my scattered brain slowly begins to form coherent thought.
“You’re hurt,” Aries says, watching me hobble across the carpet.
I don’t bother to answer. I’m too busy replaying what he just said. “Wait. You came in after I screamed?” I question once I’m seated on the edge of the bed.
“Yes. Of course. You think I was in there while you were in your shower?” When I don’t answer, his expression hardens, and I glimpse the battle-worthy warrior inside him.
“I am not a man who steals glances,” Aries says, haughty.
I’ve offended him, great. “If I look upon a woman, it is with her permission, and every ounce of my attention is trained on what she’s freely offering.
When I look at your naked body, Paige, you’ll know. And you will have asked for it.”
I swallow hard. I believe him—of course. And if I weren’t so damned shaken, I bet I’d be imagining all sorts of ways Aries could pin his full attention on me.
“What happened?” He kneels in front of me as the realization of what I just saw sets in.
“Something was in there with me,” I tell him. “I saw a shadow.”
“A shadow,” he repeats.
“Yes, like the one I saw earlier. Downstairs in the library. But this one had more shape.”
“And what shape was that?”
“Like a man.”
Aries’s gaze hardens even further. “Stay here.” He moves into my bathroom, then my closet, before slipping out into the rest of the apartment.
I use his absence to slip underneath my sheets, using them to cover my body better than the towel could. It’s not for Aries’ sake but for my own sense of vulnerability. My mind is whirring.
Is it possible I’m seeing things? Or was there someone in my freaking bathroom? There was no portal, no swirling light, so how the hell did whoever it was manage to leave without Aries seeing him?
“No one is here.” Aries sits beside me. “Can I check your arm?”
“Sure.” I hiss through clenched teeth when he manipulates it around, but the pain fades away as soon as he lets it go. “It doesn’t feel broken, and trust me, I’ve broken plenty of bones to know. But it is going to leave one hell of a bruise.”
I snort. “You should see my hip.”
The moment the words are out, I realize what I’m offering. But instead of accepting, Aries grunts and releases me.
“Someone was in there with me,” I insist. “I saw him.”
He nods. “I believe you.”
I turn to him, eyes wide as true fear settles into my bones. “What the hell was it? There’s no way it was human or ordinary supernatural. Not if it was able to just vanish before you walked in.”
“I don’t know, Paige,” he says gravely. “But I do believe you are in very real danger.”