Chapter 30 #3
He ignored her. I lifted my hand higher.
The light found shelves. Hundreds of them.
They did not stand in neat rows like the archives above.
These had been built directly into the stone.
Some curved with the walls. Others climbed pillars or vanished behind arches.
Books sat beside sealed clay vessels, bone-white scroll cases, metal boxes dark with age.
Several shelves were empty. Not dusty. Empty.
As though whatever had once occupied them had been removed recently.
I moved my Light toward the nearest arch.
Carved marks across the stone caught the light.
Words. Or what had once been words. Someone had hacked through the inscription until nothing remained but deep scars. Vareena touched my elbow.
“Don’t.”
“I wasn’t going to touch it.”
“You touch everything.”
“That is unfair.”
Kieran looked back. “It isn’t.”
I glared at him. Then a page turned somewhere in the dark. All three of us stopped. Another followed. Farther away. I held my Light higher. Nothing moved.
“Kieran.”
“I heard it.”
“Please tell me there are Archivists down here.”
“No.”
“Wonderful.”
He started forward. We stayed close. There was no discussion about it.
The floor sloped downward beneath the shelves.
Every few yards, narrow channels had been carved into the stone.
A silver substance rested inside them, too dull to be metal and too bright to be mineral.
My Light passed over one. It flared. I jerked my hand away. The flare disappeared.
“Keep your Light off those,” Kieran said.
“What are they?”
“Old ward lines.”
“What do they do?”
“I don’t know.”
Vareena stopped. “You’ve said that twice since we came in.”
“Yes.”
“You usually know everything.”
“I’ll treasure the compliment.”
“It wasn’t one.”
A sound moved through the dark to our left. Not a page. Footsteps. One. Then another. Slow. Measured. We went silent. Kieran’s Shadow spread across the floor. The footsteps stopped. He looked over his shoulder.
“Don’t move.”
I had absolutely no intention of moving. Shadow slipped beyond the reach of my Light. His eyes unfocused slightly. Waiting. Listening through whatever connection he had to it. After several seconds, his shoulders eased.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Those were footsteps.”
“I know.”
“And now?”
“Now it isn’t.”
“That is not better.”
“I didn’t say it was.”
Vareena whispered, “Can we please find the records before it starts again?”
Kieran continued. The path narrowed until we had to move single file.
At one point, an entire section of shelves had collapsed into the corridor.
The wood—or whatever ancient material they had been made from—had petrified until it was almost indistinguishable from stone.
Kieran climbed over first. Vareena followed.
When I stepped onto the broken frame, pain pulled sharply through the stitches in my side. I hissed. Kieran turned immediately.
“I’m fine.”
“I didn’t ask.”
“You were about to.”
His gaze dropped to my ribs. “You shouldn’t be here.”
“Too late.”
“You shouldn’t have been in the archives last night either.”
I froze. “How do you know I was?”
His eyes narrowed. “You smell like archive dust.”
I stared. Vareena made a strangled sound behind me. Kieran’s mouth curved.
“You believed that?”
“You’re an asshole.”
“You’re a terrible liar.”
I climbed down. He caught my waist before my injured leg took the full drop.
I had expected it. That did nothing to prepare me.
His hands settled around me. Firm. Warm through the fabric.
My palms landed against his chest. Neither of us moved.
His smile disappeared. The darkness around us seemed suddenly very quiet.
His gaze lowered. My breath caught. Two nights ago came back in fragments.
His mouth almost on mine. His hand against my thigh.
Now there was no bedroom door separating us.
Only ancient darkness and the feel of his fingers tightening slightly at my waist.
“You can let go,” I whispered.
His eyes lifted to mine. “So can you.”
I looked down. My fingers had curled into his shirt. Fuck. I released him immediately. Kieran did not. Not for another heartbeat. Then his hands fell. Vareena landed beside us.
“I am beginning to understand why this investigation required supervision.”
I walked away before either of them could see my face. Behind me, Kieran laughed under his breath. I considered murder again.
We descended another level before we found the first sealed passage. This one did not have a door. The corridor simply ended. Black stone filled the opening from floor to ceiling, completely smooth except for a thin seam running through the center. Kieran swore.
“That sounds promising.”
“This wasn’t sealed before.”
“You’ve been this far?”
“Yes.”
Vareena examined the wall. “When?”
“Years ago.”
“How many?”
He gave her a look. She smiled.
“I’m curious about our prince.”
“Stop calling me that.”
“Why? Apparently it isn’t important.”
I bit my cheek. Kieran stared at me. I looked innocent. He returned his attention to the wall.
“There used to be a stair beyond this point.”
“Leading where?”
“Older candidate records.”
My pulse jumped. “How old?”
“Old enough.”
I approached the seam. The stone here felt different from everything around it. Too smooth. No dust clung to it.
“Kieran.”
“I see it.”
“See what?”
Vareena came closer. I pointed. The surrounding wall had small imperfections worn into it by time. The sealed section had none. “This is newer.”
“Yes.”
“Someone closed it.”
“Looks that way.”
I pressed my palm against the stone. Kieran caught my elbow and pulled me back.
“Did we learn nothing from the door?”
“It didn’t do anything.”
“That is not a reason to continue touching it.”
“You are becoming very controlling for someone who claims to have no control over me.”
His eyes darkened. I should not have enjoyed that. I absolutely did. Vareena stepped between us before either of us could make the situation worse.
“We need Emrin.”
I blinked. “What?”
“Earth magic. She could tell whether this was built into the foundation or added later.”
My stomach tightened. Emrin didn’t know. Vareena’s eyes met mine, understanding almost immediately. Kieran took a second longer. Then he understood what asking Emrin would cost me. “We can find another way.”
I looked at him. He meant it. Even though bringing Emrin here might be the easiest way through. Even though another route could cost us hours we might not have. “You just said the lower archives move.”
“They do.”
“So another way may not exist tomorrow.”
Silence. Vareena touched my arm.
“You don’t have to tell her anything you aren’t ready to tell her.”
I looked at the sealed wall. Your mother walked these halls. “Get Emrin.”
Emrin arrived annoyed. Not suspicious. Not frightened. Annoyed. Which somehow made the guilt worse. She followed Vareena through the last arch with her hair pulled back in a loose braid and a half-eaten green apple still in one hand. She stopped when she saw Kieran. Then me. Then the wall.
“So is anyone going to tell me why we are beneath the archives with Kieran Nyxara?”
“I need to know what’s behind this.”
“Why?”
There it was. I glanced toward Kieran. He said nothing. Good. “This section holds old candidate records.”
Emrin’s brow furrowed. “Restricted ones.”
“Yes.”
“And you need them because?”
“My mother trained here.”
The words felt strange aloud. Emrin lowered the apple.
“You found her?”
“No.”
“Then how do you know?”
“The Codex told me.”
Silence. I closed my eyes. Wonderful. Emrin slowly looked at Vareena.
“The what?”
Vareena grimaced. “We might need to explain that later.”
“There is a later?”
“I’m hopeful.”
Emrin looked back at me. “What Codex?”
“The Lumina Codex.”
Nothing happened. Then she laughed. I didn’t. Her laughter stopped.
“You’re serious.”
“Yes.”
“The Lumina Codex.”
“Yes.”
“The one scholars have been looking for since before any of us were born.”
“I guess.”
“You guess?”
“I haven’t personally interviewed the scholars.”
She stared at me for so long that I started to feel defensive. Then she rubbed a hand down her face.
“Can you process while touching the wall?”
Emrin glared at me, shoved the last bite of apple into her mouth, wiped her fingers against her trousers, and approached the stone.
The moment her palm touched it, the irritation disappeared from her face.
Her whole body stilled. I had seen Earth wielders work before.
It never looked like Light. There was no burst of power.
No obvious display. The magic sank. Into the floor.
Into the wall. Into Emrin. Or maybe the other way around.
A faint vibration traveled through my boots.
Emrin closed her eyes. Her fingertips spread.
Minutes seemed to pass. No one spoke. Then her brow furrowed.
“This shouldn’t be here.”
Kieran straightened. “The wall?”
“The stone.” She opened her eyes. “It isn’t from this level.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means someone moved it.”
“Can stone be moved without…” I gestured. “Moving it?”
Emrin looked at me. “That sentence hurt me.”
“You know what I mean.”
“Yes.” She placed both hands against the wall. “Someone folded the foundation over the passage.”
Vareena stared at her. “Folded?”
“That’s the closest word.”
“How?”
“A lot of power.”
“Recent?”
Emrin hesitated. “No.”
That single word changed the weight of the room. “How old?”
“I can’t tell.”
Kieran moved beside her. “Can you undo it?”
“Maybe.”
She pressed harder. The floor hummed. A thin green-gold line traveled through the seam. The wall groaned. Dust rained from above. I glanced toward the ceiling.
“Is that normal?”
“No.”
“Good.”
The seam opened half an inch. Cold air breathed through it. Then everything went wrong. The silver ward line hidden beneath the floor flared. Kieran swore.
“Emrin, move.”
She tried. Her hand didn’t come free. Her eyes widened. “Kieran.”